| name | dev-copy |
| description | Audit and improve marketing copy aimed at engineers — READMEs, landing pages, feature pages, tweets, launch posts. Based on Michael Seibel's YC pitch framework adapted for developer tools. Use when asked to "review copy", "audit the homepage", "improve the README", "check the marketing", or when writing new marketing content for a dev tool. |
Dev Copy — Engineer-Facing Marketing
Audit or write marketing copy for developer tools using these principles. Engineers have finely tuned BS detectors — the goal is clarity and insight, not sizzle.
Core Rule
You stand out by being concise and easy to understand. Not by energy, pizzazz, or shark-tankiness. Clear and specific beats clever and vague every time.
The Checklist
Run every piece of copy through these checks. Report what passes and what doesn't.
1. Two sentences + specific example
The reader must know what the product does after reading two sentences. Then a vivid, specific example that makes them think "I had that exact problem yesterday."
Good: "Teleport lets you SSH into any server in your infrastructure without managing keys. Imagine you're paged at 2am, you need to get into the prod database box, but your SSH key expired last week and nobody's around to rotate it."
Bad: "A next-generation identity-aware infrastructure access platform."
Rules:
- 80% accurate, 100% clear — not the other way around
- The example needs specific details: a person, a situation, a number, an outcome
- Vague examples ("if you have a project and need to do X...") don't stick
- Never leave the first screen / first paragraph without the reader knowing what it does
2. Insight over features
Feature lists describe WHAT. Insights explain WHY — and position you as an expert.
Good: "Most database queries aren't slow because of the query. They're slow because the ORM generated a join you didn't ask for."
