Scaling DevTools – Details, episodes & analysis

This is our 100th episode! 

And we're thrilled to welcome back fan favourite Ant Wilson - the cofounder and CTO of Supabase.

They discuss the evolution of Supabase, the importance of open source, and effective marketing strategies. 

Ant shares insights on community engagement, the significance of developer-centric branding, and the challenges of navigating the enterprise landscape. 

We also touch on the rise of AI and vector databases, emphasizing the power of open source in development. The conversation concludes with reflections on the journey and future aspirations.

Thank you to everyone who made it our 100th episode!

Takeaways

• Open source can significantly enhance hiring opportunities.
• Building a strong brand requires understanding your audience.
• Open source provides a competitive edge against incumbents.
• The importance of stability and security for enterprise clients.
• Time in the market builds trust with potential customers.

Links

• Supabase https://supabase.com/
• Ant Wilson's Twitter https://x.com/antwilson
• pgvector https://supabase.com/docs/guides/database/extensions/pgvector  
• Greg Richardson https://x.com/ggrdson
• Previous episode with Ant https://podcast.scalingdevtools.com/episodes/product-market-fit-is-one-pivot-away-with-ant-wilson-founder-of-supabase

Keywords

open source, developer tools, marketing strategies, community engagement, AI, vector databases, enterprise solutions, product development, tech podcast

Nick Gomez is the co-founder and CEO of InKeep. InKeep is an AI customer support tool focused on Developer Tools.

They discuss the importance of understanding developer needs, the role of AI in technical support, and how community engagement can enhance support efforts.

What we discuss

• AI support for developer tools is different from traditional B2B SaaS support.
• Developers often seek help through documentation and community forums.
• Scaling technical support requires understanding the developer's tech stack.
• Clear communication channels can improve support efficiency.
• AI solutions must prioritize quality to build trust with users.
• Community engagement can help crowdsource support efforts.
• Support teams should continuously improve documentation based on user inquiries.
• 24/7 support can be achieved through AI tools.
• Investing in customer relationships can lead to valuable insights and support.
• Innovative tools are changing the landscape of developer support.

Links:

• Nick Gomez's Twitter https://x.com/nickgomezc
• InKeep https://inkeep.com/ 

Keywords
AI support, developer tools, technical support, community engagement, customer investment, quality assurance, support team structure, 24/7 support, innovations in development

Han Wang is co-founder of Mintlify - modern, out the box documentation.

In this episode, Han shares the story of Mintlify and how to make great docs.

We even talk about the time Paul Graham told them to change their name.

What we cover:
- the origin story of Mintlify
- what is good documentation
- the process of documentation
- how AI is affecting documentation
- why PG told them to change their name

Links:
- Han https://han.dev/
- Mintlify https://mintlify.com/

Created by Jack Bridger, founder of Bitreach. BitReach helps Devtool companies reach more developers. In this series Jack will explore how startups sell to developers, build tools and become successful.

Kate Holterhoff - an analyst from RedMonk - shares why frontend developers are increasingly dictating the adoption of new developer tools.

Kate shares specific examples, including Supabase.

Links:

• Frontend Developers: the Newest New Kingmakers https://redmonk.com/kholterhoff/2024/02/15/frontend-developers-the-newest-new-kingmakers/
• Kate's website https://www.kateholterhoff.com/
• RedMonk https://redmonk.com/
• Kate's Twitter/X https://x.com/KateHolterhoff

Vivian Dufour is the CEO and co-founder of Meterian.

Meterian is an open source vulnerability scanner.

In this episode we talk about topics like:

• Selling to enterprises
• Why you need to make your product easy to test
• Hiring and managing salespeople

Links:

• Meterian: https://www.meterian.io/
• Vivian Dufour - https://www.linkedin.com/in/viviandufour/ 

Ellen Chisa is a partner at Boldstart Ventures. Prior to Boldstart, Ellen founded Darklang - a programming language. Before Darklang, Ellen worked in product.

What we discussed: 

• Startups should focus on building one SDK and doing it well, rather than trying to build multiple SDKs at once.
• North Star metrics
• Developer tooling companies can learn from consumer-facing companies in terms of marketing and creating an identity for their product.
• Being authentic as a founder and actively engaging with the community can help establish a strong brand and attract users. Recognize and leverage your unique strengths and skills.
• Busy work can be valuable
• The importance of segmenting your message

Links:

• Ellen's Twitter/X https://x.com/ellenchisa?lang=en
• Boldstart Ventures https://boldstart.vc/
• darklang https://darklang.com/

How do you write a developer quick start guide that they will love?

That's what we talk about with Amit Jotwani. Amit is the founder of HelloDX and previously worked in developer experience at Retool and Amazon Alexa.

This came about because I was reading Amit's fantastic guide on EveryDeveloper.

Links:

• Amit's website https://ajot.me/
• HelloDX https://hellodx.co/
• Craft Quick Start Guides That Developers Will Love https://everydeveloper.com/quick-start-guides/
• Amit's Twitter/X https://x.com/amit

This episode is sponsored by WorkOS. If you're thinking about selling to enterprise customers, WorkOS can help you add enterprise features like Single Sign On and audit logs.

James Hawkins is the cofounder and CEO of PostHog. PostHog is a platform to analyze, test, observe, and deploy new features.

This is the second time James has been on and the episode is mostly about how they run PostHog.

It's a pretty unconventional approach - probably because James thinks very deeply about how organizations should operate.

What we discuss:

• How PostHog hire
• His approach to one-on-one meetings
• The role of engineers in product development
• The impact of open source projects on PostHog's success
• A surprising secret to success (fun)
• Importance of listening to developers

Links:

• James's Twitter https://x.com/james406
• PostHog https://posthog.com/
• The Mental Workload of Hoovering https://jefhawkins.com/blog/mental-workload-of-hoovering
• Ray Dalio's Principles https://www.principles.com/  
• James's first interview https://podcast.scalingdevtools.com/episodes/working-with-enterprise-clients-with-james-hawkins 

This episode is sponsored by WorkOS. If you're thinking about selling to enterprise customers, WorkOS can help you add enterprise features like Single Sign On and audit logs.

Greg Lazarus and Matt Althauser are two of the cofounders of Polychrome - a company that buys small to medium sized B2B software businesses: with a focus on Developer Tools. Their portfolio includes the feature flagging tool Flagsmith (we recorded an episode with them last week) and the browser automation tool Browserless.

In this episode we cover the ins and outs of buying developer tools.

Links:
- Polychrome https://www.polychrome.com/
- Matt Althauser https://x.com/malthauser?lang=en
- Greg Lazarus https://x.com/greglaz5

This episode is sponsored by WorkOS. If you're thinking about selling to enterprise customers, WorkOS can help you add enterprise features like Single Sign On and audit logs.