Growing Developer Tools: A Handbook

Over the past years, I've been deep in the world of developer tools - first as a GTM operator, then as the founder of crowd.dev, where we helped startups implement Developer-led Growth, and now as VP of Developer Products at the Linux Foundation, where we steward 1,000 of the world's most critical open source projects. I initiated several dev conferences and meetups, and I occasionally invest angel tickets in devtool startups. Along the way, I've met hundreds of devtool founders, seen what works (and what flops), and learned a thing or two about growing developer tools.

This is my personal handbook with the exact steps I'd take to grow a developer tool from scratch, based on everything I've learned from building and scaling dev-first businesses. To create this, I used notes from several hundred calls and resources I discovered over the years.

The result is a guide packed with step-by-step tactics across 11 go-to-market strategies. The document contains well over 15,000 words, so you will probably need some time to read - and especially to execute - everything. But I genuinely believe that you will be successful if you have a great product for developers and follow these steps to market it.

If you find this guide useful, I would love to hear from you on X or LinkedIn. I'm also interested in investing in and advising (very) technical B2B software companies.

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