A presentation at DevRelCon San Francisco 2019 in in San Francisco, CA, USA by Phil Leggetter
DEVREL FROM STARTUP TO ENTERPRISE
Phil Leggetter - Director of DevRel @ Nexmo (seed) (pre series A) (series D) (enterprise) ACQUIRED MATURITY @leggetter
SCENARIO: PUSHER (STARTUP) 💵 👾 1 MILLION SEED 1 PRODUCT 🧠 ⏳ 7 EMPLOYEES YEAR 1 @leggetter
DEVREL GOALS & RESPONSIBILITIES: PUSHER (STARTUP) ▸ AAARRRP Goals ▸ Awareness ▸ Acquisition ▸ Product 🌏 🎪 TUTORIALS/BLOGS EVENTS: TALKS & HACKATHONS 📒 🛠 DOCS SDKS ? 👝 SUPPORT BROWN BAGS @leggetter
DEVREL STRUCTURE: PUSHER (STARTUP) ▸ 1 Developer Evangelist ▸ Help across the company Icon made by Freepik, Creative Commons BY 3.0 @leggetter
STARTUP: LEARNINGS & ADVICE / COMPANY ▸ DevRel can ▸ Reach a wide audience ▸ Learn what works ▸ Hire ▸ Strong technologist, well organized, entrepreneurial, trustworthy ▸ Generalist ▸ Track ▸ Signups for growth @leggetter
STARTUP: LEARNINGS & ADVICE / INDIVIDUAL ▸ A lot is being asked of you ▸ Big influence in early stages of the company ▸ Ensure you are rewarded accordingly ▸ Remember to still have a life @leggetter
(seed) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5uinqFfl7w (pre series A)
SCENARIO: PUSHER (PRE SERIES A) 💵 👾 PROFITABLE 1 PRODUCT 🧠 ⏳ 25+ EMPLOYEES YEAR 3 @leggetter
DEVREL GOALS & RESPONSIBILITIES: PUSHER (PRE SERIES A) ▸ AAARRRP Goals ▸ Awareness ▸ Acquisition ▸ Product 🌏 🎪 TUTORIALS/BLOGS EVENTS: TALKS & HACKATHONS 📒 🛠 DOCS SDKS ? 👝 SUPPORT BROWN BAGS @leggetter
DEVREL STRUCTURE: PUSHER (STARTUP) ▸ DevRel in Marketing ▸ 1 Community Manager ▸ 2 Developer Evangelist ▸ Help across the company Icons made by Freepik, Creative Commons BY 3.0 @leggetter
PRE SERIES A: OBSERVATIONS ▸ Growth = specialization ▸ Folks in DevRel tend to like variety 42% + ▸ Put DevRel in the department that aligns with your goals for the team Image from State of Developer Relations by Hoopy https://devrel.net/ dev-rel/state-of-developer-relations-2019 @leggetter
PRE SERIES A: LEARNINGS & ADVICE / COMPANY ▸ Focus on content: ▸ Hire Developer Educators ▸ Great social ▸ Work closely with Growth. ▸ Track signup funnel: Acquisition -> Activation -> Revenue and refine ▸ Deep dive on activation indicators @leggetter
PRE SERIES A: LEARNINGS & ADVICE / INDIVIDUAL ▸ Expect and embrace change ▸ An opportunity to specialize ▸ If you’re the generalist ▸ Adapt or leave ▸ It’s an opportunity to grow a team @leggetter
SCENARIO: NEXMO (SERIES D) 💵 👾 $28.1 MILLION 5 PRODUCTS ▸ API platform. Sales-driven organisation. 🧠 ⏳ 150+ EMPLOYEES YEAR 4 @leggetter
DEVREL GOALS & RESPONSIBILITIES: NEXMO (SERIES D) ▸ AAARRRP Goals ▸ Awareness 🌏 🎪 TUTORIALS/BLOGS EVENTS: TALKS & HACKATHONS 📒 🛠 ▸ Company Goal DOCS SDKS ▸ Be Acquired? {} ▸ Acquisition ▸ Product API STANDARDS @leggetter
DEVREL STRUCTURE: NEXMO (SERIES D) ▸ DevRel in Engineering ▸ 1 Community Manager ▸ 5 Developer Advocates ▸ A startup within a startup Icons made by Freepik, Creative Commons BY 3.0 @leggetter
SERIES D: LEARNINGS & ADVICE / COMPANY ▸ DevRel have to focus & prioritize ▸ Get the product right first ▸ Target specific developer communities and regions ▸ Content or events (or agree split) ▸ Empowering teams let’s them get stuff done @leggetter
