The blog
Practical writing on GTM for devtools and AI startups. The same kind of content I ship for clients: written to rank, written to be cited, written for engineers.
Where to share your content: Hacker News, Reddit, dev.to, and syndication
Publishing a post is step one. Getting it in front of developers who do not read your blog yet is the harder part. Here is how the main sharing channels work and how not to get run out of them.
SEO & GEOInternal linking for devtools content
Internal links are the cheapest SEO lever most devtools teams ignore. Done with intent, they spread ranking authority, keep readers moving, and tell search you own a topic.
SEO & GEORefreshing old content to keep it ranking
Updating a post that used to rank is often the fastest win in content, faster than writing anything new. Here is how to find the posts worth refreshing and what to actually change.
CONTENTHeadlines engineers click, without the clickbait
The headline tricks that work on a general audience actively repel engineers. Here is how to write titles a technical reader clicks, built on specifics and honesty instead of curiosity gaps.
CONTENTMapping content to the developer journey
Most devtools blogs are all one note: either every post is top-of-funnel awareness bait or everything is a product pitch. The content that compounds covers the whole journey, from first problem to activated user.
CONTENTTechnical tutorials that actually convert
A tutorial is the rare piece of content where a reader runs your product while they read. Done right, it is the shortest path from a cold visitor to an activated user. Done wrong, it is where they give up.
CONTENTAnatomy of a devtools blog post that ranks and converts
A technical post that ranks on Google, gets cited by AI, and moves an engineer toward your product is built a specific way. Here is the structure, section by section.
CONTENTThe devtools content audit: what's working, what to kill
Before you write one more post, find out which of the ones you already have are earning their keep. A content audit tells you what to double down on, what to fix, and what to quietly retire.
CONTENTHow long until content actually works
Most founders kill content marketing at month four or five, right before it starts paying off. Here is the real timeline, the early signals that tell you it is working, and why the slow part is doing the work.
CONTENTAI-generated content for devtools: when it helps and when engineers smell it
Your buyers pattern-match for a living, so AI slop costs you the exact thing content is supposed to build: their trust. Here is where AI earns its place in a technical content workflow and where it quietly backfires.
CONTENTOne post, a month of content
Hitting publish on a strong technical post and moving on leaves most of its value on the table. Here is how to turn one good piece into weeks of social and newsletter touches without it feeling recycled.
CONTENTGetting technical content out of busy engineers
Your engineers have the substance your content needs and no time to write it. The fix is to stop asking them to write and start interviewing them instead. Here is how that actually works.
CONTENTWhere technical content topics come from
Teams run out of content ideas because they brainstorm in a conference room instead of harvesting the questions their buyers are already asking. Here is where the good topics actually live.
CONTENTBuilding a content engine that actually ships
Most devtools content dies because there is no system behind it, just a founder who keeps meaning to write more. Here is the setup that gets technical content out every week without burning anyone out.
PRODUCT MARKETINGBuilding a devtool brand beyond the logo
Your brand is not your logo. For a devtool, it's the reputation you earn for being technically correct, honest about tradeoffs, and pleasant to use, built one interaction at a time. Here's where that reputation actually lives and how a small team beats a funded one on it.
ANALYTICSThe dark funnel: why attribution breaks for developer buyers
Last-touch attribution credits branded search and Direct while the Hacker News thread, the Slack rec, and the midnight docs read show zero. Here is why it lies for developer buyers, and how to measure the dark funnel with signup surveys, sales-call sourcing, and whole-curve movement instead.
AIGTM for AI agent and eval-tooling startups
GTM for agent frameworks, eval harnesses, and LLM observability tools comes down to reproducible proof far more than messaging. Here is how to earn a skeptical engineer's trust when the category is crowded and the labels change every quarter.
DEMAND GENWebinars developers actually attend
Developers skip the salesy webinar and show up for the one that teaches something real. Here is the format that pulls registration, how to survive the live demo, and the follow-up that actually turns attendance into pipeline.
