In this conversation, Debo Ray interviews Matt Makai, VP of Developer Relations and Experience at LaunchDarkly, about his background and his work in developer relations. They discuss the importance of being a developer when working in developer relations, the role of input and output metrics in measuring success, and the tactics that Twilio used to drive developer adoption. Matt also shares his tool, Plush Cap, which helps track input metrics for developer-focused companies. In this conversation, Matt Makai discusses the importance of balancing events and technical content in developer relations. He shares his experience at Twilio and Assembly AI, highlighting the success they achieved by investing in technical tutorials and YouTube content. Matt emphasizes the need for companies to focus on one area of expertise while also recognizing the value of diversifying their strategies. He also discusses the benefits of having a globally distributed DevRel team and the importance of measuring the ROI of different activities.

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Takeaways

• Being a developer yourself can help in understanding and connecting with your target audience
• Input metrics, such as the number of blog posts and tutorials published, can be used to measure the effectiveness of developer relations efforts
• Output metrics, such as signups and API usage, can indicate the success and growth of a developer-focused company
• Tactics like live demos and code examples can inspire and equip developers to use a product or API
• Founder involvement and evangelism can be key to building a successful developer relations team
• Tools like Plush Cap can help track and analyze input metrics for developer-focused companies Balancing events and technical content can drive significant results in developer relations.
• Focusing on one area of expertise while diversifying strategies can lead to success.
• Having a globally distributed DevRel team allows for authentic interactions with developers worldwide.
• Measuring the ROI of different activities is crucial for demonstrating the value of developer relations.
• Technical credibility, curiosity, humility, and hustle are important attributes for DevRel professionals.

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Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

08:43 Structuring Developer Relations Teams

12:52 Using Input and Output Metrics to Measure Success

20:50 Jeff Lawson - The role model for Developer Evangelist

26:07 Balancing Developer Events and Technical Content

32:24 The key to superb developer experience

35:26 Managing distributed developer relation teams

42:08 Measuring the ROI on Developer Relations

48:20 The Perception of Developer Relations

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