Thank you Justin, great insight!
On Sat, Nov 22, 2025 at 8:23 AM Justin Mclean <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi, > > I reviewed ten years of Incubator data (2016 to 2025) from more than 100 > podlings. Here are some patterns that might help podlings, mentors, and the > IPMC. > > 1. Slow starts are normal > Most podlings spend their first 6 to 12 months getting set up and learning > ASF processes. It’s normal for things to be quiet at the start, so there’s > no need to worry. > > 2. Growth usually begins after the first release > At this point, new contributors often join, code reviews become more > frequent, and promotions usually begin. > > 3. Healthy podlings grow steadily > Healthy podlings keep adding contributors, recognise people who stay > involved, grow their PPMC, and rely less on mentors as they go. > > 4. Struggling podlings show the opposite > Struggling podlings often start with large teams but don’t attract new > contributors. They might go a long time without growing, keep the same PPMC > list, and depend on mentors to make decisions. > > 5. Promotion culture matters > Both high-bar and low-bar podlings can graduate, but successful ones > usually recognise people earlier. Podlings that never promote anyone, or > don’t make the bar clear, tend to struggle the most. > > 6. Behaviour is the best predictor > Open decision-making, visible participation, and community-led governance > are much stronger signs of graduation than any single metric. > > 7. PPMC growth is the strongest governance signal > Graduated podlings show real PPMC growth, while retired podlings rarely do. > > You can find the document here. [1] > > Kind regards, > Justin > > 1. > https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/INCUBATOR/Community+and+Governance+Growth > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] > > -- Thanks, Xin
