How SendGrid Scaled Their Developer Evangelism Outreach
summary
SendGrid sells an email API (used to send Uber receipts) and grows developer adoption by sponsoring hackathons, accelerators (Techstars, 500 Startups), answering Stack Overflow, and running an ambassador program for colleges. A Taco Bell hack project turned viral and became a client. Team metrics include usage spikes via Google Analytics by location, coupon codes per event to track acquisition and lifetime value, average evangelist tenure ~18–24 months, and new hires for docs and community managers to scale.
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chapters (10)
- 0:00Introduction and speaker background
- 3:29What is developer evangelism
- 7:04Phase one drive awareness and adoption
- 12:59Scaling the team and roles
- 16:06Retention and diversity challenges
- 18:36Measuring evangelism success
- 20:23Expanding to Community team
- 21:28Marketing email focus
- 23:54Tracking performance with KPIs
- 25:00Q&A and closing remarks
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