PODCAST · business
Code to Market
by Gonto and Hank
Every week, Gonto & Hank boil down the most important product, growth, and marketing learnings from what’s happening in dev tools
Episodes
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Get Weird Early: Brand Marketing for Devtools
A short one. Two objects and one argument. The spoon: Granola mailed someone a very good spoon with a little note, and it got tweeted. Hank thinks that is what great swag looks like: send the accessory, not the namesake, and make it the thing someone photographs. Gonto calls it "explanation…
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Secretive Marketing vs Loud Marketing?
Two questions this week. Is being secretive better marketing than being loud? And what does a devtool have to change now that its users are agents? Also Gonto's bed, which is not made, whatever he tells you. Ox Alpha showed up on OpenRouter, OpenCode and Hermes with no name on it, free to…
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Show & Tell: how we're using agents
Come to the dev marketing meetup: https://ctm.fm/meetup-2026 Gonto and Hank catch up on what they have each been building with agents, and announce the first Code to Market meetup, in San Francisco on September 30.Hank's is small and useful: before an advisory call about email, he had Claude Code...
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What to BUILD vs BUY in your 2027 Marketing Stack
The stack episode. Hank and Gonto go tool by tool through what they actually run for clients and their own projects in 2026, and what they think is on the way out. Email: Resend for transactional and fast scrappy outbound, Loops for marketing flows (triggers, branching, an MCP your agent can...
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CMS Is Dead, Loops Are In, CMOs Are Getting Fired
Salesforce bought Contentful, and we think it says everything about where the CMS is headed. Hank's case: the CMS cured "marketers can't ship without engineers," but the cure became its own disease, no creativity and every page looking the same. Now that every marketer effectively has an engineer...
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Site Teardowns + Marketers on Claude Code
Hank shares his screen and Gonto brings the takes. We tear down manifolds.run (an enrichment tool with an ASCII torus, success-based pricing, and copy that undersells how good it is) and Cognition's all-text relaunch, where Devin and Windsurf hide behind one manifesto page. Then we grade our own...
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AIE is a MUST for Devtool Marketers
If you sell big pretzels and juices then you setup shop at the mall, right? Same thing, but devtools & AI infra marketers have to be at the AIE World Fair in SF. Another episode of Hank sharing the work he did while Gonto was on vacation haha
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Email is DEAD, right?! + Practical AI Marketing
Episode 50 is all about practical AI use cases for marketers. Hank shares the first AI-powered marketing tool he's built that actually changed how his team works: a Slack bot that analyzes event and customer data, identifies high-value segments, and launches personalized email campaigns in…
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How to Sponsor a Developer Event: React Miami Review
Plus GitHub is losing trust and thoughts on side events billboards.
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Where do the SaaSpocalype & Facebook Ads fit into your GTM Strategy?
Cursor quietly racks up 8M+ views with dev content on Facebook, while everyone else is still stuck posting for Twitter clout. Meanwhile, teams are rapidly building internal AI tools, keeping systems of record but replacing everything else with CLIs, prompts, and lightweight apps. The real shift...
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When Overreaction Becomes the Story
Executives overreacting publicly can backfire, especially when intent is misunderstood, while thoughtful follow-ups and apologies can actually strengthen perception. Replit’s polished launch shows that high production alone isn’t enough, and the real missed opportunity is in how companies “land”...
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SLOP FORK
Which side benefitted more from Cloudflare’s “slop fork” of Next.js and the attention war with Vercel. Also, Raycast’s standout Glaze launch, Resend’s smart migration tooling, clever partner marketing plays that turn product moments into distribution, a bold live demo lesson from Laravel, and a...
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Squandering a Billionaire's Attention
Episode 45 of Code to Market covers three very different marketing lessons from the dev world:• A bizarre launch from Taalas that broke some “best practices” on Twitter… and still pulled 4M views.• The HubSpot / OpenCode drama, where Dharmesh Shah forked an open-source project and the maintainers...
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Super Bowl Ads, Counter Positioning, and Surfing the Wave
Claude took a direct shot at OpenAI before the Super Bowl. OpenAI responded with an essay (weak!). We break down why the best marketing rattles competitors into reacting, what Claude got right with counter-positioning, why Sam’s response made it worse, and what B2B companies can learn from...
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Cursor (Leerob) DevRel vs Sanity CMS Marketing
A $260 DIY CMS sparked debate on Twitter last month. Hank and Gonto break down Lee Robinson’s (Cursor) post, Sanity’s response, and why both sides actually won from a marketing perspective. They dig into the gap between CMS theory and real-world practice, the rise of vibe coding, and why DevRel’s...
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[bonus] Hank's Email Drafts
Most sales & marketing people hate my email drafts. Because I'm not writing for them; I write for developers. I crafted & tested these drafts for the last decade specifically to get enterprise pipeline from developers in product signup funnels at Vercel, GitLab, Neo4j, & Laravel (plus several...
