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Welcome to the deep dive. So glad you're joining us again. Great to be here.

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Today we're tackling something, well, really essential for any business,

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but maybe a bit daunting. If you're just starting out,

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we're talking about managing customer relationships.

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Crucial stuff. Exactly. And specifically,

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we're doing a deep dive into a platform called 20.

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It's getting a lot of buzz actually being called the number one open source CRM.

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Right. 20. Seeing that name pop up more and more. Before we really, uh,

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get into what makes 20 tick a quick, but important thank you to our supporter,

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safe server. Ah, yes. Safe server.

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They handle hosting for software just like this,

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and they can really help you out with your digital transformation.

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You can find more info at www.safeserver.de. Good folks over there.

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Definitely. Okay. So our mission today,

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we've seen sources positioning 20 as this, um,

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modern, powerful alternative to the big players, you know, like sales for giants.

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Yeah.

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So our goal is to kind of cut through the jargon,

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understand what 20 is, why it even exists and what makes it special,

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especially if you're, let's say new to CRMs,

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customer relationship management systems. Absolutely.

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And maybe we should start right there. Like what is a CRM for someone who hasn't

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really used one before. Good idea. At its core, um,

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a CRM customer relationship management system.

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It's basically the command center for your businesses, customer interactions.

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A band center. I like that. Yeah. It's a tool, right? Yeah.

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Designed to help you manage and track and, uh,

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analyze every single touch point, every piece of data you have about your customers.

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So everything from the first email to ongoing support.

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Exactly. Throughout their whole journey with you.

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Think of it maybe as the operating system for all your customer data.

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It keeps everything organized. That makes sense. So, okay.

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If CRMs are so fundamental, so crucial, why do we need another one? Like 20?

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The market seems pretty full, doesn't it? That's a fair question.

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And this is where it gets really interesting because the sources we looked at

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suggest 20 wasn't just built to be another CRM.

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It was built to solve some real specific problems. Pain points, you could say.

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Addressing frustrations. Right. First one they mentioned is cost and vendor lock-in.

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Ah, the classic problem. Yeah. Imagine you pick a CRM,

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you spend years putting all your valuable customer data into it,

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and then you're kind of stuck. Totally reliant on that one provider. Exactly.

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And the sources highlight how vendors can then, well,

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basically hike up the prices cause they know it's a huge pain for you to switch.

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You're locked in. It's hard to leave.

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20's whole philosophy seems to be pushing back on that.

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They literally say it shouldn't be that way.

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They don't think you should pay escalating fees just to access your own data.

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It's about ownership, not just renting.

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That's a big differentiator right there. Ownership versus rental.

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Huge. Okay. Second reason.

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They saw a chance for a fresh start, a better experience.

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Meaning the old ones are clunky.

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Let's be honest. Yeah. A lot of traditional CRMs can feel outdated.

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Maybe not very intuitive to use.

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A bit of a chore sometimes.

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Right. So 20's founders apparently wanted to learn from those past mistakes.

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They looked at modern tools, things like Notion, Airtable, Linear,

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apps people actually like using.

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Tools with really slick, modern interfaces.

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Exactly. And they wanted to bring that kind of smooth, cohesive,

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almost enjoyable experience to the CRM world.

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That makes a lot of sense.

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User experience is key and that ties into the third point, doesn't it?

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Their belief in open source and community.

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It does. Explain that a bit more.

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What does open source really mean for the average user, not just a developer?

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Well, connecting it to the bigger picture.

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It means fundamentally more control, more control over your data, your processes.

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Open source means you actually get ownership of the software's code,

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not just a license to use it.

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OK, so you own it. You don't just rent it.

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You coming back to that.

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Precisely. You get the simplicity you might associate with

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soft software as a service, you know, subscription models.

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But you combine that with the freedom, the potential cost savings

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and the transparency of open source.

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You're not tied to one vendor's decisions or price hikes.

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So you're not beholden to them. That sounds powerful.

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It is. It's a different way of thinking about your software tools.

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OK, so we get the why now.

