Blender Growth Playbook

Ton Roosendaal realized that the high cost of 3D software ($5,000+) was gatekeeping the world's most powerful creative medium, so he liberated the code to empower the 'Global Creator'.

The 'Open-Movie' R&D Loop & The 'Academic-Abandonment' of Paid Tools: Blender tacticaly won by becoming 'Too Big to Fail'. Their growth engine is 'The Blender Institute'—producing world-class short films using only Blender, which forces the software to solve real-world production problems. By being 'Free Forever,' they became the default choice for the entire next generation of 3D artists in emerging markets. Their growth relies on 'Industry-Founders' support—with Valve, Epic, and Ubisoft now donating millions to the foundation, realizing that a powerful open-source standard is better for the entire 3D industry.