Scaling DevTools

David is the CEO of Arcjet. Arcjet is a tool that helps developers protect their apps once they go into production. It offers Bot detection, rate limiting, email validation, attack protection, data redaction.David is also the creator of the console.dev newsletter and podcast. It's where thousands of developers discover developer tools. In this episode we discuss how David thinks about creating content. Why he believes go-to-market is more difficult than product and how he works on creating great developer experience. Links:- Arcjet https://arcjet.com/- David Mytton - https://davidmytton.blog/ - Console https://console.dev/AI DevTools hackathon this weekend in SF:- Event page https://lu.ma/devtools-hackathon- More info https://www.devtoolshackathon.com/

Vlad Matsiiako is the CEO and co-founder of Infisical. Infisical is an Open Source Secret Management tool.What we discuss:- The story of Infisical- How the team has made Infisical easy to adopt- How being open source helps you with trust at the beginning stages- How do enterprises adopt Infisical- How do developers at enterprises discover tools like Infisical- The different mini-games at various stages of a startup (Dalton Caldwell)  LinksVlad - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vmatsiiako/Infisical - https://infisical.com/

Andrew Lisowski is the cohost of devtools.fm. In this episode we talk about why Andrew started devtools.fm and what he's learned along the way. Life as an open source maintainer.How the JavaScript ecosystem is different to other developer ecosystems.The importance of dogfooding.The power of DHH.Why obsessing over one problem eventually leads to great resultsShould DevTools start podcasts and how?Links:devtools.fm - https://www.devtools.fm/Andrew's Twitter - https://x.com/HipsterSmoothiedevtools.fm Twitter - https://x.com/DevtoolsFMInterview with DHH https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEZNbM4MUdoInterview with Evan You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycuYlzuBqcAInterview with Richard Harris https://www.devtools.fm/episode/15

Robby (Amanda Robson) is the co-host of Open Source Startup Podcast (with Tim Chen).In this episode we discuss:There are many ways to open source successWhen open source is a good strategy and when it isn'tWhy open source projects usually need time to brewHow to know if your project is venture scaleWhy Robby believes in the Open Source modelRobby is working on a highly mysterious new thing 👀Links:- Robby's Twitter/X https://x.com/amanda_robs?lang=en- Open Source Startup Podcast https://oss-startup-podcast.launchnotes.io/- Interview with Paul from Supabase https://oss-startup-podcast.launchnotes.io/announcements/episode-43-building-supabase-the-open-source-firebase-alternative- Interview with Leyland from Mobile Dev https://oss-startup-podcast.launchnotes.io/announcements/episode-63-mobile-dev-s-new-mobile-testing-framework-maestro - mobile dev https://www.mobile.dev/- Tim's Twitter/X https://x.com/tnachen

Hamzah Chaudhary is the cofounder of Lightdash, an open source, self-serve BI tool. In this episode, Hamzah shares:Their initial plan to build a consultancy and how it morphed into a product to solve their customer's needsHow open source works as a strategyBringing software engineering tools to the BI domainHow they reach their usersHow they partner with bigger organizationsLinks:Lightdash https://www.lightdash.com/Lightdash GitHub https://github.com/lightdash/lightdashHamzah's Twitter https://x.com/hamzahc1

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

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 enterprisesWhy you need to make your product easy to testHiring and managing salespeopleLinks: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 metricsDeveloper 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 valuableThe importance of segmenting your messageLinks:Ellen's Twitter/X https://x.com/ellenchisa?lang=enBoldstart 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/amitThis 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 hireHis approach to one-on-one meetingsThe role of engineers in product developmentThe impact of open source projects on PostHog's successA surprising secret to success (fun)Importance of listening to developersLinks:James's Twitter https://x.com/james406PostHog https://posthog.com/The Mental Workload of Hoovering https://jefhawkins.com/blog/mental-workload-of-hooveringRay 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/greglaz5This 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.

