DevRel Then, and Now

I got involved in what we now call Developer Relations before it was even a defined role. My background spans software development, product management, product marketing, sales engineering, and support. Each role had something I loved—and something I knew I didn’t want long-term. But what tied them all together was a pattern: I always gravitated toward the spaces where product met people.

DevRel didn’t exist yet, not officially. But then came Guy Kawasaki’s The Art of the Start, published in January 2004 (source). That book—and the fact that VCs handed it out like gospel in the Bay Area—marked a shift. "Tech Evangelist" became a thing. And slowly, that seed sprouted into more appropriately named Developer Advocacy.

Chris standing with Guy Kawasaki 3/27/2018 DevRel Conference

At the time, developers didn’t want polish. They wanted clarity. Companies were encountering blank stares when the traditional marketing approach was applied to technical audiences. They wanted plain language, useful examples, and the ability to engage with peers instead of top-down sales talk. This is where DevRel made its first real impact—offering real content from real practitioners who could talk the talk and walk the walk.

The Old Playbook

Back then, DevRel was mostly about content for engagement—execution-focused tutorials, paired with a little thought leadership if there was time. The audience was exclusively developers, usually in developer-first businesses. Platforms with APIs hadn’t yet realized how much they’d need DevRel too.

Before COVID, a lot of DevRel was event-driven. Travel was the content. Conferences were the engagement strategy. I won’t lie—I miss those days. There was magic in the hallway conversations. But when COVID hit, a lot of us feared that DevRel would lose its purpose. In hindsight, that pressure actually matured the discipline.

A Real Discipline Emerges

The field has evolved—thankfully. DevRel is now recognized as a multi-disciplinary function. It includes:

• Developer education
• Technical content and comms
• Community management
• Product feedback loops
• Events (yes, still!)

And crucially, it’s no longer limited to developer-first businesses. If you have an API, if you serve builders, if you rely on partners—DevRel is relevant.

The discipline has also grown up. It’s more aligned to business outcomes. Metrics matter more (though we still struggle there). Strategies are more intentional. And the best teams have learned to balance authenticity with business impact.

Why It Clicked for Me

DevRel clicked because it let me live in the space between deep technical work and high social engagement. It let me dabble across the org without owning one lane—and somehow, that worked.

I’ve always been drawn to helping others move through friction. Whether it’s fixing a bug, scaling an integration, or publishing a story—DevRel gave me a way to support others in their journey. And I like bringing order to chaos, which is exactly what it feels like when you're in the middle of a dev project and something breaks.

What We Still Get Wrong

There’s still a disconnect between DevRel and the business. Too often, DevRel teams over-index on community goodwill and under-deliver on strategic impact. Meanwhile, execs often misunderstand the peer-to-peer credibility DevRel brings—and try to turn us into another marketing channel.

Also? We’re still not great at planning. Many DevRel folks are doers—not strategists. That works until you need budget or buy-in, and suddenly someone else owns the narrative.

We also forget how different developer journeys can be. There’s not one path—there are at least four. Understanding those paths is key to building programs that serve developers at every stage.

A Word to the Newcomers

DevRel has a history. It didn’t fall out of the sky—it grew from the seams of other disciplines. If you treat it like a unicorn job, you risk never fully owning its potential.

It’s not magic. It’s not fluff. It’s a real discipline that deserves strategic ownership.

And when done well, it becomes the connective tissue that binds product to people, business to builder.