The most iconic lines from the 1996 movie Jerry Maguire may sound familiar, but they probably won’t help you reach more developers.

They entered the zeitgeist and became so overused that they’re now cliché.

You may recognize them:

• Show me the money
• You had me at hello
• You complete me

Perhaps you’ve seen this scene:

“Show me the money” might be the exact opposite of a way to a developer’s heart. Cost savings or an increased salary are unlikely to receive as much attention as improving one’s craft.

Sure, devs want to be paid what they’re worth, but ​that’s not their real currency​.

Does a new dev tool “complete” them? Rarely. It’s usually the tools they’ve used for years that earn their way to soulmate status.

Maybe you could have them at “Hello World.”

Even that first experience requires a first impression that builds enough trust for them to try your product.

So we’ll need to dig deeper into this 30-year-old movie to find a developer lesson.

When I started at Zapier, we were still small enough that every new hire flew to San Jose to spend the week with the founders. There were two of us starting that week. It was an obscure Jerry Maguire reference that drew me to my new coworker.

One evening, under his breath, he sang “Cushlaaaaash, Cushlaaaaash…”

I did a double-take at first because it’s a little throwaway line early in the movie (page 19 of the screenplay). Jerry’s would-be client, Frank Cushman, keeps seeing himself on Times Square billboards. He’s about to be the number one draft pick, but he says all the attention is giving him “Cushlash.”

He grabs his guitar and ​sings that song​:

Cushman doesn’t like the hype. He doesn’t care what team is going to draft him. He just wants to play.

This new coworker’s deep cut reference showed me he was a real fan of Jerry Maguire. That instantly endeared me to him and still does. In fact, I sent a Jonathan Lipnicki Cameo to him for his birthday a couple years ago.

But what’s this obscure quote have to do with developers?

For one thing, many developer products give their audience “Cushlash” by talking far too much about the product. They could handle being a little hype-averse, like Frank Cushman.

But there’s a meta-lesson here, too. Would my coworker have endeared me as much with one of the more familiar quotes?

Many dev marketers will gravitate toward the mainstream references, thinking it means they’ll reach the most developers. It’s true, you might attract more, but then you have to fight through the noise to find the right developers amongst them.

You’d be better off with the deep cuts. Trust comes from showing how well you know the right audience.

And speaking of trust, one last Jerry Maguire quote (I promise!).

Early in the movie, Jerry stays up all night writing a long document about the business of sports. He suggests they should give more attention to their clients.

But he bristles every time someone calls it a memo. “It’s not a memo. It’s a mission statement,” he says.

For anyone new to this Developer Trust Memo, my goal is to make it memo AND mission statement. A reminder to all of us to put developers first.

When you build trust, that leads to all the other important outcomes: sign-ups, users, customers, and integration partners. And, YES, done right they will “show you the money.”