## Summary Greenberg argues that measuring developer relations through the sales funnel is a category error. Developer marketing is transactional and aimed at new customer acquisition; developer relations builds engagement and catalyzes community as ends in themselves. Because the goal is community, success can't be tied directly to monetary metrics — it has to be measured against DevRel's own first-principle purpose. He closes by urging teams to communicate those objectives and results clearly to business leadership so the function gets recognized and supported. ## Key Points - Putting DevRel at the top of the sales funnel for "awareness" is inaccurate and problematic, even if it feels reasonable. - Developer marketing and developer relations are distinct: marketing crafts advertising for acquisition with financial CTAs ("create an account today"); relations catalyzes community with participation CTAs ("explore open source issues to contribute"). - For developer relations, the engagement and the catalyzing of community are the goals themselves, not strategies toward another goal. - Community generates tangible and intangible value, driven by the human desire for connectedness and meaning; benefits to companies include lower customer acquisition costs, increased retention, and lower service costs. - Measure DevRel against its specific purpose and goals — developer experience, open source participation, community awareness, useful content — not directly against money. - Teams must consistently demonstrate value to leadership and communicate objectives and results clearly (graphs, charts) to build shared alignment. ## Claim Atoms - **DevRel engagement and community are goals, not strategies** — They aren't means to another end; the engagement itself and the catalyzing of community are the goals. - **Don't tie DevRel success directly to monetary metrics** — Draw indicators from DevRel's first-principle purpose in your business instead. ## Links - [[3. Resources/Literature Notes/Matches, Spoons, and the Relationship Between DX and UX]] — because contrasts: this note's don't-tie-to-money argument is the program-measurement version of that note's don't-over-optimize-the-easy-metric caution, applied one layer up (DevRel funnel metrics vs. developer tooling metrics) - [[3. Resources/Permanent Notes/The Four Objectives Framework Replaces Vanity Metrics in DevRel]] — because extends: Greenberg's "measure against first-principle purpose, not money" is the operating principle the Four Objectives framework already formalizes into Awareness/Activation/Engagement/Retention - [[3. Resources/MOCs/DevRel MOC]] — because applies-in: already homed under "Measurement + Operations"