"People looking for open-source solutions are not looking to spend money, it's usually the opposite."
I don't think that's true. In previous positions where I've had significant influence on budget spend I've still favored open source solutions because they make more sense from a risk point of view: should the vendor fail, the product has a solid chance of continuing to be useful.
I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here except some people/companies have different priorities -- and if that's the case then there's room for both VC backed startups and smaller open-source projects.
I don't think that's true. In previous positions where I've had significant influence on budget spend I've still favored open source solutions because they make more sense from a risk point of view: should the vendor fail, the product has a solid chance of continuing to be useful.