Gitter to GitLab

Some lessons I learn along the path of founding my own startup through to it being acquired by GitLab.

Transcript

1. Gitter to GitLab Some Product Lessons… Andrew Newdigate
2. Introduction • Ex: Software Engineer: UUNET Internet Africa, Internet Solutions, GlaxoSmithKline, Barclays Capital, Barclays Global Investors, Daiwa Capital Markets, Barclays Wealth • Co-founder: Troupe Technologies aka Gitter • Currently: Interim Director of Infrastructure / Gitaly Team Lead / GCP Migration Project Manager, GitLab Inc @suprememoocow on Twitter & GitHub, @andrewn on GitLab.
3. What is Gitter?
4. What is Gitter? Gitter is a chat and networking platform for software developers • 1.2M+ registered users • 400K+ monthly unique users • 110K+ communities • 500K+ rooms • One of the largest GitHub integrations by number of users https:/ /gitter.im
5. Who are GitLab? GitLab is the leading integrated product for modern software development • Open-core software 1 (Core: open-source, Enterprise: closed-source) • Over 100K on-premise installs • GitLab.com: >2M registered users https:/ /about.gitlab.com 1 https:/ /about.gitlab.com/2016/07/20/gitlab-is-open-core-github-is-closed-source/
6. Who are GitLab?
7. Backstory Vision: “Really good, modern, messaging for the enterprise”
8. Troupe v0.0.1
9. Troupe v0.1.0
11. Lesson #1 “If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late” — Reid Hoffman 2 • aka “Perfect is the enemy of good” 2 Reid Hoffman: https:/ /www.linkedin.com/pulse/arent-any-typos-essay-we-launched-too-late-reid-hoffman/
12. Continuing the Build… January 2013: Cape Town
13. “So Yeah We Tried Slack…”
14. The Pivot
15. Lesson #2 (part 1) - Pivoting Know when it's time to pivot
16. Lesson #2 (part 2) When you pivot, pivot hard “Burn the boats” — Steve Blank 3 3 Steve Blank, 2010
17. Growing the User Base
20. Registered User Month-on-Month Growth for Gitter
21. Gitter Badger Results • Gitter Badge impressions: 6M+ unique users per month • MoM user growth doubled from 12% to 25% • 50k+ pull requests generated on GitHub to-date
22. Badger v. Sharing Share on Twitter/Facebook • Value to the company • Ephemeral / once-off The Badger • Value to the user • Sticky / lasts forever • Effect amplifies over time
23. Lesson #3 Tailor your growth hacking to approaches that are natural to your audience • Look for growth-hack techniques that add value for your users • Don't be afraid of aggressive growth hacks
24. Acquisition
25. Current Role: GCP Migration
26. GitLab is Hiring! In Cape Town, Joburg (and almost everywhere else) Product Managers, Engineers, Security Analysts, Support, Designers, Account Managers https:/ /about.gitlab.com/jobs
27. Recap: Lessons 1. If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late 2. Know when it's time to pivot 3. When you pivot, pivot hard ("Burn the Boats") 4. Tailor your growth hacking to approaches that are natural to your audience
28. Questions?