Welcome to the deep dive. So glad you're joining us again. Great to be here.
Today we're tackling something, well, really essential for any business,
but maybe a bit daunting. If you're just starting out,
we're talking about managing customer relationships.
Crucial stuff. Exactly. And specifically,
we're doing a deep dive into a platform called 20.
It's getting a lot of buzz actually being called the number one open source CRM.
Right. 20. Seeing that name pop up more and more. Before we really, uh,
get into what makes 20 tick a quick, but important thank you to our supporter,
safe server. Ah, yes. Safe server.
They handle hosting for software just like this,
and they can really help you out with your digital transformation.
You can find more info at www.safeserver.de. Good folks over there.
Definitely. Okay. So our mission today,
we've seen sources positioning 20 as this, um,
modern, powerful alternative to the big players, you know, like sales for giants.
Yeah.
So our goal is to kind of cut through the jargon,
understand what 20 is, why it even exists and what makes it special,
especially if you're, let's say new to CRMs,
customer relationship management systems. Absolutely.
And maybe we should start right there. Like what is a CRM for someone who hasn't
really used one before. Good idea. At its core, um,
a CRM customer relationship management system.
It's basically the command center for your businesses, customer interactions.
A band center. I like that. Yeah. It's a tool, right? Yeah.
Designed to help you manage and track and, uh,
analyze every single touch point, every piece of data you have about your customers.
So everything from the first email to ongoing support.
Exactly. Throughout their whole journey with you.
Think of it maybe as the operating system for all your customer data.
It keeps everything organized. That makes sense. So, okay.
If CRMs are so fundamental, so crucial, why do we need another one? Like 20?
The market seems pretty full, doesn't it? That's a fair question.
And this is where it gets really interesting because the sources we looked at
suggest 20 wasn't just built to be another CRM.
It was built to solve some real specific problems. Pain points, you could say.
Addressing frustrations. Right. First one they mentioned is cost and vendor lock-in.
Ah, the classic problem. Yeah. Imagine you pick a CRM,
you spend years putting all your valuable customer data into it,
and then you're kind of stuck. Totally reliant on that one provider. Exactly.
And the sources highlight how vendors can then, well,
basically hike up the prices cause they know it's a huge pain for you to switch.
You're locked in. It's hard to leave.
20's whole philosophy seems to be pushing back on that.
They literally say it shouldn't be that way.
They don't think you should pay escalating fees just to access your own data.
It's about ownership, not just renting.
That's a big differentiator right there. Ownership versus rental.
Huge. Okay. Second reason.
They saw a chance for a fresh start, a better experience.
Meaning the old ones are clunky.
Let's be honest. Yeah. A lot of traditional CRMs can feel outdated.
Maybe not very intuitive to use.
A bit of a chore sometimes.
Right. So 20's founders apparently wanted to learn from those past mistakes.
They looked at modern tools, things like Notion, Airtable, Linear,
apps people actually like using.
Tools with really slick, modern interfaces.
Exactly. And they wanted to bring that kind of smooth, cohesive,
almost enjoyable experience to the CRM world.
That makes a lot of sense.
User experience is key and that ties into the third point, doesn't it?
Their belief in open source and community.
It does. Explain that a bit more.
What does open source really mean for the average user, not just a developer?
Well, connecting it to the bigger picture.
It means fundamentally more control, more control over your data, your processes.
Open source means you actually get ownership of the software's code,
not just a license to use it.
OK, so you own it. You don't just rent it.
You coming back to that.
Precisely. You get the simplicity you might associate with
soft software as a service, you know, subscription models.
But you combine that with the freedom, the potential cost savings
and the transparency of open source.
You're not tied to one vendor's decisions or price hikes.
So you're not beholden to them. That sounds powerful.
It is. It's a different way of thinking about your software tools.
OK, so we get the why now.
Addressing cost, bad UX and championing ownership through open source.
Let's switch gears.
How does this actually work day to day for a beginner
or someone looking for something easier?
What can you do with 20? Right. The practical stuff.
Well, the sources describe 20 as aiming to be an operating system
for your customer data. We heard that before.
Yeah. What does that mean in practice?
It means it's designed to be super adaptable.
You can apparently import large data sets pretty easily.
You can customize it to fit your specific business needs.
And you can automate tasks by connecting it to other tools
using things like APIs and Webhooks.
OK, hold on. APIs and Webhooks.
Can you break those down simply?
What do they let a user do?
Sure. Think of APIs application programming interfaces like
universal translators or bridges between different software.
They let different apps talk to each other and share information smoothly.
OK, so 20 can talk to my email client or my accounting software.
Potentially, yeah.
And Webhooks are like little automatic notifications.
When something specific happens in one app,
a Webhook can instantly tell another app to do something.
Like an alert. Exactly.
So together, APIs and Webhooks mean 20 can integrate really tightly
with your other tools, keeping everything in sync automatically.
It helps the CRM grow with your business, not hold it back.
Got it. That sounds genuinely useful.
So what features would I actually see and use inside 20?
Well, they've focused on making things intuitive.
For instance, you can personalize your layouts.
You can filter your data, sort it how you want, group things.
Standard stuff, but important. Right.
And they offer different views like tables, but also Kanban views.
OK, Kanban. Explain that one for folks who might not know the term.
Think of it like a digital whiteboard with columns.
Each column represents a stage and a process like for sales.
You might have lead qualified proposal sent negotiating one.
So you can drag and drop deals between stages.
Exactly. It gives you a really clear visual of your workflow where everything
stands.
Super helpful for tracking progress visually. Nice.
What about making the CRM fit my specific business?
You mentioned customization.
Yeah, a big one is being able to customize objects in fields.
This goes back to that ownership idea.