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Devtool Hits vs Flops: Replicate, RunLayer, and Kalshi
In Episode 40, we break down two big announcements this week and why one absolutely outperformed the other. Cloudflare’s Replicate acquisition vs. RunLayer’s launch and fundraise: clarity, positioning, what’s-in-it-for-me, and how a single quote-tweet can reshape a narrative.Then we dive into...
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39: Rage Bait and Technical SDRs
A startup spent half its preseed on a Nordic sauna office and turned it into pure rage bait. We break down why attention without a real product or halfway decent website is a waste, and how to time fundraise announcements so they actually help you. Then we get into technical SDRs and GTM…
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38: One small Conf Combo, please
From AI-generated badges to algorithm-killing YouTube settings, Vercel’s events were full of lessons. We talk about the rise of dual-event strategies, why practice still matters, and how conferences became brand design in motion.
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37: The Right Way to Win Attention
Ramp nailed it. Clay made a polarizing play. Cluely is failing. Branding is the sum of your campaigns and positioning and critical to both getting the right attention and keeping it. From Ramp’s genius Office stunt to Clay’s risky joint-roller bit, it’s all about knowing your audience and going…
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36: Drowning in DevRel Demand
Framework turned one broke developer’s tweet into millions of impressions in a masterclass in generous marketing. From there, Hank and Gonto dive into why DevRel never really died, how influencer fatigue is pushing everything back in-house, and why AI companies are stuck launching everything twice.
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35: ZAG HARDER while others ZIG
A fast tour of “zags” that earn attention and still drive understanding. We break down PostHog’s playful desktop motif, PlanetScale’s crisp text-first launch page, why Tempo’s eye candy misses the mark, and a scrappy direct mail play from Browserbase. We close with hiring tactics to separate real...
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34: Triangle Man and the Merchants of Complexity
editors note: this was recorded a few weeks before rauchg's real drama with his Israel tweet... we might get to that (subscribe!)Hank and Gonto break down a week of developer-world drama, from DHH’s RailsWorld keynote and his “Merchants of Complexity” crusade to Vercel’s Twitter battles with...
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33. Browserbase's Growth Engines
Why ignoring best practices works, and why launches only matter if the product sticks.Paul Klein IV, CEO of Browserbase, on growing with launch videos, planes over OpenAI, no dark mode, and red CTA buttons.
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CEO ESSENTIALS | "Ship something you're ashamed of" (Paul Klein IV, CEO @ Browserbase)
What does a second-time founder consider ESSENTIAL for taking his product to market and running his startup, Browserbase?
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When Giants Fight, Underdogs Get Noticed
Cloudflare vs Perplexity heats up, and Browserbase gets pulled into the fight. We dig into Perplexity’s shaky defense, the counter-positioning angle they missed, and why people don’t fully trust either side. Browserbase came out looking sharp, not just inserting themselves but being directly…
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31: Cloudflare vs Perplexity, Laracon Recap, & Old News
This week, we break down Cloudflare’s public callout of Perplexity and why it’s a perfect PR move for their new bot-charging feature. Hank recaps Laracon, from selling more tickets than ever to turning a golf course into a sponsor-speaker free-for-all with documentary crews, Lambo stress toys…
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Devtools are Pivoting + Cluely Hype
We unpack the shift toward solopreneurs, prosumers, and "builder" personas, and what it means for onboarding, support, and product strategy. Then we break down Cluely, the Gen-Z startup with no clear product but a massive hype engine. Does marketing your marketing work? Should every startup build…
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When Big Tech Copies You
Raycast got Sherlocked by Apple... or did they? We break down how they flipped the narrative from panic to power move with a killer mix of transparency, humor, and speed. Then we shift gears to talk about Accel’s video content strategy, including one about letting ScaleAI's founder live in a VC's...
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Three Levels of Ad Landing Pages
You spent real money. The ad worked. They clicked. Now what? In this episode, we break down how Vercel, Claude, and Statsig handled their Acquired podcast sponsorships and what happened after the click. From custom landing pages to mismatched CTAs, we dissect what worked and what didn’t. Then we...
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Clark, Cringe, & Counterpositioning: Retool vs Superblocks
Two agent platforms launched within 24 hours (Retool Agents and Superblocks’s "Clark"), but only one nailed the launch & positioning. We break down why naming your AI sucks, what Superblocks did right with counterpositioning, and how Retool missed the messaging mark despite a solid(?) product....
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PLG isn't Passive: Multi-Product Startups + AI Distribution Wars
We explore how Clerk nailed its self-service, multi-product strategy without chasing enterprise customers. Hank breaks down why great second products should eclipse your first, while Gonto highlights Clerk’s clever integration with Stripe and strategic funding. Plus, Bolt's "Unleash the Vibes"...