PRODUCT MARKETINGWinning buyers off a competitor: switching-cost messaging for devtools
You can win every feature row and still lose the deal. When someone already uses an incumbent, the real barrier isn't a feature gap, it's switching cost. Here's how to shrink it and when to actually reach out.
CONTENTYouTube and video as a devtools GTM channel
A working screen recording of your product solving a real problem beats any glossy brand film with a technical audience. Here is how devtools should actually use video and YouTube, which formats earn subscribers, and when video is not worth the effort.
PRODUCT MARKETINGAnalyst relations for infrastructure startups
Most seed-stage devtools do not need a paid analyst relationship. But once you sell into the enterprise, knowing how Gartner, Forrester, and the independent analysts work stops being optional. Here is when AR matters, how to run a briefing, and what the payoff is actually worth.
COMMUNITYCommunity-led growth for devtools: the Discord and Slack playbook
Start a devtools community only when your users are already trying to talk to each other and can't find a good place to do it. Launching a Discord on day one is how you get a ghost town, not growth.
SEO & GEOProgrammatic SEO for devtools, without the spam
Programmatic SEO works for devtools when every generated page answers a query a real developer typed. It blows up when the pages are your product name plugged into a template a thousand times. Here is the quality gate that decides which one you get, and the honest risk of getting it wrong.
CONTENTThe changelog as a marketing channel
Your changelog is doing marketing work whether you designed it to or not. Every buyer who lands on it is asking one thing: is this product alive? Here is how to write entries that build trust, make it subscribable, and feed the whole thing into your launches and newsletter.
PRODUCT MARKETINGDeveloper ICP and personas: who champions vs who signs
Your champion discovers the tool and falls for it, then has to convince someone who will never open your docs to approve the spend. Here is how to define a developer ICP around who champions versus who signs, and how to arm the champion to win the meeting you will never attend.
PRODUCT MARKETINGDesigning a free tier that converts, not just attracts
A free tier converts when the limit users hit sits just past the moment they got real value, not before it. Where to draw the free/paid line, when a trial fits better, and why most free users never paying is fine.
DEMAND GENCold outbound to engineers that does not get you blocked
Generic cold email dies with engineers because they pattern-match spam for a living. Here is how to do outbound that earns replies instead of torching your domain: precise targeting, real personalization, and the deliverability setup most founders skip.
PRODUCT MARKETINGFounder-led sales for technical founders who hate selling
The version of sales you hate is a bad fit for engineers anyway. Founder-led sales done right is closer to a good code review: diagnose the problem, find where it breaks, and say so when your thing does not fix it.
SEO & GEOllms.txt and making your docs crawlable by AI
llms.txt is a nice-to-have, not a ranking factor. Here is what actually gets your devtool cited by AI answer engines, plus a checklist for this week.
SEO & GEOComparison and alternative pages: the highest-intent SEO for devtools
Comparison and alternative pages are the highest-converting SEO you can build for a devtool, because the searcher already has a shortlist and a budget. Here is how to build them honestly so they win both Google and AI answer engines.
COMMUNITYDevRel, community, and marketing: who owns what at a devtools company
At most devtools companies, DevRel, community, and marketing blur into each other until nobody owns anything cleanly. Here is where each function starts, where it stops, and how to sequence the hires as you grow.
PRODUCT MARKETINGIntegrations and partnerships as a distribution channel
The fastest way to reach engineers who have never heard of you is to show up inside a tool they already use every day. Here is how to treat integrations and partnerships as a growth channel, not an eng backlog.
ANALYTICSHow to measure a product-led, self-serve funnel
The metrics that matter for a devtool with self-serve signup are signup, activation, and paid conversion. Here is how to define activation for a technical product, why attribution models break for PLG buyers, and how to report the funnel to a founder without vanity numbers.
COMMUNITYConferences, events, and CFPs: an events strategy for devtools
Events eat budget faster than almost anything else in devtools marketing, and most teams cannot say what they got back. Here is when events are worth it, how to choose between sponsoring, speaking, and a booth, and how to actually win a CFP.