Ben Rometsch is the founder of Flagsmith. Flagsmith is a Feature Flag & Remote Config Service that recently reached $3m ARR.Ben candidly shares exactly how they started, how they got enterprise customers and how they worked with Polychrome to take Flagsmith to the next level.Links:Ben's Twitter https://x.com/dabeeeensterFlagsmith https://www.flagsmith.com/Polychrome https://polychrome.com/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.

Aaron Francis is someone who needs little introduction. Especially if you've ever used Laravel or MySQL. Aaron built up the highly acclaimed PlanetScale YouTube channel and now publishes content on his own channel and founded Try Hard Studios to help developer tools make amazing video content.Here are some quotes from Aaron's viewers:hey man your videos kick ass and i cannot thank you enough for your approach with these. your videos can be watched once and understood... every single one of them... i don't know how you do it, but the way you have picked to teach anything you teach is incredible. you freaking rock! thank you!Great stuff! Love that you mix in a bit of fun with the content, it's what got me to subscribe!I have been working with MySQL for last 17 years and I never use cursor but your video helped me to understand MySQL cursor. Thank youiterally laughing out loud several times. absolute gold.(partner's like "what are you watching?!" "a guy seeding a database!"In this episode, we take a deep dive into how Aaron makes videos and what you can learn from his approach.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.Links:Aaron's channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aarondfrancisAaron's Twitter https://x.com/aarondfrancisMostly Technical Podcast - https://mostlytechnical.com/ Try Hard Studios: https://tryhardstudios.com/Aaron's Handwriting robots - https://x.com/aarondfrancis/status/1438888219471491074?lang=en 

Dani Grant is the founder of Jam.dev - bug reporting that developers love.In this episode we discuss:Product development & user retentionIterating to product market fitBranding - what it is/why it mattersPrioritising product features based on feedbackAI powered debuggingLinks:Jam.dev https://jam.dev/ Dani’s Twitter https://twitter.com/thedanigrant 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.

Chris Bell is the founder of Knock.app - flexible, reliable notifications infrastructure.In this episode we discuss:Designing APIsThe importance of champions when selling to enterpriseHow do you justify cost of a developer tool?Selling to platform teamsLinks:Knock https://knock.app/Twitter https://twitter.com/cjbell_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.

Jason Bosco is the founder of Typesense. Typesense is the Open Source alternative to Algolia. Typesense is a batteries-included Search API.We discuss how Jason built Typesense to be a hugely successful company without VC funding. We talk about what revenue-funding means and why it should be considered as a viable option for founders.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.Links:- Jason's Twitter: https://twitter.com/jasonbosco- Typesense https://typesense.org/ 

An interview with Igor Zalutski & Utpal Nadiger from Digger.dev.Digger is an Open Source Infrastructure as Code management tool that helps orchestrate Terraform and OpenTofu within your CI/CD system.We talk about:What changed since Jack worked with DiggerHow they pivoted four times to find PMFHow do you know you have somethingOpenTofu & ThePrimeagenThis 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.Links:https://digger.dev/Igor - https://twitter.com/igorzijUtpal - https://twitter.com/NadigerUtpal

Dana Oshiro is a General Partner at Heavybit. Heavybit is a VC that invests exclusively in developer-first startups.What we discuss:One sharp thing. Finding an addressable chunk of a bigger opportunity. Thinking big & smallAre 5 people seriously going to support our migration from DataDog? At Facebook you had a lot of support people/systems you're forgettingFinding the sidedoorStepping up as a founderFear of hitting up the people you respect.Best founders build for themselvesDo founders get better at putting themselves out there?  Speaking in front of people to make change - "there's a new approach. We deserve better!"MovementsDevOps & JamStackDon't try to control the movementJoining into other movementsLinksDana Oshiro https://twitter.com/danaoshiroHeavybit https://heavybit.com/Thanks to Adam DuVander from https://everydeveloper.com/ for introducing us.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.

Alex Bouchard is the cofounder of Hookdeck. Hookdeck is an event gateway for asynchronous applications.What we discuss:- What is Hookdeck?- Category vs pivot- Gartner categoriesLinks:- Alex: https://twitter.com/AlexBouchardd- Hookdeck https://hookdeck.com/ 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.