Ask Your Developer

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

Ask Your Developer by Jeff Lawson

Jeff Lawson, software developer turned CEO of Twilio, 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.

All proceeds of Ask Your Developer are going to organizations who are working to ensure that developers and technologists of the future reflect the diverse world around us. Learn about our four beneficiary organizations.

Overview

How can you compete in the digital economy?
Ask your developer.

The challenge companies face today

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?

Using the creativity of code to solve business problems

Developers are the creative workforce who can solve major business problems and create hit products for customers — not just grind through rote tasks. Most companies treat developers like digital factory workers without really understanding what software developers are able to contribute.

From Google and Amazon, to one-person online software companies — companies that bring software developers in as partners are winning.

Adopt the Ask Your Developer mindset

For Companies

Take advantage of an underutilized asset that already exists in your company.

  • Unleash the tremendous untapped creativity and brainpower inside your software teams.
  • Understand developers and how to motivate them.
  • Invest in your developers' success.
For Developers

The Ask Your Developer mindset helps you show up as much more than just a code monkey.

  • Live up to your potential as a full, talented, creative professional.
  • Be a valuable part of the strategic conversation.

About the author

Jeff Lawson

Jeff Lawson is co-founder and CEO of Silicon Valley-based Twilio, one of the world’s fastest growing technology companies. A lifelong software developer, Jeff founded Twilio in 2008 with the belief that empowering developers was key to unlocking innovation within nearly every kind of business. Millions of software developers and hundreds of thousands of companies use Twilio’s platform to add communications to the websites and apps you use daily.

Jeff is a serial entrepreneur having been the founder of Versity.com and NineStar, and founding CTO of StubHub prior to Twilio, as well as one of the first product managers at Amazon Web Services.

He lives in San Francisco with his family and still makes time to hack on new software and hardware projects.

Quotes

Jeff Lawson’s Ask Your Developer is the ultimate guide for creating a software developer culture that unlocks the passion, creativity, and empathy needed to build amazing products and succeed in the digital economy.
Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO of Salesforce
Jeff shows business leaders at every level how to unlock growth and innovation while empowering their talent. Crisp and easy to read.
Padmasree Warrior, Founder, CEO, and President of Fable Group Inc.
Thank you, Jeff, for teaching both developers and business leaders how to speak the same language — this is going to smash so many misconceptions that get in the way of innovation.
Anil Dash, CEO of Glitch, Entrepreneur, and Writer
Engineering is one of the most creative jobs in the world. Jeff’s Ask Your Developer philosophy is spot on — unleashing the creativity of developers is the key to innovation, no matter what industry you are in.
Werner Vogels, CTO of Amazon
I’ve been studying culture in companies for a long time, and I’ve talked to hundreds of CEOs. What Jeff and the team have done is one of the most complete and thoughtful approaches to culture I’ve come across yet. Ask Your Developer is a must-read for any leader who is looking for a playbook from one of the most intentional CEOs I’ve interviewed.
Adam Bryant, Co-author of The CEO Test

Press

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Available January 12, 2021

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