In 2013, Hykes debuted that tool as Docker, releasing it as open source for anybody to download, use, and modify. Over the next few years Hykes led the development of a container-based tool to help DotCloud speed up and scale out its operations.
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The story of Docker starts in Paris with a startup called DotCloud, founded by Solomon Hykes, Kamel Founadi, and Sebastien Pahl in 2008 to provide cloud hosting services for software developers. But as an open-source-software startup caught between turning a profit and serving the open-source community, it was never going to be simple. They described Docker as a "missed opportunity" and expressed disappointment that the company wasn't able to turn its "rocket ship of technology" into success. The former employees asked not to be named so that they could speak candidly, but their identities are known to Insider. To look back on the company's impact and what it was like to work there, Insider spoke with 10 former Docker employees as well as analysts and technology executives.
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Today, Docker focuses on automation tools for developers, and it recently announced it had crossed $50 million in annual recurring revenue.ĭocker declined to comment for this story beyond noting that over 80,000 people attended the virtual DockerCon events hosted by the company over the past two years, as the pandemic led to the cancellation of the in-person event. "To go from a billion-dollar unicorn and turn down an acquisition offer from Microsoft to completely cratering and having to reboot the entire company - it's an amazing fall-from-grace story," a former employee told Insider.
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What was left of Docker raised a $35 million Series A round, essentially restructuring itself as a brand-new startup.
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The advent of Kubernetes - a free, open-source container-management tool invented at Google that leapfrogged much of Docker's own offering - put massive pressure on the startup that it couldn't address.ĭocker cycled through five CEOs in less than seven years trying to find a path back, and in 2019 it sold off its enterprise business to Mirantis, a lesser-known consulting firm, splitting the company. Its rapid growth also attracted the attention of the giants Docker is said to have turned down a $4 billion acquisition offer from Microsoft in 2016.īut while the container market soared, Docker would soon fall back down to Earth. It raised over $270 million from top-tier investors like Greylock Partners, Insight Partners, and Sequoia Capital, hitting its peak valuation of $1.32 billion in 2018. The hype around Docker was, for a time, very real. James Governor, a RedMonk analyst, described it as one of the "most explosively growing technologies." While Docker didn't invent containers, it made them much easier for developers to use, starting a movement in the cloud industry that continues today. In those early years, companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and IBM lined up to drop big demos and announcements at the show, and developers keen on a new era of cloud swarmed to soak up the energy.ĭocker, based in San Francisco, launched in 2013 and shot into the spotlight for its pioneering approach to containers, which allow developers to package applications to run across any cloud or hardware. Attracting thousands of attendees each year since 2014, DockerCon was the de facto conference for software containers, the nerdy but influential cloud technology that had become synonymous with Docker's brand.
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Former employees say it was a "fall from grace" for a startup that once pioneered a key cloud trend.In 2019, Docker split itself in two, selling its enterprise business to the consultancy Mirantis.