Why start Acquia now?
Some critical stars aligned (team & market) that made it the right time for Acquia. First, Dries nearly completed his PhD work, and it was time to consider what he would do next; it is, of course, best for the Drupal project if his job involves spending the bulk of his time on Drupal. Second, Dries’ co-founder, Jay, was actively looking to build another open source software company at the same time Dries was considering what he would do next. Jay and Dries spent months forming a bond of trust between them about how this kind of company should be run (given the existing Drupal project, community, and shared goals.) Finally, Drupal has achieved a critical mass in the market that suggests the need for a company like Acquia. For example, at the Barcelona Drupalcon in September 2007, a number of Drupal users at large companies spoke privately to Dries and suggested that a company “backing” Drupal needed to exist in order to advance the use of Drupal in their organizations.
