Story
Hello there, Matteo Latini here. 
As I'm updating our playbook, I thought it would be apt to share the story of Nebulab from my perspective.
As I'm updating our playbook, I thought it would be apt to share the story of Nebulab from my perspective.The early days
Let me take you back to 2011. Nebulab was born out of the shared vision between Alberto Vena, Davide di Stefano, and Matteo Latini (that's me!). Alberto and I first met at the Sapienza University in Rome, where we were both pursuing computer science degrees. Bonding over a common desire to prioritize quality over profitability, we resisted the temptation of landing jobs at large, bureaucratic companies, yearning instead for a more fulfilling endeavor.
Our paths crossed with Davide at a small consulting company founded by Alberto, you could say Nebulab's inception. Instantly recognizing his talent for design, Alberto was confident that Davide was the perfect fit for the vision we had in mind. Excited by the prospect, the three of us pooled our resources, contributing around 10,000 euros each, marking the birth of Nebulab.
From day one, we embraced a remote-first approach. Given that I was based near Rome and Alberto and Davide near Pescara, working through chat, online meetings, and embodying a natural predisposition to do things in a lean, fast, and efficient way was an obvious choice. This may seem commonplace today, but back in 2011, we were pioneers of these methodologies.
One of the things that I'm most proud of is that Nebulab has been self-funded since its inception. We've managed to scale our team from just three of us to more than 50 talented individuals, all with an initial budget of just 30,000 euros. The journey was challenging, but it has granted us the financial freedom to always put our employees' well-being first.
The name
We've always been a bit of a quirky bunch – three sci-fi nerds at heart. This inspired the company's name, Nebulab, which combined our love for space (hence 'Nebula') with our desire to be seen as an experimental 'lab'. It's amusing how often people want to add an 's' at the end of Nebulab, but let me assure you, it's just Nebulab – no 's'.
Open source and eCommerce
When we started out, we knew we wanted to build high-quality software, and to achieve that, we needed a platform that offered great standards. Ruby on Rails, booming at the time, was the natural choice.
Initially, we were open to all sorts of applications but, as time passed, we realized we enjoyed the practicality of working in the eCommerce space. We often say the eCommerce industry chose us. It offered the perfect blend of challenges and opportunities for quick return on investment.
A significant part of our journey has been our deep involvement with open-source projects. We started with Spree, an open-source eCommerce framework built with Ruby on Rails. As the years went by, we were able to work with some of the biggest eCommerce brands in the United States, thanks to our remote-first approach and dedication to providing top-quality solutions.
However, when Spree became unmaintained, we moved to Solidus, a fork of Spree and stayed there all along. Despite the bumpy journey, we ultimately became the primary maintainers of Solidus, an accomplishment that fills us with immense pride.
Looking back, I feel a sense of accomplishment seeing how far we've come, and I eagerly anticipate the exciting journey that still lies ahead for us at Nebulab.