David Liedle in action at a recent product manager peer group meeting in NYC talking about developer relations
by Janus Boye
Geeks rule the world they say, yet there is not much written on the topic of developer relations and many organizations fail to meet developer needs.
There's clear business value in developer relations, but how do you get started? What's the lessons learned on community building, evangelism and outreach when it comes to developers?
In our recent member conference call, David Liedle, who has worked with the topic longer than most at various software firms, shared his insights on the topic.
Currently there’s only one book on the topic: The Business Value of Developer Relations. It came out in October 2018 by Mary Thengvall with the catchy subtitle: How and Why Technical Communities Are Key To Your Success.
Below you can find the slides and recording from the call, where David shared do’s and don’ts.
Among the highlights were:
According to “Uncle” Bob Martin, the number of developers in the world doubles every 5 years. That means that every 5 years, half of all developers have almost no experience.
Finding talent as a key driver to invest in developer relations.
Be careful what to measure
Don’t anchor developer relations in marketing or sales
Download slides (PDF) or watch the 29-minute recording below.