n8n
Building an open-sourced AI Workflow Platform leader with community
Original Business Case Weekly articleHe built n8n to escape monotony—then turned it into the open-source engine powering how AI automates work. A story of rebellion, code, and community momentum.
A Founder Frustrated by Repetition (2017‑2019)
Your call
You are Jan Oberhauser in 2018, working nights on an automation tool while keeping a part-time job. Existing products are easier for nontechnical users; your prototype is flexible, self-hostable, and harder to explain. Which user do you design for first, when do you leave the job, and what evidence from the GitHub launch would justify doing so?