Selling developer tools to developers is challenging.

We are not that keen to pay for tools. Our programming language is free, as are the web frameworks and libraries we use to build our apps. Why pay for a tool? Having a conversation with our manager about the value of a tool, or looping in legal or procurement, is something we’d avoid too. We’d even go the extra mile to look for alternative solutions to avoid the bureaucracy. Being contacted by a sales team is out of the question. A salesperson doesn’t need to play sales tactics, and the founders behind the product play a crucial role in building the trust that could lead to a sale. The best marketing we appreciate is when we come across an in-depth blog post from the company. These people know what they’re talking about. Seeing a company’s logo at a conference is cool; seeing it multiple times feels suspicious. They want something from me.

Yet, we are a very hackable human species. There are many buttons they can press to sell us what they want. In fact, pressing those buttons creates trojan horses to reach our employers. From pressing the button of public recognition and getting us excited and talking about the company, hoping for a prize at the end of the tunnel (sound familiar? YouTube has pressed this button for years), to pressing the fear button. The fear that you’ll lose users because your app is an extra 5 MB. The fear of missing out on new trends that everyone is talking about, like not being able to quickly code new features into your app. Or the fear that you’ll be left behind by some critical mass.

As odd as it sounds, many sales in this space are driven not by traditional strategies, but by hacking developers. This process is quite misaligned with our values at Tuist, so we’re looking around, trying to figure out something different. I believe it’ll revolve around great content about how Tuist can impact apps out there, without publicly shaming anyone for the job they’ve done, like we’ve seen companies doing. Just planting a seed about the value they hcan gain, not a seed of fear.