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Cappuccino with HR • Jan 30, 2026

Stop Wasting Money on Ads: How to Actually Reach Developers

Christian Heilmann , Ana Gospodinova , Benjamin Perlzweig

Developers are immune to traditional ad funnels and polished sales pitches. Learn how to drive real adoption by leveraging interactive documentation, open-source contributions, and authentic peer trust.

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#1 about 6 min

Evolution and purpose of developer relations

Promoting internal engineers to advocacy roles builds more authentic communication than hiring external marketers.

#2 about 6 min

Trusted discovery channels for software tools

Curated newsletters and peer success stories drive tool adoption faster than direct product marketing.

#3 about 4 min

Removing friction from developer tool evaluation

Providing unhindered access and free tiers builds trust while upfront data collection deters users.

#4 about 3 min

Timing and context for developer engagement

Reaching out during dedicated learning events works better than interrupting highly pressured production cycles.

#5 about 3 min

Driving product adoption through continuous authenticity

Openly discussing both the strengths and weaknesses of a technical product establishes long-term credibility.

#6 about 4 min

Maximizing conference presence on a startup budget

Speaking engagements and gathering user feedback yield higher returns than expensive booths for early-stage companies.

#7 about 3 min

Leveraging digital communities and curated technical content

Niche discord servers and curated newsletters provide high-quality touchpoints compared to algorithmic social media feeds.

#8 about 4 min

Content syndication and interactive code demonstration formats

Publishing on personal domains while cross-posting on technical platforms paired with interactive sandboxes lowers adoption barriers.

#9 about 5 min

Using active listening to build developer communities

Designing open physical layouts and prioritizing two-way feedback establishes stronger connections than aggressive sales pitches.

#10 about 10 min

Crafting credible technical success stories and testimonials

Highlighting realistic metrics like engineering time saved generates genuine interest and outstrips generic marketing claims.

#11 about 3 min

Measuring the business impact of developer relations

Converting conference interactions into dedicated corporate workshops delivers quantifiable enterprise leads.

#12 about 5 min

Managing community expectations for open source projects

Free technical products require heavy maintenance and human-led community support to succeed.

Matching moments

1:26 min

Essential best practices for effective developer marketing campaigns

Dan Cranney · World Congress 2024

2:19 min

Marketing products to developers without aggressive sales motions

Chris Heilmann +2 · LIVE

4:56 min

Establishing developer relations as a business necessity

Angie Jones Angie Jones +3 · World Congress 2025

3:06 min

Building authentic developer community touchpoints

Rudi Bauer Rudi Bauer +2 · Cappuccino with HR

2:33 min

Reframing developer relations and advocacy as an educational process

Andrew MacLean Andrew MacLean +1 · World Congress 2024

4:21 min

Leveraging trust to launch new developer communities

Angie Jones Angie Jones +3 · World Congress 2024

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Upcoming sessions on this topic

Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 25, 2026 · 12:55–13:25

Outdoor Stage

Building the AI Era Through Developer Communities: A Competitive Advantage for Engineers & Teams

John Komarnicki

National Executive Advisor at Code & Coffee | Engineering & AI Community Leader

John Komarnicki
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 24, 2026 · 14:55–15:05

Outdoor Stage

In-Person by Default: Principles & Practices for Building Developer Meetups

Steve Chen

Executive Director and Founder at Code & Coffee

Steve Chen
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 25, 2026 · 13:30–14:00

Stage 3

Lessons from 20 Years of Bootstrapping an Open Source Business to $50M+

Peter Farkas

Percona, Founder

Peter Farkas
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 25, 2026 · 16:30–16:40

Outdoor Stage

12 Names for the Same Thing: Why Developer Experience Can't Grow Without a Common Language

Artem Mukhin

Software Engineer at Microsoft

Artem Mukhin
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 23, 2026 · 12:30–13:00

Outdoor Stage

WeAreDevelopers Live

Christian Heilmann

Open first, great comes later

Christian Heilmann
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 24, 2026 · 11:40–12:10

Tech Leaders Stage

Rethinking Developer Tools for the Agent Era

Han Wang, Sam Bhagwat, Ben Haefele

Han Wang
Sam Bhagwat
Ben Haefele

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