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Addressing cost, bad UX and championing ownership through open source.

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Let's switch gears.

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How does this actually work day to day for a beginner

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or someone looking for something easier?

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What can you do with 20? Right. The practical stuff.

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Well, the sources describe 20 as aiming to be an operating system

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for your customer data. We heard that before.

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Yeah. What does that mean in practice?

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It means it's designed to be super adaptable.

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You can apparently import large data sets pretty easily.

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You can customize it to fit your specific business needs.

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And you can automate tasks by connecting it to other tools

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using things like APIs and Webhooks.

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OK, hold on. APIs and Webhooks.

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Can you break those down simply?

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What do they let a user do?

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Sure. Think of APIs application programming interfaces like

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universal translators or bridges between different software.

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They let different apps talk to each other and share information smoothly.

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OK, so 20 can talk to my email client or my accounting software.

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Potentially, yeah.

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And Webhooks are like little automatic notifications.

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When something specific happens in one app,

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a Webhook can instantly tell another app to do something.

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Like an alert. Exactly.

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So together, APIs and Webhooks mean 20 can integrate really tightly

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with your other tools, keeping everything in sync automatically.

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It helps the CRM grow with your business, not hold it back.

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Got it. That sounds genuinely useful.

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So what features would I actually see and use inside 20?

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Well, they've focused on making things intuitive.

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For instance, you can personalize your layouts.

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You can filter your data, sort it how you want, group things.

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Standard stuff, but important. Right.

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And they offer different views like tables, but also Kanban views.

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OK, Kanban. Explain that one for folks who might not know the term.

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Think of it like a digital whiteboard with columns.

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Each column represents a stage and a process like for sales.

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You might have lead qualified proposal sent negotiating one.

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So you can drag and drop deals between stages.

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Exactly. It gives you a really clear visual of your workflow where everything

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stands.

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Super helpful for tracking progress visually. Nice.

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What about making the CRM fit my specific business?

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You mentioned customization.

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Yeah, a big one is being able to customize objects in fields.

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This goes back to that ownership idea.

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Instead of being forced into predefined categories,

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you can adapt 20 to track the specific information you need about your customers.

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You define the structure.

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So more flexibility than some rigid systems.

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Much more. Then for teams, there's managing who can do what.

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You can create and manage permissions with custom roles.

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Essential for larger teams or even small ones with sensitive data.

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Absolutely. You control who sees which data and what actions they can take.

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Keeps things secure and organized.

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What about saving time? Automation.

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Yep. You can automate workflows using triggers and actions.

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So you set rules like if a deal moves to the proposed stage,

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automatically create a follow up task for the sales rep.

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Oh, that could save a lot of manual work.

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Definitely reduces errors. Make sure things don't get missed.

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OK. And daily tools like email, calendar.

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Big focus there.

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It has seamless integration with everyday tools, email, calendar, files.

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The source has mentioned email sync specifically.

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You can choose how much info gets shared with the team.

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How so? Like you could share the whole email subject, body,

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attachments, or maybe just the subject line and who was involved,

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or even just that an email happened at a certain time.

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Gives you control over privacy while still keeping the CRM updated.

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That's quite granular control. Useful. Any other nice touches?

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Yeah, the basics done well.

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Things like tasks and notes, easy ways to track your to do's.

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So you never miss a deal, as they say.

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And the notes support rich text blocks and markdown.

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Markdown. Quick explanation.

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It's just a really simple way to format text using plain characters,

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like use asterisks for bold or hashes for headings.

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Makes notes easy to write and easy to read.

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Plus, they mention things like intuitive keyboard shortcuts,

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CMD plus K for search, which is common in modern apps

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and even a dark mode option.

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Little things that improve the daily user experience.

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Right. Those quality of life features add up.

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So we've mentioned open source a few times.

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Let's circle back and really unpack what that means beyond just the code being

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available.

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What's the power in it for the user?

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Yeah, it's more than just a technical label.

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If you connect it to the bigger picture, it's really about

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fostering innovation and trust through community.

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OK. How does that work?

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Well, first, as we said, you own you don't rent.

