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Michael “Monty” Widenius

Advisor

,

Helsinki

Monty is one of the founding partners at OpenOcean – and a technical mind behind MySQL and MariaDB. At 19, he dropped out of the Helsinki University of Technology – and at 33, he coded the entire first release of MySQL, which is still the most popular open-source database in the world today. At OpenOcean, Monty is a tech wizard, advising entrepreneurs on all things community and open source.

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9
min read

What we’ve learned from the front lines of AI-enabled services

Last November, we laid out a vision for AI-native services: businesses rebuilt from the ground up to combine the margins of software with the resilience and depth of services markets. Since then, we have taken dozens of first meetings, explored more than 15 verticals, backed our first deals, and sharpened our thesis along the way.
7
min read

Enterprise automation market industry update: automation after GenAI

At OpenOcean, we’ve long believed in automation software’s potential. It’s been a core theme in our investment focus for years, giving us early and continued exposure to exciting developments in the field.
7
min read

How to manage high-performance individuals in 2025

Back in 2007, we held a short presentation while working at MySQL about a type of person we called a "Super Gold-Collar Worker." These were highly skilled individuals in growth companies who had become essential to business operations.