PRODUCT MARKETINGOpen source and free tools as a go-to-market motion
Open source and free standalone tools can be the best top-of-funnel a devtools company has, or an expensive vanity project. Here is how to tell the difference, what it costs to run, and when to skip it entirely.
PRODUCT MARKETINGCategory design for AI tools: create one or join one?
Coining a new category means you own it, but you pay to teach the market it exists. Joining a known one buys instant comprehension at the cost of feature-by-feature comparison. Here is how to decide, by stage and budget.
CONTENTCustomer stories that convince engineers
The logo-plus-vague-quote case study does nothing for an engineer evaluating your tool. Here is how to build customer proof with the architecture, the numbers, and the real problem baked in.
PRODUCT MARKETINGPricing and packaging a devtool for product-led growth
Pricing a devtool for PLG is a positioning decision, not a finance exercise. Here is how to choose free tier vs trial vs open core, usage vs seats, and where to put the paywall.
CONTENTThe developer newsletter engineers actually open
Engineers unsubscribe from marketing emails on reflex, then read three newsletters religiously. Here is how to run one they keep, from what to send to how to measure it.
LAUNCHESHow to launch on Hacker News without getting flamed
Show HN rewards a working thing and an honest founder, and punishes marketing speak and upvote-begging. Here is the etiquette and the mechanics: what belongs on HN, how to write the title and first comment, how to hold the thread, and where it fits in a real launch.
CONTENTDocs-led growth: why your documentation is your best marketing channel
For a devtool, documentation is the rare page that ranks in Google, gets cited by AI answer engines, and converts a curious engineer into an active user. Here is how to treat docs as a growth surface instead of a support cost.
AIMarketing to AI engineers: how GTM changes when your buyer builds with LLMs
Your buyer runs their own evals before they believe a word you say. Here is how go-to-market changes when the person you sell to builds with LLMs, agents, and traces every day.
FOUNDER STORIESBuilding is the easy part now
Raihan Khan shipped ColdVisit alone for under fifty dollars, in a day. Getting anyone to try it is the part nobody warned him about. The first in a series on founders working out distribution in public.
GHOSTWRITINGHow to ghostwrite for a technical founder so it still sounds like them
A technical founder's readers catch borrowed fluency in a sentence. Here is the process I use to ghostwrite for one so the post still reads like they wrote it: voice capture, real opinions, and a review loop that respects their time.
FRACTIONALWhen a devtools startup should hire its first marketer, and what they should own
The right first marketing hire is not the resume with the most channels listed. It is a technical generalist who can own positioning, content, and launches so the founder gets back to building.
FRACTIONALFractional, full-time, or agency: how to staff devtools marketing at each stage
The right way to resource devtools marketing changes as you grow. Here is an honest guide to fractional, full-time, and agency, with real costs and a recommendation by stage.
PRODUCT MARKETINGHow to position a technical product without dumbing it down
Engineers can spot vague positioning in one sentence, and they are the ones who decide. Here is how to position a technical product with precision, name the real alternative, and still make an economic buyer care.
LAUNCHESThe devtools launch playbook: turning a release into pipeline
Most devtools launches produce a changelog entry and a spike that fades by Friday. Here is how to run one that produces signups and pipeline instead, sequenced from the pre-launch runway to how you actually measure it.
GEO & ANALYTICSHow to measure whether ChatGPT and Perplexity are citing your product
You cannot improve what you cannot see. Here is how to check whether ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews actually name your product, measure your share of voice against competitors, and tie any of it to pipeline.
CONTENTHow to write developer content that senior engineers respect
Senior engineers spot borrowed fluency in one sentence, then close the tab. Here is how to write developer content they actually read, trust, and pass to the rest of the team.
SEO & GEOSEO for devtools: how to rank for the technical queries your buyers actually search
Developer buyers search error messages, how-to questions, and X vs Y comparisons, not your category name. Here is how to find those queries, decide when docs or a blog post should rank, and measure the whole thing against pipeline.
SEO & GEOHow to get your product cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overview
Your buyers ask ChatGPT before they Google, and the answer usually does not name you. Here is the structure I use to get devtools content cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overview, with the numbers from a real engagement.