Built to serve, not to maximize

Epistola is owned and operated by about five people who co-founded the organization. We’re not a venture-backed startup chasing growth at all costs—we’re a group of founders building software we believe in, together.

We started Epistola because we saw municipalities struggling with document generation tools that were either expensive, inflexible, or locked them into vendor relationships. We wanted to create something better: reliable, open-source software that serves the public good.

Everyone here is a founder in spirit. We make decisions together, we’re accountable to each other, and we move forward as a unified team.

We set clear goals each year: what features we want to build, what infrastructure we need, what SLAs we commit to, and what team we can afford. We budget for those goals. Then we price the software to cover that budget—nothing more, nothing less.

Our revenue comes from three streams: feature development, SLA contracts, and donations. Not every organization needs or wants an SLA, but we still maintain the software, ship security patches, and keep things running. These donations—we call them levensvatbaarheidsbijdragen (viability contributions)—help keep the project sustainable for everyone.

If revenue grows beyond our budget, we have two choices: reinvest the surplus into the product and team, or reduce prices. Returns on investment are capped—we don’t accumulate profit to maximize shareholder returns.

Today, our commitment to this mission rests on the values and promises of our founders. But we want to make it permanent. We’re working toward creating a foundation (stichting) that will legally guard this mission for the long term.

The foundation will ensure that no future change of ownership or direction can override our core principles: fair pricing, open development, and service to the public good. Until then, we operate by the same principles and personally vouch for them.