Show Notes 185: Open Source Office Productivity Is Having a Moment—And Collabora Is Leading the Charge

This Week's Tech Headlines

Before diving into the main interview, hosts Faye Holland and James Parton covered some seriously impressive Cambridge wins:

• ARM expanded into silicon products for AI data centers with the new ARM AGI CPU

• Immutrin raised $86 million for amyloidosis therapy development

• Xaar (inkjet printing tech) hit £60.1 million in revenue, expanding across Asia

• Theia Insights secured $8 million Series A funding for deep tech index solutions

• Cambridge Wide Open Week returns June 11-19, bringing Oxford and London into the fold for the first time

The Main Event: Michael Meeks on Competing with Microsoft

Michael's journey is genuinely compelling. He switched to Linux in 1995 as a young engineer at Cambridge, worked at SUSE, and eventually mortgaged his home to start Collabora with just six people. Today? Nearly 70 staff, 100 million Docker downloads, and customers ranging from the International Criminal Court to Dutch university networks.

Why Open Source Wins

Here's what makes Collabora different from the Microsoft and Google behemoths:

• On organic growth: "Unlike many VC-backed companies, we're organic, we're profitable and we have a mission which is to drive open source."

• The business model is counterintuitive but brilliant. By giving away free software, Collabora builds massive brand recognition and deployment. Users try it at home, fall in love with it, and when they need enterprise support, they know exactly who to call.

• On digital sovereignty: In an increasingly geopolitical world, Michael argues open source is the only path to true sovereignty. "The only way to have true digital sovereignty...is to use open source because then it is for the world. It is both local and a collaboration internationally."

Security Through Server-Side Control

One of the most interesting technical insights: Collabora keeps documents on the server rather than downloading them to clients. This enables server-side policy enforcement—no copy-paste, no printing, no downloads, plus watermarking for traceability.

Michael shared a brilliant example: a major car manufacturer uses this approach to share confidential designs with their sales team. The designs are watermarked with the viewer's name, date, and location. You can screenshot it, but your name is all over it.

The Leadership Philosophy

Michael's remote-first approach is worth noting: rather than have some staff in an office and others remote (which creates two-tier communication), Collabora went fully distributed globally. They do maintain a Cambridge base with internships at Hills Road sixth form college, giving back to the community that shaped him.

On acquisition offers: "You smile and say thank you. And you do realise this is a very risky. Do you really want to compete with Microsoft? Just let us get on with it, we're doing a good job."

The Takeaway

Whether you're a founder wrestling with funding strategy, a VC evaluating open source investments, or simply curious about how to build a profitable, mission-driven company without VC pressure, this episode delivers real insights.

Ready to dive deeper? Download Collabora Office from your app store and listen to the full conversation on the Cambridge Tech Podcast. You'll leave thinking differently about competition, sovereignty, and what sustainable growth actually looks like.

To listen and subscribe, search for ‘Cambridge Tech Podcast’ on your favourite podcasting platform or visit cambridgetechpodcast.com.