This week I put together a list of five creative marketing campaigns. Of the five examples, GitLab got the most interest from readers - I think because it isn't really marketing.

GitLab operate from an open company handbook that spills almost every secret on how they operate.

It's a very convincing way to share that GitLab cares a great deal about openness - a pretty useful message to developers.

Five creative marketing examples

1. ​Atom 1.0 from GitHub launch video - the dollar shave club video of developer tools
2. ​Supabase Launch Weeks - scaling up YC launch weeks
3. ​DocSearch from Algolia - making themselves a part of the places developers discover tools - documentation
4. ​GitLab handbook - the completely open guide on GitLab company processes
5. ​Stripe verified - making private revenue publicly verified and a badge of honour for indie hackers

​Read the full article here​

Megan Reynolds - Investor at Crane​

This was my first live interview and it was so fun. I think you'll enjoy hearing a DevTool investor's perspective.

Key takeaways:

• In this economic climate, your tool needs to be one of the top five most important problems for your target audience.
• One of the key attractions to Gitpod was that their community are so engaged that their customers make in-jokes about Gitpod love

• Megan looks for founders with deep experience in the problems they're solving

​​​Listen to the full episode here​

Richard Moot - Head of Developer Advocacy at Square​​

Video is something I really struggle with so it was a privilege to learn tangible lessons on how Richard helped Square produce amazing developer video content.

Key takeaways:

• In terms of production, the most important thing when creating a video is the quality of the audio.
• Be sure to plan more than you would initially think when you're creating your video.
• It's important to find out what makes it interesting to you. If you can grab onto the part that is fun or interesting to you, it's going to shine through in the content that you're creating.
• ​ScreenFlow is a life saver

​​​Listen to the full episode here​

Wesley Faulkner - Senior Community Manager at AWS​

I was walking on clouds after I spoke to Wesley for the first time - he's that awesome. Wesley absolutely loves technology and has an incredible grasp of how to interest other people who love technology.

Key takeaways:

• It is possible to have short-term payoffs even when you commit to long-term bets.
• People may not remember what you tell them but they will remember how you made them feel.
• There is a big difference between giving away gift vouchers and giving away a custom illustrated T shirt by a talented artist.
• Don't copy what others do and expect the same results

​​​Listen to the full episode here​

Articles we discovered recently

• The best company YouTubes by swyx​
• ​Developer Markepear shares learnings from 170+ comments on their Hacker News post.
• Jesse Williams talks us through how to create a developer marketing strategy.
• ​Adam DuVander walks us through why Stripe’s Greatest Success Is Not Its Documentation.
• DataDab teaches us the ingredients of a highly effective developer marketing plan.

P.s. I know this email is very late but it's pretty much intentional. I'm experimenting with less frequent, longer emails - what do you think?