Pioneering the Open Source Frontier with Strategy, Governance & Stewardship
Open source is not just code or licensing. It is a social contract between contributors, maintainers, and the systems they depend on. It only works at scale when that contract is explicit, enforced, and sustainably funded.
Open Source Cowboy Consulting designs the foundations that make open source durable.
Who We Are
We build and steward open-source infrastructure.
We do not manage communities; we design the systems they operate within.
Our work turns principles into operating models: governance, funding, compliance, contributor pathways, metrics, and sustainability.
The name reflects the work. Independence, accountability, and responsibility in environments where failure has real consequences.
What We’ve Built
Paid Open Source Model (POSM): governance-aligned funding with accountability.
Contribution Ladder and Lifecycle Maturity frameworks for scalable ecosystems.
Incubation and governance programs for large blockchain ecosystems, including Cardano.
Partnerships with LF Decentralized Trust, TODO Group, Chinstrap, and Bitergia to operationalize open-source governance.
Why We Exist
Open source does not sustain itself.
Ambitious systems fail when governance, funding, and responsibility are undefined.
We exist to give serious projects the structure required to last.
Core Values
Transparency: Decisions and systems must be auditable.
Sustainability: Longevity matters more than launch velocity.
Community-first: People are the system.
We work with enterprises, foundations, DAOs, and ecosystem stewards to turn vision into operational reality.
This is long-horizon infrastructure work. Built to survive pressure, scale responsibly, and outlast hype.
Open Source Cowboy Consulting 