Code to Market

Cursor quietly racks up 8M+ views with dev content on Facebook, while everyone else is still stuck posting for Twitter clout. Meanwhile, teams are rapidly building internal AI tools, keeping systems of record but replacing everything else with CLIs, prompts, and lightweight apps. The real shift isn’t SaaS dying, it’s interfaces changing, and most companies are behind (so you still have plenty of time).

Executives overreacting publicly can backfire, especially when intent is misunderstood, while thoughtful follow-ups and apologies can actually strengthen perception. Replit’s polished launch shows that high production alone isn’t enough, and the real missed opportunity is in how companies “land” launches through follow-up distribution. Meanwhile, Cloudflare continues to dominate the narrative with aggressive platform moves, raising questions about control, positioning, and consistency across their ecosystem.

Which side benefitted more from Cloudflare’s “slop fork” of Next.js and the attention war with Vercel. Also, Raycast’s standout Glaze launch, Resend’s smart migration tooling, clever partner marketing plays that turn product moments into distribution, a bold live demo lesson from Laravel, and a deep dive into AI agents replacing operational work.

Episode 45 of Code to Market covers three very different marketing lessons from the dev world:• A bizarre launch from Taalas that broke some “best practices” on Twitter… and still pulled 4M views.• The HubSpot / OpenCode drama, where Dharmesh Shah forked an open-source project and the maintainers may have fumbled a massive partnership opportunity.• How companies should respond when infrastructure fails, from Clerk outages to the reality that “it’s always your fault” even when an upstream provider goes down.Sometimes great products win even with messy launches.Sometimes founders react instead of spotting the opportunity.We break down what actually matters.

Claude took a direct shot at OpenAI before the Super Bowl.OpenAI responded with an essay (weak!).We break down why the best marketing rattles competitors into reacting, what Claude got right with counter-positioning, why Sam’s response made it worse, and what B2B companies can learn from Salesforce x MrBeast.Plus: how to “surf the wave” when something like OpenClaw blows up without shipping a mediocre take.

A $260 DIY CMS sparked debate on Twitter last month. Hank and Gonto break down Lee Robinson’s (Cursor) post, Sanity’s response, and why both sides actually won from a marketing perspective. They dig into the gap between CMS theory and real-world practice, the rise of vibe coding, and why DevRel’s real job is expanding imagination. Then Hank brings backfield notes from AWS Re:Invent with a rapid-fire “worth it or not” game on booths, swag, and side events. Practical, opinionated, and very online.

Most sales & marketing people hate my email drafts.Because I'm not writing for them; I write for developers.I crafted & tested these drafts for the last decade specifically to get enterprise pipeline from developers in product signup funnels at Vercel, GitLab, Neo4j, & Laravel (plus several startups I've advised).And these emails beat every challenger's drafts for ten years! I believe they're strong enough to endure even if widely used, so I'm happy to share them (just ask).So here's ten minutes of me nerding out about some emails I've worked on for years, including when I first wrote them, the behavioral psychology and cognitive biases I play into, and why sales and marketing people usually dislike them (until they see the results).The drafts: https://ctm.fm/signup-emails

In Episode 40, we break down two big announcements this week and why one absolutely outperformed the other. Cloudflare’s Replicate acquisition vs. RunLayer’s launch and fundraise: clarity, positioning, what’s-in-it-for-me, and how a single quote-tweet can reshape a narrative.Then we dive into Kalshi and PolyMarket’s “news as growth” strategy and how devtools can copy it using zero-click content and product-aligned insights. Fast, tactical episode. Enjoy.Also Hank cut his hair

A startup spent half its preseed on a Nordic sauna office and turned it into pure rage bait. We break down why attention without a real product or halfway decent website is a waste, and how to time fundraise announcements so they actually help you. Then we get into technical SDRs and GTM engineers, how to source and comp them, and why the future of selling devtools looks a lot more like sales engineers than classic AEs. Plus, a quick invite-only peek at the Code to Market Summit at Snowbird.

From AI-generated badges to algorithm-killing YouTube settings, Vercel’s events were full of lessons. We talk about the rise of dual-event strategies, why practice still matters, and how conferences became brand design in motion.

Ramp nailed it. Clay made a polarizing play. Cluely is failing. Branding is the sum of your campaigns and positioning and critical to both getting the right attention and keeping it. From Ramp’s genius Office stunt to Clay’s risky joint-roller bit, it’s all about knowing your audience and going all in when the idea is right.

Framework turned one broke developer’s tweet into millions of impressions in a masterclass in generous marketing. From there, Hank and Gonto dive into why DevRel never really died, how influencer fatigue is pushing everything back in-house, and why AI companies are stuck launching everything twice.

A fast tour of “zags” that earn attention and still drive understanding. We break down PostHog’s playful desktop motif, PlanetScale’s crisp text-first launch page, why Tempo’s eye candy misses the mark, and a scrappy direct mail play from Browserbase. We close with hiring tactics to separate real operators from smooth talkers.

editors note: this was recorded a few weeks before rauchg's real drama with his Israel tweet... we might get to that (subscribe!)Hank and Gonto break down a week of developer-world drama, from DHH’s RailsWorld keynote and his “Merchants of Complexity” crusade to Vercel’s Twitter battles with Cloudflare and Levels.io. They unpack why DHH’s mix of authenticity, conviction, and controversy still works, and how Guillermo Rauch (aka Triangle Man) handled public attacks with precision and class.They also talk about what founders can learn from these fights: why picking public battles strategically builds attention, how to join trending topics without being toxic, and why attention—not content or outbound—is the new currency of marketing.Finally, Gonto shares how he gained 10% more followers (and a ratio from Elizabeth Holmes) by embracing the attention game, while Hank argues that thoughtful controversy is now table stakes for any devtool founder.

Why ignoring best practices works, and why launches only matter if the product sticks.Paul Klein IV, CEO of Browserbase, on growing with launch videos, planes over OpenAI, no dark mode, and red CTA buttons.

What does a second-time founder consider ESSENTIAL for taking his product to market and running his startup, Browserbase?

Cloudflare vs Perplexity heats up, and Browserbase gets pulled into the fight. We dig into Perplexity’s shaky defense, the counter-positioning angle they missed, and why people don’t fully trust either side. Browserbase came out looking sharp, not just inserting themselves but being directly named in Perplexity’s reply. Then we shift to the influencer playbook, from OpenAI’s GPT-5 launch strategy to dark social tactics, and wrap with why bragging about Gartner wins usually backfires.

This week, we break down Cloudflare’s public callout of Perplexity and why it’s a perfect PR move for their new bot-charging feature. Hank recaps Laracon, from selling more tickets than ever to turning a golf course into a sponsor-speaker free-for-all with documentary crews, Lambo stress toys, and collectible jackets & patches. We wrap with the bizarre Astronomer saga and how a Chris Martin ex turned it into viral gold.

We unpack the shift toward solopreneurs, prosumers, and "builder" personas, and what it means for onboarding, support, and product strategy.Then we break down Cluely, the Gen-Z startup with no clear product but a massive hype engine. Does marketing your marketing work? Should every startup build a hype team? And is Cluely the Fyre Festival of devtools?

Raycast got Sherlocked by Apple... or did they? We break down how they flipped the narrative from panic to power move with a killer mix of transparency, humor, and speed. Then we shift gears to talk about Accel’s video content strategy, including one about letting ScaleAI's founder live in a VC's basement. VCs are getting good at content and honestly who saw that coming?