Using a podcast to discover great services & people
Is it wrong to be selfish as a podcast host?
The last few podcasts may have exposed my secret reason for hosting the Fireside with Voxgig podcast - I get to find great products and people and talk them about things that interest me! We start with Marc Laventure is the CEO and Co-Founder of Scalar and he joins us for a chat about API documentation, startups and accessibility. Then I have a wonderful conversation with Christin Monti, senior technical product manager with PayPal - a trip down memory lane for me. And finally today (Friday) I unveil my chat with Patrick Akil, a fellow podcast host where I get to pick his brains and will probably copy his recording set up!
Finding a product I think I will love
Scalar is a service that allows you to document, discover and test APIs, which once again begs the question - is Fireside really just a podcast, or is it a way for me to discover services that will make my life as a developer easier? We may never know the answer. But when it comes to Scalar, Marc tells us of his very simple mission behind the company: making APIs as accessible as possible, to as many people as possible.
It started the way all good startups do, the founders realise that they all have the same frustration, (in this case it was badly documented APIs) and they set out to do something about it. After all, good documentation can mean the difference between a developer wanting to adopt the service or not.
We should mention, that as impressive as all of this sounds, Scalar only launched a short month ago, though in that time they’ve amassed over a thousand stars on GitHub, as well as a great deal of positive early feedback. What’s clear from this chat is that we need to get Marc back on in a year to update us on this crazy journey he’s on.
Chatting to a person that is empathetic towards developers - heaven!
Christina joins our list of guests from a slightly unconventional background. Christina came to DevRel through a career in finance, and she’s quickly become one to watch. Speaking on the topic of DevRel careers, she has three words: just do it. You don’t need permission to start working as a DevRel - and that work may look very different from person to person.
Part of Christina’s job is empowering developers to take steps into creating educational content through potentially unfamiliar mediums, and as you can imagine, this role requires a lot of patience and empathy. Luckily, empathy happens to be one of Christina’s top priorities, and she dives into exactly why this value has served her so well.
Lastly, she goes into the importance of believing in the projects as you work on, and how this is equally as true for developers as it is for DevRels. She feels that when most of the developers working on a product freely admit that they wouldn’t use the product themselves, you’ve got a big problem - and a lot of work to do.
Spying on a fellow podcast host’s recording set-up
Once I get over my set-up envy, Patrick and I have a good chat! Patrick works in the software development unit at Xebia, and he talks about how their value of knowledge sharing led to their desire to support a podcast. When he heard about it, Patrick jumped at the opportunity.
This episode will be invaluable to anyone thinking of starting that podcast they’ve been thinking about, whether they work within DevRel or not. Patrick runs us through some of his initial pitfalls, as well as giving plenty of reassurances as to how much he, and all podcast hosts, improve over time. It’s a learn-on-the-job kind of business, this podcasting thing, something I know all too well.
One of the things Patrick highlights is the importance of quality. If you keep improving your quality (both in terms of literal sound quality, and the quality of your content) then you can also improve the quality of your guests. Quality of guests is something important to consider. It’s a point we frequently return to in DevRel discussions - quality over quantity. Twenty committed listeners are generally better than fifty listeners with a monthly turnover rate of a hundred per cent.
Patrick doesn’t come from any kind of performing background, and he explains how the ability to be confident and articulate in the face of nerves was an ability he honed over time. Things that would have seemed impossible to his younger self, are things he now completes with ease. This one is full of valuable tidbits, whether you’re a budding podcaster, or just want a look behind the sound booth curtain.
See you back here next week for another round up of our guests and events.