SERIES D: LEARNINGS & ADVICE / INDIVIDUAL ▸ Being empowered is great. Avoid misalignment/ disconnection from rest of the company. ▸ More change! You won’t stay in Series D forever. ▸ Team can be small enough to have a say in everything ▸ Make the most of a bigger team and voice within the company @leggetter
(series D) (enterprise) MAY 2016 ACQUIRED NEXMO (WITH DEVREL TEAM) Source https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/VG/chart
SCENARIO: VONAGE (ENTERPRISE) 📈 👾 LISTED ON NYSE 10+ PRODUCTS & SERVICES 🧠 ⏳ 2300+ EMPLOYEES FOUNDED 2001 @leggetter
DEVREL GOALS & RESPONSIBILITIES: VONAGE (ENTERPRISE) ▸ AAARRRP Goals ▸ Awareness ▸ Acquisition ▸ Product ▸ Revenue (2019) 🌏 🎪 TUTORIALS/BLOGS EVENTS: TALKS & HACKATHONS 📒 🛠 DOCS SDKS {} API STANDARDS @leggetter
DEVREL STRUCTURE: NEXMO (SERIES D) ▸ DevRel own department via Product ▸ 50/50 Product + Marketing You? ▸ 26 people. Growing to 38. Community ▸ 2 Community Managers ▸ 1 Engineer DevX DevEdu Extend ▸ 2 Technical Writers ▸ 5 Developer Educators ▸ 16 Developer Advocates https://nexmo.dev/join19 Icons made by Freepik, Creative Commons BY 3.0 @leggetter
ENTERPRISE: LEARNINGS & ADVICE / COMPANY ▸ DevRel can transform an organisation; product and culture ▸ Educate across the business - developer culture ▸ Business decision maker vs developer @leggetter
ENTERPRISE: LEARNINGS & ADVICE / INDIVIDUAL ▸ Responsibilities as a publicly trading company ▸ Build relationships internally as well as externally ▸ Get ready to frequently explain what DevRel is across the organisation ▸ Work hard to keep rest of team informed ▸ You can transform an organisation; product and culture ▸ Mindset: may not be the right place for you Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D–MD) and Rep. Michael G. Oxley (R–OH-4), the co-sponsors of the Sarbanes– Oxley Act ▸ Demonstrate benefit to the business and you’ll receive more support and funding @leggetter
SUMMARY: FROM STARTUP TO ENTERPRISE ▸ Yep, expect change ▸ Focus/specialize to scale ▸ Align DevRel with departments based on goals ▸ Keep experimenting and demonstrating business benefit ▸ DevRel is evolving. We’re all still learning. @leggetter
You? Thanks! https://nexmo.dev/join19
Developer Relations takes many different forms depending on company needs. But the stage of growth and size of a company itself also affects how a developer relations team operates.
I’ll cover topics such as; Who should the first developer relations hire be in a startup? What activities should your team focus on based on the company’s stage of growth? How do you structure a team as it grows in order to maintain or improve effectiveness? In what scenarios should a devrel team be held accountable for revenue generation? What are the main pain points of devrel within an Enterprise and how can you overcome them? And more.
Drawing on experience from working in a seven-person startup through to a two and a half thousand person enterprise, I’ll share the differences in approaches and tips to ensure a developer relations team can be valuable and effective at any company.
for free. You
can too.