Engineering Founders

GTM Insights from Top DevTool companies w/ David Mytton @ Arcjet & Console

Episode Summary

David Mytton (CEO @ Arcjet & Co-founder @ Console) shares insights on “what makes a great DevTool company!” We unpack lessons on bootstrapping vs. seeking VC funding & why it’s important to stick with one; building prototypes; considerations for selling your company; and his founder journey with Server Density, Console & now with Arcjet. David also highlights GTM practices for finding reliable channels & distribution, why documentation can make a critical impact on dev tool sales, the impact of design, and translating the benefits of dev tools for finance teams vs. developers.

Episode Notes

David Mytton (CEO @ Arcjet & Co-founder @ Console) shares insights on “what makes a great DevTool company!” We unpack lessons on bootstrapping vs. seeking VC funding & why it’s important to stick with one; building prototypes; considerations for selling your company; and his founder journey with Server Density, Console & now with Arcjet. David also highlights GTM practices for finding reliable channels & distribution, why documentation can make a critical impact on dev tool sales, the impact of design, and translating the benefits of dev tools for finance teams vs. developers.

ABOUT DAVID MYTTON

A dynamic approach to tech innovation, security, sustainability, and developer empowerment can be seen in everything David Mytton touches. As co-founder of Console and host of the Console DevTools Podcast, he delights in keeping developers ahead of the curve with the tools they need the most. As the founder of Server Density (acquired by StackPath), he created a product that helped organizations manage mission-critical IT environments. As a sustainable computing researcher at Oxford and a global green tech speaker, he’s brought much-needed attention to the impact of cloud emissions and the water and energy consumption of the data centers that fuel our online lives. Now, as founder and CEO of Arcjet, he’s helping developers and businesses protect their apps with just a few lines of code. His professional career is a direct reflection of his relentless pursuit of making tech smarter and greener. How he invests his spare time showcases his unwavering commitment to mentoring developers and building the communities they need to succeed.

SHOW NOTES:

• David’s founder journey, starting with Server Density (2:31)
• Behind the early decision to start a company & start building a product (4:00)
• Key lessons from bootstrapping, raising funding, and being acquired (7:40)
• How those early lessons shaped Arcjet & Console (9:39)
• Why VC money can make finding experienced engineers easier (12:24)
• Strategies to help early teams build their first product / prototype (14:02)
• Considering company outcomes: Should you build a company just to sell it? (15:17)
• Signals that it’s the right time for a sale / acquisition (17:02)
• The story behind Arcjet (18:54)
• “What makes a great DevTool company” & strategic insights that shaped Arcjet (22:11)
• Key practices that helped shape Arcjet’s GTM plan (24:09)
• David’s approach to experimentation and discovery (26:09)
• The impact of documentation on dev tool companies (30:03)
• How discovery pathways for dev tools impact sales (31:55)
• Making the decision-making process easier for users & buyers (33:30)
• Translating dev tool benefits for finance teams vs. developers (38:18)
• The impact of design on dev tool companies (40:55)
• Rapid fire questions (44:21)

LINKS AND RESOURCES

• David’s reading list
• a16z Blog
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things - Ben Horowitz, a leading venture capitalist, modern management expert, and New York Times bestselling author, combines lessons both from history and from modern organizational practice with practical and often surprising advice to help executives build cultures that can weather both good and bad times.
• The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World - Niall Ferguson follows the money to tell the human story behind the evolution of finance, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals on what he calls Planet Finance.
• The Lessons of History - In this illuminating and thoughtful book, Will and Ariel Durant have succeeded in distilling for the reader the accumulated store of knowledge and experience from their four decades of work on the ten monumental volumes of "The Story of Civilization." The result is a survey of human history, full of dazzling insights into the nature of human experience, the evolution of civilization, the culture of man.

This episode wouldn’t have been possible without the help of our incredible production team:

Patrick Gallagher - Producer & Co-Host

Jerry Li - Co-Host

Noah Olberding - Associate Producer, Audio & Video Editor https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-olberding/

Dan Overheim - Audio Engineer, Dan’s also an avid 3D printer - https://www.bnd3d.com/

Ellie Coggins Angus - Copywriter, Check out her other work at https://elliecoggins.com/about/