Developer Relations

Recommended by Gitbar. It could be useful since I want to be more than an individual contributor. I do not expect much from it, but at least a clear view of what we are looking for.

I did not read much of it; it felt boring and basic at the time. It could be useful for someone non-technical joining a tech startup, but it left little for me. It is a strategic guide on how to build and sell products for developers, such as SDKs, APIs, and tools.

Notes

• The developer economy is worth about 40 billion dollars, with ARR still growing. It is a fast-growing field
• Developers are logical and systematic thinkers. Very critical, they do not tolerate lies, facades, or people who do not understand them
• The goal of Developer Relations is to make sure a developer is successful with your product
• A developer’s primary goal is to be able to say “I built this.” You must help them do something of value and celebrate their achievements
• Different types of companies (developer first, like Netlify; developer plus, like Amazon, which also needs to ship the SDK)
• Sometimes resistance is due to someone internal who does not want others to drive innovation. They seek control and block what does not come from them. Find ways to involve them
• Targeting developers as a whole is a recipe for failure. There is too much variety. Create personas and target segments
• Nothing is more irritating for a developer than a missing price that pushes you to book a call with sales
• During evaluation, the developer needs to try the tool hands-on to see if it is useful. Give them all the info they need in a simple format
• Hello World should be your first milestone, the first step. Goal: make it as easy and fast as possible