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It uses the GPL license.

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GPL. What does that guarantee the user?

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GPL, the general public license, basically guarantees you four key freedoms.

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The freedom to run the software for any purpose, to study how it works and change

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it,

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to redistribute copies and to distribute copies of your modified versions.

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So real freedom and control.

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Absolutely. It's fundamentally different from just licensing proprietary

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software where the vendor holds all the cards and all the code.

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And that freedom, you're saying, builds community.

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Exactly. It fosters a thriving community.

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Sources mention hundreds of developers already contributing,

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sharing knowledge, helping each other out.

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It's collective brain power improving the software.

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Which means faster improvements potentially.

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Often. Yes. And it leads to an open roadmap.

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Because the community is involved,

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users can actually influence where the software goes.

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You can suggest features, report bugs, contribute code directly, or even fork it.

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Okay. Forking the repository. What's that?

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Forking means you essentially take a complete copy of the current code base and

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start developing your own version from that point.

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Maybe you want a specific feature.

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The main project isn't prioritizing or you want to experiment.

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It's ultimate control. Wow. Okay. That is real ownership.

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And finally there's the security aspect.

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It's secured by design partly because it's open source. How does that work?

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Does an open code mean hackers can see vulnerabilities?

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That's a common misconception. Actually having many eyes,

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potentially thousands of developers worldwide looking at the code means

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vulnerabilities are often found and fixed faster than in a closed system where

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only the vendor's internal team sees it. It's collective oversight. Interesting.

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More eyes make bugs shallower as they say. Precisely.

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And this user sentiment, this trust really comes through in what people are saying

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about 20. Oh yeah. What are users saying? Well, uh,

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Steven Tay called it a secure plus privacy first way to manage relationships

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and even his new favorite OSS company that speaks volumes about

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trust. That's strong praise. Any other examples?

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Wayne Hamadi loved the JSON object fields.

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Jason, what's that about? Why is that good?

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Just an object fields basically let you store flexible structured data without

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having to define every single detail rigidly upfront.

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It means the CRM can adapt easily as your data needs change.

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You're not locked into yesterday's categories. Super flexible adaptability.

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Again. Right.

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John secular said customizing 20 save tons of hours of our operations and called

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it brilliant.

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Allé Munoz praised the whole trend of good looking enterprise ready,

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fully open source tools, seeing 20 as part of that positive movement.

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So it's hitting the mark for people wanting modern, flexible, open tools.

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Seems like it.

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The defy ambassador even recommended it for programming study showing his value

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beyond just being a CRM.

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And Guillaume Lascuria noted how interesting it is that core business tools

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like subscription management and CRMs now have serious open source alternatives,

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particularly coming from why a commonator backed French founders.

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That's quite a context.

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It really poses a question for anyone choosing a CRM, doesn't it?

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Beyond the features list.

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How much do you actually value being able to influence your tools?

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How much do you value that collective oversight and community driven innovation?

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That's a great point.

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So wrapping this up, what's the takeaway for our listeners?

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20 seems to be making a strong case as this modern, powerful,

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but also affordable open source option for managing customer relationships.

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Yeah, it brings together several compelling ideas.

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You get that real ownership, not just renting.

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You tap into a community that's actively building and improving it.

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You get features designed to be flexible and adapt to you and an interface that

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takes cues from modern user-friendly apps.

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A commitment to a better experience driven by openness.

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It definitely makes you think, doesn't it?

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In a world so reliant on data, how important is it to truly own the

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software that manages it instead of just renting access?

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What possibilities open up when you have that level of control and community

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support?

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It's about empowerment, really.

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Taking back control of your core business data and the tools you use to manage it.

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Well, that brings us to the end of this deep dive into 20.

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We hope you feel more informed about this, uh, really interesting open

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source CRM and why it's making some waves.

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And one last big thank you to our sponsor, Safe Server.

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They make these deep dives possible.

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For more on their hosting and digital transformation support, check out

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www.safeserver.de.

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Thanks, Safe Server.

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We'll catch you on the next Deep Dive.