Developer Marketing Stories

Jon Gottfried recounts the founding story of Major League Hacking (MLH), from its origins in connecting university hackathon communities to becoming a platform that has reached over one million developers. He discusses pivotal moments like landing Dell as their first major sponsor and explains why word-of-mouth marketing outperformed paid acquisition for their developer audience. Jon reveals their intentional strategy of using branded merchandise as identity markers and demonstrates how initially unscalable personal connections evolved into systematic community-building processes. Throughout the conversation, Jon emphasizes that measuring impact through changed lives has been far more meaningful than tracking vanity metrics, offering valuable insights for anyone building developer communities. Developer Marketing Stories is brought to you by Developer Marketing in Practice, the training and coaching program that helps you level-up your developer marketing career. https://developer.marketing

Launching GitHub Copilot wasn’t just another product launch—it was a shift in how developers interact with AI. Alyss Noland breaks down the challenges of taking an experimental product from a skunkworks project to a widely adopted tool, while managing internal expectations and developer trust. Alyss shares what worked, what didn’t, and the lessons that apply to any developer-focused go-to-market strategy. From balancing executive priorities to making pricing decisions with limited data, this conversation is packed with insights for anyone bringing a developer product to market. See the transcript and more at https://developer.marketing

What happens when you accidentally discover a whole new developer audience?   At Twitch, Katie Penn and her team set out to build a platform for game integrations—but instead found developers eager to live code. She shares how they recognized the opportunity, leaned into it, and built a thriving developer ecosystem.   Sponsored by Developer Marketing in Practice: The coaching and training program to level-up your developer marketing career.   Episode outline:   01:26 – Understanding Twitch’s developer audienceKatie explains how Twitch initially focused on gaming integrations but saw the opportunity to expand into a broader developer ecosystem. 03:35 – Using live streaming to engage developersKatie shares how her team experimented with live coding streams, unexpectedly drawing in developer advocates and growing a new community. 07:21 – The challenge of trust in developer marketingReflecting on Twitter’s Fabric launch, Katie highlights the difficulty of rebuilding developer trust after past missteps. 10:17 – Why showing ‘under the hood’ mattersKatie emphasizes how transparency—whether through blog posts or live demos—helps developers connect with a platform. 12:29 – Segmenting developer audiences effectivelyKatie discusses how different types of developers (enterprise, hobbyists, mobile app developers) have distinct motivations and engagement patterns. 19:19 – Strategies for engaging different developer typesKatie outlines how different audiences require tailored approaches, from partnerships to content marketing to meetups. 26:30 – Metrics for tracking developer engagementKatie breaks down key metrics Twitch used to measure the health of its developer community, from API calls to extension adoption. 30:06 – Lessons from Twitter and TwitchKatie reflects on the risks of overpromising to developers and why developer programs need to be core to a company’s business. 35:18 – Advice for new developer marketersKatie shares why product marketing skills are essential in DevRel and how marketers can establish themselves as strategic partners.

Kasey Byrne shares lessons from her time at Postman and NPM, including how to grow free users into power users without crossing the line. She talks about the importance of showcasing creative use cases, avoiding buzzwords, and building authentic relationships with technical audiences. We also dig into the challenges of attribution in developer marketing and why curiosity about the product and user pain points is crucial. Whether you're in DevRel or developer marketing, this conversation offers fresh insights into what works—and what doesn’t. See the transcript and more at https://developer.marketing Get developer marketing for you or for your team.

Corey Quinn is hard to miss if you're even slightly interested in the AWS ecosystem. As founder of Duckbill Group, Corey built his brand on speaking frankly—and often humorously—about AWS billing headaches. In this episode, he reveals how he transformed Duckbill from a one-person consultancy into a trusted cloud cost management team. he shares his thoughts on balancing personal and business branding, engaging multiple audiences without losing credibility, and building a content engine that keeps Duckbill top of mind. And, although Corey isn't your typical developer marketer, he has actionable advice to share with anyone building a brand that connects with engineers.   This podcast is brought to you by Developer Marketing in Practice, the coaching and training program to elevate your developer marketing career.   See the transcript and more at https://developer.marketing/

Gonto, a pioneer in developer marketing and Auth0’s first marketer, reveals how he set out to build a version of marketing tailored for developers. His innovative approach played a key role in driving Auth0’s growth, ultimately leading to its IPO and $6.5 billion dollar acquisition.   Brought to you by the developer narketing coaching and training program by Matthew Revell and Adam DuVander. Learn more at developer.marketing.   Episode timeline 01:10 – Gonto’s start at Auth0: Gonto explains how he joined Auth0, shifting from a developer to a DevRel role, and eventually taking on marketing responsibilities despite his fears. 02:31 – The shift from developer to marketer: Gonto talks about his friends' skepticism and how he wanted to prove marketing could be done differently, with honesty and authenticity. 06:00 – Should your first marketing hire be a developer? Gonto discusses whether the first marketing hire at a developer tools company should have a technical background. 08:43 – A different approach to marketing: Gonto describes how his background as a developer helped him shape marketing strategies that are genuine, data-driven, and based on systematic thinking. 11:30 – Developer trust and marketing tactics: The conversation shifts to how Gonto built trust with developers by offering honest, helpful marketing content, and solving their problems without aggressively promoting Auth0. 13:02 – Choosing the right developer audiences: Gonto shares insights on why they chose frontend developers and specific technologies as key targets in the early days of Auth0. 15:22 – Repeatable marketing processes: Gonto offers advice on how startups can find the right developer audiences and communities by staying informed about new technologies and frameworks. 21:30 – Marketing to multiple audiences: The discussion moves to marketing when different technical audiences are involved, such as DevOps and developers, and how to convince multiple stakeholders within an organization. 24:20 – Enterprise sales and developer involvement: Gonto explains how the majority of Auth0’s enterprise deals came through inbound developer interest and the steps they took to convert developers into enterprise customers. 29:00 – What didn’t work: ads: Gonto shares some of the tactics that failed, including poorly targeted ads and struggles with hiring product marketers who didn’t understand the technical product. 34:00 – The importance of metrics and systematic thinking: Gonto reflects on how metrics and systematic thinking guided his marketing strategies and helped the team track success, and how over time he learned that creativity can matter more than data. Watch the video > Further reading Gonto's website Developer Marketing Coaching and Training Hoopy and EveryDeveloper