#8 [Interview] Adam Frankl's tips for developer marketers (not only founders)

Adam Frankl is perhaps the GOAT of dev marketing but definitely the Triceratops who was the first VP marketing at 3 dev tool startups that became unicorns. Author of a must read book for dev tool founders - Developer Facing Startup. Had so much fun talking and learning from Adam.

Links⁠

- Adam Frankl https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamfrankl/

- Jakub Czakon https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakub-czakon/

- The Developer Facing Startup (Adam's book) https://www.amazon.com/Developer-Facing-Startup-market-developer-facing/dp/B0D4KGHQML

- Developer Facing Startup Founder's Academy (Adam's course) https://developerfacingstartup.dev/

- Value Proposition Design book ⁠https://www.amazon.com/Value-Proposition-Design-Customers-Strategyzer/dp/1118968050

- Lean Customer Development book https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Customer-Development-Hardcover-version/dp/1449356354

Takeaways

• Technical advisory board tweaks for dev marketers implementing this (including the chief scientist persona, social media marketing)
• Creating authority and actual thought leadership content as a non SME marketer
• Examples of owning the problem midnshare from Neo4j (graph database newsletter)
• Strategic narrative framing for dev tools + example from sourcegraph
• Technology discovery loop for devs (and getting into those loops)
• Dark matter devs and how to solve it with targeting “alpha developers” who in turn speak to other devs
• Free anonymous piece of product + examples from Neo4j and Sourcegraph
• Adjusted value proposition design framework (pains, gains, jobs to be done, AND changes in the environment)
• Why influencer marketing is the thing to do. Why Adam believes that paid flavor of this doesn’t work. And what you should do instead
• When introductory developer content is actually the play
• Creating research-based content factory with an example from jFrog and Tailscale

Chapters

00:00 The Importance of Iteration in Development

04:05 The Role of Feedback in Product Development

06:29 Understanding Intellectual Property in Tech

09:30 The Evolution of AI and Its Interfaces

12:39 The Value of Customer Feedback

14:53 The Journey of a Developer Marketer

17:38 Creating a Technical Advisory Board

20:44 The Role of Problem Framing in Marketing

36:55 Becoming an Expert: The Two Paths

39:06 The Social Nature of Development

40:02 Recruiting Top Talent: Strategies for Marketers

42:16 The Journalist Approach to Marketing

44:07 Building Authority Through Reporting

45:36 Engaging with Your Audience on Social Media

48:17 The Pitfalls of Content Marketing

51:18 Thought Leadership vs. Content Marketing

53:34 Defining Categories in Marketing

55:38 Effective Tab Interviews: Key Questions

01:00:53 Identifying Trends in Development

01:10:17 Understanding the Developer Discovery Loop

01:12:39 Understanding the Alpha Developer

01:17:49 The Importance of Free and Anonymous Products

01:21:53 Listening to Developers: The Key to Innovation

01:29:37 Identifying and Prioritizing Problems

01:36:38 Becoming a Developer Influencer

01:47:09 The Mission to Improve Software Tools

Keywords

podcast, teaching, feedback, iteration, intellectual property, AI, DevTools, marketing, content marketing, thought leadership, thought leadership, tech marketing, developer engagement, market research, product differentiation, developer discovery, community building, content marketing, software tools, startup strategy