What is DevRel (a.k.a. Developer Relations)?
Developer Relations (DevRel): What we talk about when we talk about trust
Hey! You know, I often find myself explaining to friends and colleagues, even those in the tech industry, what exactly a Developer Relations (DevRel) professional does. The reaction is almost always the same: a mix of curiosity and a bit of confusion. Many see it as an Evangelist on a stage or a highly qualified Support Agent. But for me, it’s not just a job; it's a true passion that is constantly renewed, a continuous process of learning and conversation.
If you have a different experience or simply an insight, know that I'm here: I deeply believe that growth only comes from dialogue.
This series of blog posts is born precisely to untangle this discipline, distilling its value and making it easily accessible.
What the heck is DevRel, practically speaking?
That's the fundamental question. Many confuse it with simple marketing or advanced technical support, but the reality is that DevRel is much deeper. In extreme summary, DevRel is the discipline concerned with building and nurturing authentic relationships between a company and its developer community. The primary goal isn't to sell the product, but to enable those who use it to succeed. It's not about advertising, it's about service.
The crucial point is that developers are a notoriously skeptical audience, resistant to promotional messaging. Their decisions are based on trust and the tangible value a product can offer. That's why DevRel operates on a simple, but powerful principle: "offer value before receiving any". The goal isn't immediate conversion, but building lasting trust, demonstrating competence and honesty. Practically speaking, DevRel is the process of earning the trust of technical users who are reluctant to grant it.
DevRel isn't One Role, but a Set of Roles.
Absolutely not, and it's one of the most interesting curiosities. We often talk about "the DevRel" as if it were a single figure with one job description, but in reality, it's a strategic function composed of a set of distinct and complementary roles. It’s more of a team or a department than a monolithic role.
Think of the Developer Advocate; they are often the public face, the one who attends conferences, writes posts, and creates demos. Their goal is inspiration and education. Then there's the Community Manager, whose main job is to moderate and foster growth in online channels like Discord or forums, ensuring users feel heard and supported by each other. Another key figure is the Developer Experience (DX) Engineer, who focuses on interface quality, technical usability, SDKs, and the fluidity of the onboarding process.
Each of these professionals focuses on a different aspect of the developer lifecycle, but they all share the same mission: improve the Developer Experience (DX) and act as that vital, bidirectional communication bridge.
What is "DX" and why is it the First Test of Trust?
The term Developer Experience (DX) is often mentioned when discussing DevRel, but in reality, it is its operational foundation. If we had to give a name to trust, it would be DX. DX is focused on the product and its usability for a technical audience. The goal is to minimize friction and reduce the time it takes for a developer to achieve their first valuable result, often called "Time to Hello World" (TTHW).
The DevRel team works tirelessly on DX because they know that clear documentation and the quality of APIs/SDKs are the first real conversation between the company and the developer. If installation is a nightmare, the sample code is obsolete, or the tutorial is incomplete, the skeptical user leaves. By improving DX, you're not just supporting the existing user, you're breaking down skepticism, creating a fluid and pleasant path that is concrete proof of a genuine commitment to the success of those using the product.
What is the Two-Way Mission of this discipline?
As I said, DevRel is a bridge with two lanes that work in perfect synchrony. If one is missing, effectiveness collapses.
There is the Outbound Lane, which represents the educational and dissemination function. Here we don't use slogans, but concrete technical value. Our job is to create, disseminate, and present high-quality content that helps developers understand and integrate the product effectively. The purpose is empowerment and lowering the barrier to entry to the technology through clarity.
Then there is the Inbound Lane, perhaps the most strategically profound. This is the function of internal advocacy, where DevRel represents the developers' needs within the company. We actively collect feedback, the so-called pain points, from forums, GitHub, or direct interactions, and translate them into actionable information for the Product and Engineering teams. This is crucial: DevRel ensures that the product evolves based on the real needs of those using it, ensuring that the community's voice directly influences the development roadmap.
This two-way mechanism creates a virtuous cycle that fuels innovation.
Why is DevRel crucial for anyone wanting to Grow a Tech Product?
When someone asks me why invest in DevRel, I always explain that it's not a cost, but a strategic necessity. Anyone wanting their product to be adopted by a technical audience (whether it's APIs, cloud services, or open source libraries) reaps enormous benefits:
An effective DevRel program drives adoption. By drastically improving documentation and simplifying the initial path, it directly increases the product's adoption rate and, over time, reduces the Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). Trust earned translates into economic efficiency.
Furthermore, sincere commitment translates into invaluable trust capital. A thriving DevRel ecosystem makes the platform more "sticky": when developers feel supported and benefit from a community, the probability of them abandoning the platform drastically decreases, improving customer longevity. Satisfied developers, in fact, become powerful advocates who promote the platform organically and credibly within their professional networks.
The entire strategy is oriented toward a single "North Star": getting developers to their "Aha!" moment the instant they experience the core value of the product as quickly as possible. Everything else is a corollary.
This is just the start of our journey to explore Developer Relations in depth. In the coming weeks, I’ll be publishing more detailed articles on metrics, the different specializations of the role, and community building strategies.
I am Michel Murabito, called Mich by everyone, and this is a blog post series on DevRel. You can find me on LinkedIn.
See you soon.