Developer Relations

Increasingly, business leaders are either looking to start a new developer program at their company or looking to increase the impact of their existing DevRel program. In this context, software developers are finally recognized as legitimate decision makers in the technology buying process, regardless of the size of their organization. New companies are appearing with the sole purpose of making tools for developers, and even companies whose primary focus was elsewhere are waking up to the developer opportunity. Even as the need and demand for DevRel has grown, there are still re-occurring challenges for DevRel leaders.

It is these challenges that this book addresses, covering all aspects of a DevRel program. It is an essential reference to professionalize the practice of developer relations by providing you with strategic, repeatable, and adoptable frameworks, processes, and tools, including developer segmentation and personas, and developer experience frameworks.

In Developer Relations, you’ll find the answers to the following questions:

• How do we convince stakeholders to support a program?
• How do we go about creating a program?
• How do we make developers aware of our offer?
• How do we stand out from the crowd?
• How do we get developers to use our products?
• How do we ensure developers are successful using our products?
• How do we measure success?
• How do we maintain the support of our stakeholders?

After reading this book you’ll have a clear definition of what developer relations is, the type of companies that engage in DevRel, and the scope and business models involved.  

What You Will Learn

• Discover what developer relations is and how it contributes to a company’s success
• Launch a DevRel program 
• Operate a successful program 
• Measure the success of your program
• Manage stakeholders 

Who This Book Is For

Those interested in starting a new developer program or looking to increase the impact of their existing one. From executives to investors, from marketing professionals to engineers, all will find this book useful to realize the impact of developer relations.

Table of Contents

Part I: Develop a Common Understanding

Chapter 1: What Is Developer Relations?

Chapter 2: Where Does Developer Relations Fit?

Chapter 3: The Origin of Developer Relations and the Rise of the Developer

Chapter 4: The Value of the Developer Economy

Part II: Key Differentiators

Chapter 5: The Audience: Developers

Chapter 6: Developers As Decision Makers

Chapter 7: Developer First and Developer Plus

Chapter 8: Business Models and Monetization Strategies

Chapter 9: Developer Products

Part Ill: Alignment on Goals

Chapter 10: Company Goals and Alignment

Chapter 11: Program Goals

Part IV: Go-to-Market

Chapter 12: Developer Segmentation

Chapter 13: Developer Personas

Chapter 15: The Developer Journey

Chapter 16: Discover

Chapter 17: Developer Experience

Chapter 18: Evaluate

Chapter 19: Learn

Chapter 20: Build

Chapter 21: Scale

Chapter 22: Developer Marketing

Chapter 23: Events

Chapter 24: Sales

Chapter 25: Community

Part V: Managing and Growing Your Program

Chapter 26: Metrics

Chapter 27: Team

Chapter 28: Program Phasing

Chapter 29: Epilogue

About the Authors

James Parton created and ran developer programs for O2 and Telefonica, before joining Twilio as their first hire outside of the US to launch and run their EMEA business until IPO. James has also completed successful two-year board positions with the Application Developer Alliance and the Mobile Ecosystem Forum.

Caroline Lewko has been in the mobile and tech sector since 1995, helping develop ground-breaking tech and nurturing community connections and innovation. She started WIP, the first boutique developer relations agency in 2006, and has worked for companies ranging from the top ranks of the Fortune 500 to start-ups with an array of technologies from mobile to machine learning.

Both authors have operated at leadership level in both startup and corporate DevRel organisations, and run their own consulting businesses. They are passionate about the subject, want to actively improve the understanding of DevRel, and assist with its professionalization.