Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by xxkylexx 1001 days ago
The "new" CEO has been at the helm since 2019. Long before the mentioned funding in 2022.

We don't really have a HQ since we are a 100% remote company.

Source: I am the Bitwarden founder.

7 comments

Can you maybe touch a bit on the intended relationship between you and the VC? Are there plans to do aggressive monetization of Bitwarden?

As a long time user, I'm a bit concerned as well.

Bitwarden has had VC investors for years, long before the mentioned 2022 funding. I think our track record to date shows how we operate in this relationship. We specifically choose partners that align with our vision, not just anyone that comes off the street wanting to throw money at us (though there are many). Our health as a company afford us this luxury.

Bitwarden is and has been monetized since the beginning. There are no plans to change how we monetize our products. It's working well for us.

Then why raise an additional $100m?
To grow faster. To be able to fund new projects that could be of higher value to people willing to pay extra.

You know, how you don't just save all of your life for a house - but get a mortgage and enjoy a house now, not in 50 years.

But if I had tonnes of cash, I wouldn't get a mortgage.
Thanks, then this all seems to be much ado about nothing. Cheers!
that or check back in a year when the founder will say, "... the realaties of the market..."
You could ask them, you’re replying to the founder right now, after all.
I know. I've watched this cycle repeat time and time again. 'We would never' (six to twelve months pass) 'Well never say never'.
No company will eever say that thereyare plans for aggresive monetezation. They will always say everything stays the same - open-source mindset etc.

Until 2 years later there is a license and pricing change. One that will make it 10 times more expensive - or the free/open-source version will be crippled.

And the UI will suck because they've made it an Electron app so they can have a universal platform...
The clients are fully FOSS, and there is a FOSS server reference application, too. What could go wrong? (Famous last words Inc.)

FWIW: I've been using this application for the past years. I pay 12 USD or so a year, though I self-host. I just pay as a thank you since I still use the FOSS client, and the price is very reasonable.

1Password is hardly even a competitor as it is a completely different price range, and different product. It isn't FOSS at all, there's a vendor lock-in (in contrast to Bitwarden), and it is 3x as expensive at the very least. They're miles apart.

And 1Password does not propose self-hosting anymore, which is why I am stuck to version 7 for my personal vault. At work, we use Bitwarden self-hosted solution. I could even use an encrypted text file to store my passwords if there were no self-hosting solution anywhere. It gives you an idea at how much I do not want my infos to be on the Internet somewhere.
Hey man, thank you for creating Bitwarden.

I'm just a normal tech-lover guy who works in the marketing field. I have made my family & 2 agencies switch to Bitwarden and they all love it.

I have stored more than 400 passwords and more than 30 debit + credit cards in it. Though I don't need a paid plan but I'm paying $10 per year just to support the developers.

Just want to echo other comments, thanks so much for bitwarden I've been using it for years and it has changed my family's life. Even managed to get my aging parents to use it instead of their paper notebook
Thanks for an excellent product. I'm a long term paid subscriber, and very happy with Bitwarden :-)
I have been self-hosting for a few years now with zero complaints. Keep doing what you’re doing, and thank you.
Thanks, awesome product! Happy user for many years.
Thank you for a great product. Carry on.