You know that moment when restaurants march the fajitas to a table, past all the other diners? I swear they take the long way, so everyone hears the loud sizzle of meat and veggies against cast iron. Amidst the crackles and pops, if you pay close attention, you can hear something else:

Regret. It emanates from anyone who ordered the burger or burrito or, oh my gosh, the garden salad.

The fajita sizzle is loud. It’s in your face. It’s designed to be noticed.

It’s also rarely the sort of splash you’d want to make with devs.

Recently, I ordered a personal shakshuka at a local brunch place. It arrived with its own sizzle:

There was no parade. Even in a small, cozy cafe, nobody but me noticed the shakshuka show.

And yet… You see those bubbles?​

My cast-iron dish was nearly as hot. And my taste buds are nearly as excited.​

(My bright white shirt, on the other hand… maybe not the best pairing!)​

That’s the kind of sizzle you want most of the time with developers.

Fajita sizzle? More likely to look like marketing. Developers will be skeptical. And they’ll share their uncertainty. Shakshuka sizzle? That looks like speaking to their problems… surprising devs by reading their minds.​

They’ll share that, too.​

And these days, “word of mouth” doesn’t just hit the ears of other developers. LLMs are trained on it. Then it shows up as other devs ask AI for help.​

Do you know how your product shows up when users ask AI?​

Do you know how to add the right kind of sizzle to stoke the dev community?​

I’m working on something new to give you visibility and guidance in these crazy times.

Tap a quick reply and I’ll tell you about it.