Ask Your Developer

How to Harness the Power of Software Developers and Win in the 21st Century

De: Jeff Lawson

Narrado por: Jeff Lawson

Jeff Lawson, developer turned CEO of Twilio (one of Bloomberg Businessweek's Top 50 Companies to Watch in 2021), creates a new playbook for unleashing the full potential of software developers in any organization, showing how to help management utilize this coveted and valuable workforce to enable growth, solve a wide range of business problems, and drive digital transformation.

From banking and retail to insurance and finance, every industry is turning digital, and every company needs the best software to win the hearts and minds of customers. The landscape has shifted from the classic build vs. buy question, to one of build vs. die. Companies have to get this right to survive. But how do they make this transition?

Software developers are sought after, highly paid, and desperately needed to compete in the modern, digital economy. Yet most companies treat them like digital factory workers without really understanding how to unleash their full potential. Lawson argues that developers are the creative workforce who can solve major business problems and create hit products for customers—not just grind through rote tasks. From Google and Amazon, to one-person online software companies—companies that bring software developers in as partners are winning. Lawson shows how leaders who build industry changing software products consistently do three things well. First, they understand why software developers matter more than ever. Second, they understand developers and know how to motivate them. And third, they invest in their developers' success.

As a software developer and public company CEO, Lawson uses his unique position to bridge the language and tools executives use with the unique culture of high performing, creative software developers. Ask Your Developer is a toolkit to help business leaders, product managers, technical leaders, software developers, and executives achieve their common goal—building great digital products and experiences.

How to compete in the digital economy? In short: Ask Your Developer.

©2020 Jeff Lawson and Dan Lyons (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

SK

I enjoyed this book very much. I have been in technology sales leadership for more than 20 years and never made the connection between the C-suite executives and how that translates with the builders of digital transformation making that happen. Ask Your Developer is a must read (or listen).

I would give this book 10 Stars if I could.

my company currently has 50 developers across five different SAAS platforms and I've learned a ton from this book. Highly recommended

Amazing read for every professional who has to interact with Tech professionals

Jeff builds a solid case for build software vs buy of the shelf.
Beautifully written, every word resonated with me.
Highly recommended for folks in Tech sector.

Fantastic book on how software should be done

Really enjoyed it and confirmed 90% of what I believed as well as learned a few new things!

Insightful for today’s digital age

Great book. Loved listening to this book and hearing the importance of empowering our developers.

Great book. Look into the future.

Great insight into what is already here and what is coming. All companies will have to lean into this thought process. Jeff did a great job performing the book but also laying out each thought process clearly and concisely. Very insightful and his company sounds very interesting.

Informative

The book was fantastic, I would highly recommend any software engineers or managers read this.

Great read for SaaS business readers

As a leader at a startup SaaS company, this book provided excellwnt suggestions on the approach one shouid have to drive effective performance from the most critical resource - developers. It challenged me to take a software approach to. solving any type of problem, a paradigm shift for those of us coming from a more hardware dominant background.

From a non-dev tech entrepreneur:

This book is not only, the first I’ve ever written a review for, but also a mind-shifting encyclopedia. Something that I will refer back to on how to build great teams and make great products.

Excellent stories focusing on developers

Very interesting stories on how the author built Twilio as well as a couple previous startups. It's also fascinating to see how Amazon has influenced the ethos of Twilio. Although Twilio has gone through a few acquisitions in recent years, it's good to learn how it started and keep in mind its developer-first spirit. For engineers, it's also great to learn the Operational Maturity Model and how the Twilio internal platform was built and used. As a Twilio employee myself, it's also good to learn a bit more of the company's history and fun facts.