Instead of being forced into predefined categories,
you can adapt 20 to track the specific information you need about your customers.
You define the structure.
So more flexibility than some rigid systems.
Much more. Then for teams, there's managing who can do what.
You can create and manage permissions with custom roles.
Essential for larger teams or even small ones with sensitive data.
Absolutely. You control who sees which data and what actions they can take.
Keeps things secure and organized.
What about saving time? Automation.
Yep. You can automate workflows using triggers and actions.
So you set rules like if a deal moves to the proposed stage,
automatically create a follow up task for the sales rep.
Oh, that could save a lot of manual work.
Definitely reduces errors. Make sure things don't get missed.
OK. And daily tools like email, calendar.
Big focus there.
It has seamless integration with everyday tools, email, calendar, files.
The source has mentioned email sync specifically.
You can choose how much info gets shared with the team.
How so? Like you could share the whole email subject, body,
attachments, or maybe just the subject line and who was involved,
or even just that an email happened at a certain time.
Gives you control over privacy while still keeping the CRM updated.
That's quite granular control. Useful. Any other nice touches?
Yeah, the basics done well.
Things like tasks and notes, easy ways to track your to do's.
So you never miss a deal, as they say.
And the notes support rich text blocks and markdown.
Markdown. Quick explanation.
It's just a really simple way to format text using plain characters,
like use asterisks for bold or hashes for headings.
Makes notes easy to write and easy to read.
Plus, they mention things like intuitive keyboard shortcuts,
CMD plus K for search, which is common in modern apps
and even a dark mode option.
Little things that improve the daily user experience.
Right. Those quality of life features add up.
So we've mentioned open source a few times.
Let's circle back and really unpack what that means beyond just the code being
available.
What's the power in it for the user?
Yeah, it's more than just a technical label.
If you connect it to the bigger picture, it's really about
fostering innovation and trust through community.
OK. How does that work?
Well, first, as we said, you own you don't rent.
It uses the GPL license.
GPL. What does that guarantee the user?
GPL, the general public license, basically guarantees you four key freedoms.
The freedom to run the software for any purpose, to study how it works and change
it,
to redistribute copies and to distribute copies of your modified versions.
So real freedom and control.
Absolutely. It's fundamentally different from just licensing proprietary
software where the vendor holds all the cards and all the code.
And that freedom, you're saying, builds community.
Exactly. It fosters a thriving community.
Sources mention hundreds of developers already contributing,
sharing knowledge, helping each other out.
It's collective brain power improving the software.
Which means faster improvements potentially.
Often. Yes. And it leads to an open roadmap.
Because the community is involved,
users can actually influence where the software goes.
You can suggest features, report bugs, contribute code directly, or even fork it.
Okay. Forking the repository. What's that?
Forking means you essentially take a complete copy of the current code base and
start developing your own version from that point.
Maybe you want a specific feature.
The main project isn't prioritizing or you want to experiment.
It's ultimate control. Wow. Okay. That is real ownership.
And finally there's the security aspect.
It's secured by design partly because it's open source. How does that work?
Does an open code mean hackers can see vulnerabilities?
That's a common misconception. Actually having many eyes,
potentially thousands of developers worldwide looking at the code means
vulnerabilities are often found and fixed faster than in a closed system where
only the vendor's internal team sees it. It's collective oversight. Interesting.
More eyes make bugs shallower as they say. Precisely.
And this user sentiment, this trust really comes through in what people are saying
about 20. Oh yeah. What are users saying? Well, uh,
Steven Tay called it a secure plus privacy first way to manage relationships
and even his new favorite OSS company that speaks volumes about
trust. That's strong praise. Any other examples?
Wayne Hamadi loved the JSON object fields.
Jason, what's that about? Why is that good?
Just an object fields basically let you store flexible structured data without
having to define every single detail rigidly upfront.
It means the CRM can adapt easily as your data needs change.
You're not locked into yesterday's categories. Super flexible adaptability.
Again. Right.
John secular said customizing 20 save tons of hours of our operations and called
it brilliant.
Allé Munoz praised the whole trend of good looking enterprise ready,
fully open source tools, seeing 20 as part of that positive movement.
So it's hitting the mark for people wanting modern, flexible, open tools.
Seems like it.
The defy ambassador even recommended it for programming study showing his value
beyond just being a CRM.
And Guillaume Lascuria noted how interesting it is that core business tools
like subscription management and CRMs now have serious open source alternatives,
particularly coming from why a commonator backed French founders.
That's quite a context.
It really poses a question for anyone choosing a CRM, doesn't it?
Beyond the features list.
How much do you actually value being able to influence your tools?
How much do you value that collective oversight and community driven innovation?
That's a great point.
So wrapping this up, what's the takeaway for our listeners?
20 seems to be making a strong case as this modern, powerful,
but also affordable open source option for managing customer relationships.
Yeah, it brings together several compelling ideas.
You get that real ownership, not just renting.
You tap into a community that's actively building and improving it.
You get features designed to be flexible and adapt to you and an interface that
takes cues from modern user-friendly apps.
A commitment to a better experience driven by openness.
It definitely makes you think, doesn't it?
In a world so reliant on data, how important is it to truly own the
software that manages it instead of just renting access?
What possibilities open up when you have that level of control and community
support?
It's about empowerment, really.
Taking back control of your core business data and the tools you use to manage it.
Well, that brings us to the end of this deep dive into 20.
We hope you feel more informed about this, uh, really interesting open
source CRM and why it's making some waves.
And one last big thank you to our sponsor, Safe Server.
They make these deep dives possible.
For more on their hosting and digital transformation support, check out
www.safeserver.de.
Thanks, Safe Server.
We'll catch you on the next Deep Dive.