The Problem with the MongoDB Startup Program

Executive Summary

• MongoDB created a successful program for startups.
• We cover the inherent conflicts of interest in this program.

Introduction

The article How Appealing is the Oracle Global Startup Ecosystem?, we covered how the Oracle startup program was filled with false claims. In this article, we will review MongoDB’s startup program.

MongoDB Startup Program Website

The following are screen captures from the MongoDb website.

MongoDB offers credits for their database to startups. 

Now, these two areas of the program are what piqued our interest. 

MongoDB lists the following items as prerequisites for taking advantage of the program. 

Fewer than 15 employeesPrivately held

In business for less than 2 years

Bootstrapped, seed funded and/or pre Series A

Less than $1M in annual revenue

Building a product or service (agencies are not eligible)

Willing to participate in co-promotion with MongoDB

Have not previously participated in the MongoDB Startup
Accelerator program”

Therefore, as a startup, you must be willing to promote MongoDB, and in turn, to be promoted by MongoDB. And what is MongoDB looking for? It is easy to guess case studies that they can market.

MongoDB states the reason for the program, and it is essential to review it.

“This is our way to give back to the startup community by helping the next generation of founders.”

This motivation is highly unlikely.

If that were its motivation, it would not require the startup to participate in co-promotion with MongoDB. The very existence of such a statement from a profit-oriented company indicates that this is camouflage. The program is presented as “win-win” and based on “community” when this is not how private companies function. Startups may benefit from the program, but this program exists for one reason, to help MongoDB.

Interestingly, the program only lasts for 12 months, which means that after the startup participates for 12 months, it goes back to being a typical paying customer.

The Problems With These Types of Programs

The program is a quid pro quo for helping MongoDB receive marketing benefits. And of course, the startup also receives marketing benefits, but the startup also now has an incentive to overstate the benefits of MongoDB. This means that any announcement by a startup that is part of the MongoDB startup program is doubly unreliable, as MongoDB will have control over both when and how the program’s success is presented.

The quotation explains this from the Nemil blog.

“As engineers, we often discuss technical attacks (e.g., DDoS, Sybil attacks, security vulnerabilities), but need to spend time debating how to protect ourselves from marketing “attacks”. Today, developer marketing is subtle — third party blog posts, content marketing disguised as engineering lessons, biased talks, and sponsored hackathons — not clearly marked content from vendors. As such, startup engineering decisions can hinge on sources that are not impartial.”

Being on stage at a conference raises the profile of the presenter and establishes him/her as a thought leader on a particular topic … [Independent] consultants have established themselves as experts on MongoDB through their speaking engagements [at our conferences and events], and I suspect many have gained business as a result.

If you make substantial revenue off MongoDB consulting, how motivated would you be to highlight the downsides of MongoDB? How about if you sold MongoDB training materials like an online course or bootcamp?

At industry analyst firm Red Monk, James Governor argued in May 2012 that MongoDB was the “SF architect’s default database choice” on flimsy evidence — and he would be quoted in multiple MongoDB blog posts. Today, Red Monk counts MongoDB as a customer. Mongo’s strategy — used by many other dev tools companies — has some similarities to astroturfing, where a sponsored message is masked to appear as if it primarily comes through authentic, grass roots support.

Conclusion

Startup programs like the one created by MongoDB are great for MongoDB, but it floods the market with inaccurate information about the product. One does not know if startups selected MongoDB because they thought it was the best database for their needs or desired the credits and the marketing attention it would bring them.

Programs like this create the specter of “fake go-lives,” where the startup announces they are relying upon one product for something, when in fact, they are using something else. This is extremely common in the SAP space, where not startups but SAP consulting companies pretend to go live with SAP applications to sell SAP services, as we covered in our S/4HANA Implementation Study.

Our view of these programs is that they are a form of corruption. This program is significantly less corrupt than the Oracle startup program because Oracle was promising to allow its startups to sell into Oracle’s enormous customer list. But it is still problematic.

References

https://www.nemil.com/mongo/3.html#fn15