"How do you explain our product to other devs?"

When I start working with dev tool startup founders, one of the first things I do, is go to the website and read the header H1/H2 sections. Then I ask them to explain the product.

8/10 times those two explanations are completely different.

The explanation they give me, while wordy sometimes, is way more concrete and clear than the slogan-like header copy. 

And homepage H1/H2 section is one of the places where you really want to explain your product well.

Why is this so important?

Most of the developers who hear about you go to your website and read the header.

Some of them read on, some of them go to the docs, and some of them leave the site and never come back. But most (or all) will read your header. 

It is in your best interest to let them learn something about your product that they can remember and repeat to their dev friends when the conversation around your problem space comes.

If you go for some flavor of the “Build better software faster” you can be certain that they won’t repeat that.

How do you fix it then?

Ask this question: 

“How do you explain our product to other devs?”

Doing that will show you how devs would actually want the product to be explained to them.

What they think is important, differentiated, real. It shows you what other products/frameworks/tools they anchor your product on ("oh, so it is like X but does Y").

Do that enough times and you start seeing common themes. Then you take those themes and convert them to the message on your website and other assets.

This is very simple but it works. It works best if you ask the right people.

Who do you ask?

The closer you get to your ideal developer audience the better.

I suggest going in the following order:

• Developers who activated in your product
• Developers who converted and retained
• Developers who signed up for your product 
• Developers from your target audience (after seeing your demo)
• Developers from your devrel team
• Developers from your engineering team
• Developers from your founding team

Why activated users are better than converted and retained?

Because activation typically happens within 7-30 days after signup.

Those developers not only built a habit around using your product but also remember how the world looked before they used it. 

So if you’re having trouble explaining what you do to your target dev audience start asking this question whenever you can. And build your messaging on answers you get from people who you want to attract.