We all know that virtual machines have dominated IT infrastructure for 25 years... but is that era really at an end?
In Episode 98 of Great Things with Great Tech, Lucas Gentele, CEO of Loft Labs, shares how Loft is reshaping infrastructure by eliminating the need for virtual machines. Starting from early entrepreneurial roots and open-source projects like DevSpace, Lucas explains how Loft Labs tackled Kubernetes inefficiencies by building multi-tenant solutions like vCluster and vNode. Their innovations enable Kubernetes clusters to run more securely, efficiently, and cost-effectively without traditional VM overhead. As companies seek alternatives to legacy virtualization, Loft Labs mission is to bring lightweight, scalable, and open-source virtual clusters into more environments, making Kubernetes accessible for both development and production workloads
🔹 In This Episode, We Cover:
✔️ The journey from DevSpace to founding Loft Labs and the rise of Kubernetes multi-tenancy.
✔️ Why the traditional VM-based model is becoming obsolete — and what’s replacing it.
✔️ How Loft’s vCluster and vNode are revolutionizing Kubernetes cluster management.
✔️ The impact of Broadcom’s VMware acquisition on cloud infrastructure strategies.
✔️ The future of cloud-native infrastructure: virtual clusters, no VMs, better scalability.
00:00 Intro: Are Virtual Machines Dead?
01:08 Meet Lukas Gentele: Entrepreneurial Journey
04:14 From Contracting to Founding Loft Labs
06:10 Building DevSpace: Developer Productivity on Kubernetes
07:56 What is vCluster? Virtualizing Kubernetes Control Planes
09:52 Early Challenges: Free Tier vs Paying Customers
11:20 Scaling Kubernetes: Bare Metal + Multi-Tenancy
13:26 Multi-Tenancy Breakthroughs with Loft Labs
14:19 How vCluster Works: Syncers, Virtual Schedulers, and Control Planes
17:08 New Use Cases: Development, Sandboxing, Workshops
18:35 Why Bare Metal + vCluster Beats Traditional VMs
20:19 The Broadcom-VMware Shakeup and Cloud Strategy Shifts
21:30 VM Alternatives Aren’t Enough: Limitations of MicroVMs
23:20 Kubernetes Today vs 10 Years Ago
24:54 Real Impact: From 200 VMs to Zero
26:09 Clarification: Loft Labs Focuses on Cloud-Native Apps
27:55 Advanced Multi-Tenancy with vNode
29:01 The Rise of GPU Cloud and Bare Metal Providers
30:42 The Next Generation Doesn’t Know or Care About VMs
33:16 Loft Labs' Future Vision: Virtual Clusters Everywhere
34:47 What’s Next: Democratizing Virtual Kubernetes Clusters
37:32 Closing Thoughts: A Future Without VMs
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EPISODE LINKS
Loft Labs: https://www.loft.sh
Lukas Gentele on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gentele
Loft Labs on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/loftlabs
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