September 2021 Summaries

Developer Relations (DevRel) is a multifaceted and evolving function that supports developer-centric companies like PostHog by serving their developer customers and enhancing product engagement. At PostHog, the journey to establish a DevRel strategy is still underway, with a focus on understanding the needs and formulating a plan to seed, grow, and scale DevRel effectively. The plan includes overseeing documentation, catalyzing community engagement, and expanding outreach to broader developer communities. While DevRel roles can vary, they typically encompass responsibilities such as product vision, engineering execution, customer success, and developer-focused marketing. As a company grows, DevRel roles become more specialized, with positions like Developer Advocates, Community Managers, and Developer Educators focusing on different aspects of the developer experience. The strategy also involves collaboration with customers and partners to create a scalable community-driven model. At PostHog, DevRel is seen as essential, with plans to hire specific roles to address documentation needs, community engagement, and outreach to external communities, aligning the DevRel strategy with company goals and growth stages.

In an episode of PostHog's Community Conversations, Evan Sosenko, Co-founder and CTO of PureSkill.gg, discusses the innovative approach his company takes in providing automated coaching for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) players. PureSkill.gg stands out by not only offering gameplay statistics but also identifying and helping players overcome their mistakes. Evan emphasizes the growth of the eSports industry, citing the example of Dota's international tournament which has seen its prize pool grow from $1 million to nearly $40 million over a decade. He believes that automated coaching tools like PureSkill.gg have the potential to significantly impact the competitive gaming scene by leveraging vast amounts of data to enhance player performance and attract new audiences. Evan also highlights the importance of community feedback in shaping PureSkill.gg's features and mentions ongoing developments such as the beta integration with advanced matchmaking provider FaceIt.

PostHog 1.28.0 and its subsequent patch 1.28.1 have been released to enhance user experience and improve performance, addressing several bugs and introducing new features. The updates include significantly improved query performance on OSS ClickHouse, advanced engagement cohorts for better user analysis, and SAML support for secure authentication and user provisioning. The advanced funnel building feature now offers custom step ordering, event exclusions, and conversion time range windows to better understand user conversion rates. The release also brings numerous improvements and fixes, such as enhancements to app development, UI updates, and bug resolutions in dashboard sharing and cohort calculations. Notably, support for Python 3.7 has been dropped, and users are encouraged to upgrade to Python 3.8 or 3.9. The PostHog community has been actively contributing to these updates, with shoutouts to key contributors and open positions for those interested in joining the team.

Startups often make the mistake of using titles to establish hierarchy, which can impede feedback and growth, as observed by PostHog in its early stages. Initially adopting a flat structure with all team members reporting directly to the founders, the company realized the limitations of this approach when scaling up, prompting the creation of small teams and light management to enhance product and design capabilities. Emphasizing roles over titles, PostHog avoids assigning impressive but meaningless titles, focusing instead on hiring individuals who set high standards and can grow their teams. The challenge of defining roles, such as their experience with hiring a versatile designer, highlights the need for adaptability in startup environments, where individuals often wear multiple hats and evolve their roles as the company grows. This approach extends to leadership, with the CEO's responsibilities shifting from sales and design to broader strategic initiatives as the company expands.

Dogfooding, the practice of a company using its own product, is essential for identifying small user experience issues that can lead to high churn if left unaddressed. While traditional product testing can uncover problems, it often lacks the real-world context that dogfooding provides, allowing for a deeper understanding of user challenges and better feature prioritization. Engaging all team members in regular dogfooding sessions and creative challenges enhances collective autonomy and empathy, leading to more effective product decisions. However, it's important to maintain objectivity and avoid perfectionism by focusing on problems likely to compound over time rather than every minor annoyance. Monitoring user retention can indicate when increased dogfooding might be necessary to uncover the reasons behind declining usage, with tools like PostHog offering support for these initiatives.