Kasey Byrne shares lessons from her time at Postman and NPM, including how to grow free users into power users without crossing the line. She talks about the importance of showcasing creative use cases, avoiding buzzwords, and building authentic relationships with technical audiences.

We also dig into the challenges of attribution in developer marketing and why curiosity about the product and user pain points is crucial. Whether you're in DevRel or developer marketing, this conversation offers fresh insights into what works—and what doesn’t.

See the transcript and more at https://developer.marketing

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• 01:10 – Gonto’s start at Auth0: Gonto explains how he joined Auth0, shifting from a developer to a DevRel role, and eventually taking on marketing responsibilities despite his fears.
• 02:31 – The shift from developer to marketer: Gonto talks about his friends' skepticism and how he wanted to prove marketing could be done differently, with honesty and authenticity.
• 06:00 – Should your first marketing hire be a developer? Gonto discusses whether the first marketing hire at a developer tools company should have a technical background.
• 08:43 – A different approach to marketing: Gonto describes how his background as a developer helped him shape marketing strategies that are genuine, data-driven, and based on systematic thinking.
• 11:30 – Developer trust and marketing tactics: The conversation shifts to how Gonto built trust with developers by offering honest, helpful marketing content, and solving their problems without aggressively promoting Auth0.
• 13:02 – Choosing the right developer audiences: Gonto shares insights on why they chose frontend developers and specific technologies as key targets in the early days of Auth0.
• 15:22 – Repeatable marketing processes: Gonto offers advice on how startups can find the right developer audiences and communities by staying informed about new technologies and frameworks.
• 21:30 – Marketing to multiple audiences: The discussion moves to marketing when different technical audiences are involved, such as DevOps and developers, and how to convince multiple stakeholders within an organization.
• 24:20 – Enterprise sales and developer involvement: Gonto explains how the majority of Auth0’s enterprise deals came through inbound developer interest and the steps they took to convert developers into enterprise customers.
• 29:00 – What didn’t work: ads: Gonto shares some of the tactics that failed, including poorly targeted ads and struggles with hiring product marketers who didn’t understand the technical product.
• 34:00 – The importance of metrics and systematic thinking: Gonto reflects on how metrics and systematic thinking guided his marketing strategies and helped the team track success, and how over time he learned that creativity can matter more than data.

Watch the video >

• Gonto's website
• Developer Marketing Coaching and Training
• Hoopy and EveryDeveloper