I threw that gift out the open door

I’m not proud of this story, but I’m telling it so you can avoid making similar mistakes with developers.

This time of year, for many children, is all about presents. I was no different. I would count down the days to our extended family celebration.

Not because of the family. Because it meant I’d get to open my gifts.

The pressure toward this moment grew more intense with each passing day. My parents chose to relieve it with a simple solution.

The day before family arrived, I could open a single gift of my choice.

The year of this embarrassing story, I chose the largest box.

“Are you sure?” my parents asked.

I was sure.

“The biggest gifts aren’t always the best,” they pressed.

But I wasn’t taking the hint. I was opening this giant box! Playing with whatever was inside would surely get me through the next torturous 24 hours.

I excitedly unwrapped the box to find…

There was nothing inside the box.

Beneath the wrapping paper was a rugged plastic container for holding LEGO.

No LEGO bricks inside. Not yet.

So, I spent the rest of the night happily organizing my LEGO inside this delightful box, right?

Of course not! When it dawned on me that this was the entirety of my early gift, I had to take action. I picked up the box and marched it to the sliding glass door. Gliding open that heavy door, I held the LEGO box above my tiny child head, and ceremoniously hurled it to the concrete slab outside.

Like I said, I’m not proud of this reaction.

Yet, you may cause similar frustration in developers… and it’s all avoidable!

When you make big promises and promote your product, that’s like wrapping a giant, expectation-filled gift. Most developers have unwrapped a lot of empty boxes. They’ve learned to be skeptical.

There should be no bad surprises. For developers these can be account restrictions, murky pricing, or even the need to talk to sales, among others.

You might also remove words like “easy” and “simple.” Maybe throw out “scalable,” while you’re at it.

One final developer lesson from this childish trauma: think about who wanted this gift.

There’s no excuse for my behavior, but a box to store LEGO was not on my wishlist. This box was so my parents could avoid the pain of bare feet on a LEGO-filled floor.

When you tell developers all about your product, it’s for your benefit, not theirs.

That’s why I encourage developer companies to focus on education and inspiration… not promotion. When you help developers to solve their problems, you earn the right to mention your product.

If you’re concerned developers might toss your product out a sliding glass door, our team may be able to help.