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Meeting Haters at React Miami
In this episode Hank and Gonto dive into Hank's experience at React Miami, where online beefs turned surprisingly civil and a "Family Feud" parody stole the show. They also discuss Figma's head-scratching trademark battle over "DevMode," a move that ended up being less strategic genius, more meme...
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Hard Times for Developer Marketing
We share the wild projects, crazy constraints, and innovative pivots that turned panic into progress.
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How to Hire Marketers Like Vercel, Auth0, & Laravel
Every startup struggles with this—even the best founders and teams we’ve worked with. How do you actually hire great people, build trust, and scale without turning into a slow, bloated mess? In this episode, we share the hard-earned lessons that helped us grow high-performing teams at Auth0,...
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Hats, Haters, & Hackathons
Levels.io is turning vibe coding into a full-blown distribution engine—shipping fast, selling hats, running hackathons, and pulling others into his orbit. We break down what B2B founders can learn from his playbook, then dig into the Rippling vs. Deel spy scandal, Vercel’s drama with Cloudflare,...
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Did Laravel do a PERFECT developer marketing launch?
This week, Hank's in the hot seat. Gonto grills him on Laravel’s latest launch - what was great, what wasn't, and what pissed him off. We cover: - Why bundling launches > launch weeks - The secret power of using other people’s audiences - Tips to improve marketing & pricing pages - How Gonto…
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Raycast launches the future while Bybit fights for survival
Raycast just launched AI Extensions, and we break down why their approach to marketing and UX is what Apple Intelligence should have been. Then crypto story time with Gonto as he talks about the biggest crypto hack in history—$1.4 billion stolen from Bybit—and why their response was a masterclass...
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Enablement Beats Collateral & Credit Card Gates
We discuss why sales enablement is more powerful than sales collateral and how to get them to stop relying on PDFs and case studies and instead focus on understanding the product and delivering answers in real time. We also discuss credit card gates on products. After gathering insights from...
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Traffic from AI Chat is Growing Faster Than We Thought
AI chatbots are driving more traffic than you think, and it’s happening fast. Hank and Gonto break down the latest data on AI-driven search, why it matters for businesses right now, and how companies should adapt. They also dive into a heated database debate between Neon, Planetscale, and Prisma,...
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Stop EXPLAINING your SaaS; SHOW why it's great instead
In this episode ofCode to Market, Hank and Gonto break down thetrade-offs of fast follows—whyspeed gets you attention, but differentiation wins you customers. They explore the psychology of AI adoption (why the less people understand AI, the more they use it), and how devtool founders shouldsell...
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Developer Marketing lacks Vision
Most devtool founders and marketers focus too much on launches and not enough on vision. In this episode, we break down Andrew Chen’s take on viral launches—are they a waste of time or always worth it? Hank defends the power of going big, while Gonto argues for a more targeted approach. We also...
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Devin AI, SF Dinners, & Raycast Ad
Questions answered: What could Devin have done differently in their marketing? Are Devin's VC's stupid? How can you run small dinners/meetups? What's brilliant about Raycast's ad? (and what would we change?)
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The Perfect First DevRel Hire for Devtool Startups
What makes a great early marketing or DevRel hire? In this episode, we break down why hunger for glory drives experimentation, why first hires should be generalists, and whether founders should test marketing channels before hiring. Plus, we discuss the different types of DevRel and analyze a…
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Master AI + New Media in 2025 with Us
Hank & Gonto share their work and personal themes for 2025.
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Is attention & amplification more important than money now?
In this episode, we discuss if attention and amplification is better than money now. We dive deep into organic and paid influencer marketing, and affiliate marketing.
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Obsessing over Competitors & Blaming Marketing (Devtool Founders)
In this episode we discuss frameworks on competitors, GitHub's "free" Copilot plan, and the bastardization of PLG
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Sell to Developers' Human Needs
Developers make decisions with emotion, not just logic and rational thinking - you can use that! Also, Shopify's boring launch was a masterclass.
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2 fights, 1 booth, and 0 cookies
This week we discuss about 2 online fights: Supabase vs Levels & EDB vs PostgresWeekly, how to be creative with your booth and conference strategy, and how real "building in public" is.
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The Rippling Effects of a Week Launch
We discuss Rippling crossing the line with their comparison page mischief, a simple hackathon by Vercel, and our thoughts on "Mega Launch Week"3:35 PM
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Code to Market have?
Code to Market currently has 57 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Code to Market about?
Every week, Gonto & Hank boil down the most important product, growth, and marketing learnings from what’s happening in dev tools
How often does Code to Market release new episodes?
Code to Market has 57 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Code to Market?
You can listen to Code to Market on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Code to Market?
Code to Market is created and hosted by Gonto and Hank.
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