Changing the landscape

How It Started

Back when I first started the BlissLabs nonprofit, I knew it had the potential to help transform the Android ROM scene at the time, so in my mind, it would be well worth the effort. What I didn’t know back then was exactly how it would do that.

At the time, I knew we needed to set up a way for the teams to collect funds, provide services like servers, design, and others, and make sure that it was not something only one person controlled. So setting up an org with a board and bank account was a must, but what kind of org was the question.

With my previous experience with my wife and her work with the Pediatric Hydrocephalus Foundation, I learned a lot about how that organization works, and how it relies on volunteers to advocate for Hydrocephalus, as well as what that advocacy looks like when it comes to lobbying. I could also see how an org for open-source Android projects could run on a similar structure. So I incorporated BlissLabs as a 501c(3) nonprofit organization, and all the leaders across the Bliss projects all voted on a board, which would have distributed control of the organization’s infrastructure.

The next steps were to get each project to assign a lead and form a way to not have just the board members calling all the shots, and let the board focus on stuff that the nonprofit would need to help the projects underneath it succeed. So we went into research mode and found a number of grants that helped supply emails, servers, documentation and planning services, and more, and distributed access to those across all the individual projects. This also included signing up for more notable donation collection methods as well, like OpenCollective, where we were in a unique position to sign on as a fiscal host, and let each project under BlissLabs set up an account and use BlissLabs as the host.

How It Changed

This is about the point where we decided to branch out, and promote what we did so other projects could benefit from it. This initially brought in community projects like Bliss-x86 (now Bliss OS), Boringdroid, SupremeGamers, and later led to Waydroid, SmartDock, XT-Mapper, IzzyOnDroid, Lindroid and others. With the majority of these projects utilizing BlissLabs as a fiscal host and a talent pool or think tank for ideas and innovation.

This eventually led to us also finding a way to tap that talent pool for others outside our org too. After being approached by a few companies wanting to have Android work done for them, we decided it was also time to start a separate for-profit company, Navotpala Tech (Bliss Co-Labs), that would be able to be insured, provide the means to manage incoming contracts, and empower the individuals that contributed to the many projects underneath the BlissLabs umbrella. Closing the loop for individuals looking to start off by learning through contributions towards our projects, and ending with paid opportunities for those individuals that showed a track record of dedication, innovation and lack of ego.

Where We Are Headed

This is where we are today. Two organizations, working together to cultivate innovation and bring to it products across the world. Working in a way that contributes heavily to the open-source ecosystem at the same time. And this is where I will set up the next stages of this vision too.

For the future of BlissLabs, we need to grow now. The nonprofit will need community organizers, content creators, grant writers, web designers, management, and a number of other positions added in order to facilitate the growth needed for the projects it has now, and the projects that will join in the future. And together we can all change the landscape to allow growth and monetization opportunities where there was never any clear cut way for all projects to grow, or these people to make a living doing what they love to do.

For the future of Navotpala Tech, in order to make sure that company stays true to its mission and vision, it is hard to find an exemplary solution when money is involved, and businesses often prioritize profits over ethics. Because of this, we have decided to continue on the slow growth road, letting small parts of each project help fund the businesses R&D budgets, and other initiatives that will expand the product line and fortify the company’s infrastructure. This will allow it to have the largest potential impact on the talent from BlissLabs projects, and give more than just a few core people a chance at contract development & design work. The business will still also continue to contribute directly to open-source development in order to help set an example for other businesses to know what a healthy CSR plan could look like.