In this engaging discussion, Adam McCrea, founder of Judoscale—an autoscaling service for Heroku, Render, and AWS—shares insights from his entrepreneurial journey. He dives into the intricacies of client libraries and the complexities of rebranding from Rails Autoscale to JudoScale. Adam and the hosts reflect on navigating the challenges of tech conferences, the importance of community support, and innovative marketing strategies. Expect to discover how collaboration fuels startup success and the exciting future developments in autoscaling technology!
Networking at conferences is crucial for gaining valuable connections and insights, emphasizing the need to fully engage in events.
JudoScale's evolution from a side project to a competitive tool highlights the importance of product quality and strategic branding in business success.
Deep dives
Conference Experiences and Networking
The discussion highlights the importance of networking at conferences, with attendees sharing their experiences from events like RailsConf and Blue Ridge Ruby. Adam and the hosts recount missed opportunities to connect, emphasizing the value of staying for the entire duration of conferences to maximize interactions. They reflect on the challenges of travel schedules when planning to attend multiple events back-to-back, particularly the fatigue it entails. Attendees are reminded that embracing the full conference experience can lead to valuable connections and insights.
JudoScale and Its Evolution
Adam explains JudoScale as an autoscaler primarily for Heroku, recently expanding its reach to support platforms like Render and AWS. This powerful tool scales applications based on request queue times, offering enhanced automation beyond the native autoscalers. He shares that the product initially started as a side project, gaining traction through the Heroku add-on marketplace without significant marketing efforts. The discussion illustrates how building a better product can lead to business success in a competitive landscape.
Challenges of Rebranding
The podcast delves into the complexities of JudoScale's rebranding from Rails Autoscale, highlighting the challenges involved in name changes and market perceptions. Adam notes that maintaining two distinct add-ons in the Heroku marketplace is essential as they still serve existing customers while trying to attract new ones under the JudoScale brand. He explains the hurdles of acquiring initial customers to qualify for marketplace listings, which added a layer of difficulty to the transition. This candid conversation underscores the thought and strategy necessary when evolving a brand.
Future Directions and Innovations
Adam shares exciting developments on enhancing JudoScale's functionalities, particularly in log-based autoscaling for languages without existing integration libraries. The initiative aims to streamline user experiences by leveraging Heroku's router logs to provide immediate value without requiring additional setup. The conversation also touches on the potential for integrating insights from Honey Badger, suggesting possibilities for collaborative features that would further benefit users. This forward-thinking approach demonstrates the continuous innovation required to stay relevant in the tech industry.
Longtime friend of the pod Adam McCrea joins Josh and Ben to catch up and chat about his journey building Judoscale—an autoscaling service for Heroku, Render, and AWS!