Marketers of Technology
00:16:06 · Andres Figuera, Cristina Bunea
[00:16:06] S1: Of course. So you already have the credibility and the trust of being a player in the game for a long time now, and that really speaks for itself. And have you found that the inbound that you've received from this type of customer has come from the same channels that you've been using to developers and enterprises like AEO and just the content and everything like that? [00:16:26] S0: I would say it's a mix. I would say a lot of these do find us through the content. Other channels that work really well for us are just social in general. I think people mentioning us on Reddit, just like generally, X is very, very, very, very powerful for dev tools, like a 100%, like there's hundreds of people every week saying, hey, I saw you guys on X, someone was talking about you, someone was recommending I use Northflank, I wanted to check you guys out. So definitely, I think it's just like, there's so many channels that people find those nowadays. It's sometimes it's the most random places that we could think of. And we're like, oh, we had no idea we were mentioned there, but that's great. We do social tracking as well, but sometimes it gets lost in all of it.
00:16:26 · Cristina Bunea, Andres Figuera
[00:16:26] S0: I would say it's a mix. I would say a lot of these do find us through the content. Other channels that work really well for us are just social in general. I think people mentioning us on Reddit, just like generally, X is very, very, very, very powerful for dev tools, like a 100%, like there's hundreds of people every week saying, hey, I saw you guys on X, someone was talking about you, someone was recommending I use Northflank, I wanted to check you guys out. So definitely, I think it's just like, there's so many channels that people find those nowadays. It's sometimes it's the most random places that we could think of. And we're like, oh, we had no idea we were mentioned there, but that's great. We do social tracking as well, but sometimes it gets lost in all of it. [00:17:09] S1: And it's amazing how you mentioned a little while ago that it's like, yeah, we're not looking that much into community, but I feel that you really have a loyal community in a sense, because if they're mentioning you in Reddit, if they're being commented on next and being recommended in that sense, it's like an organic marketing that's happening by itself, which really, it's really nice when you receive that type of support from the users that you have because your product really works. And Cristina, in terms of the future with Northflank as the head of marketing and what you're doing now, what are your goals for the next six months? Or let's say, what would you like to have accomplished towards the end of December of twenty twenty six?
00:17:46 · Cristina Bunea
[00:17:46] S0: I think probably a lot more in real life experiences. So I think because of how small our team is and because of the amount of involved we already get, the companies we serve, they're in very specific places. We do go to conferences here and there and do like in person events and things like that. But I think there is a chance for us to double down on those things. The And other thing is hiring. We desperately need to hire more people. I think everyone says that nowadays and it's probably like hiring is one of the harder things to do in any job. Yeah, I think, and especially I find despite how great AI is for certain things, it has personally for me made hiring a lot more difficult because I look for people who write really well. I look for people who have really good instincts about the channels that we want to target, about our positioning and everything like that. And I find that maybe few too many people outsource all of that thinking to AI. And personally, I do not think AI is good at writing. Like there is no writing that is read by humans. AI is great at writing content that is read by other agents. But I feel pretty strongly that AI is not great at writing and I can spot it from a mile away and it makes hiring for the right person quite difficult.
00:19:03 · Andres Figuera, Cristina Bunea
[00:19:03] S1: I understand what you mean. And I was about to say the same thing. It's like AI writing. It's not like I have something against it, but when I read it, I just know it wasn't written by a human. It has like these mannerisms and how it places the dashes and the words it uses and the punctuation. And it's like, did you really take the time to to think about what it's saying? The person that prompted that write that piece of text. And it's like, I'm not sure, man. So it really... [00:19:29] S0: So dramatic. It just loves to be so dramatic about everything. And I'm like, why? Like, this is not a dramatic topic. It's just as simple as saying, hey, nice to meet you. No, it's been a pleasure. And like, just all of these pleasantries that AI uses in writing. And I do wonder, I'm like, all of the models can do so much, but somehow have not figured out how to make writing just a tiny bit more bearable because I don't expect it to be utterly creative or anything, but there are like, as much as I can be prompted, it never learns.
00:19:29 · Cristina Bunea, Andres Figuera
[00:19:29] S0: So dramatic. It just loves to be so dramatic about everything. And I'm like, why? Like, this is not a dramatic topic. It's just as simple as saying, hey, nice to meet you. No, it's been a pleasure. And like, just all of these pleasantries that AI uses in writing. And I do wonder, I'm like, all of the models can do so much, but somehow have not figured out how to make writing just a tiny bit more bearable because I don't expect it to be utterly creative or anything, but there are like, as much as I can be prompted, it never learns. [00:20:03] S1: It's true. No, no, I agree completely with that. And it's like in a certain place that makes me happy because it's like, there's a piece of the human essence that hasn't been lost and thankfully AI is not able to replicate it yet. So at least we'll need writers still. Exactly. And Cristina, I'm noticing we're almost at time, but I have one more question for you. And that is for any person in a position of leadership in a marketing role for a technology company, what would be your number one piece of advice for them? Or if they're in a company such as yours or in an experience in which you're in, which is a I feel it's a really cool place since you're in a small company that's really growing and getting a lot of clients and everything like that. So what would your recommendation be or your advice? [00:20:43] S0: Honestly, actually my advice would be to be very mindful of the advice they receive. [00:20:48] S1: Okay.
00:20:48 · Andres Figuera, Cristina Bunea
[00:20:48] S1: Okay. [00:20:49] S0: So, I don't know if they should take my advice, but I think a lot of the advice, it's just like every role, every company is so different from the next and from what they need. If everyone was to follow the same playbook, then that playbook just doesn't work. And I think we're starting to notice this quite a lot. Like everyone is doing dinners with prospects. It's like, it's quite crazy. Like you get invited to like 20 dinners in a week and maybe two years ago, that was something really exciting for people. But especially if you're in like the Bay Area, everyone's throwing a dinner every single night to the point where it becomes a bit oversaturated. It just doesn't work the same. And I think it's just really thinking ahead a bit more and like really understanding who you're trying to sell to. Because as I said, like for us, I don't truly don't believe community in the traditional sense of the word works. And that's fine just because someone else tells you no, community is absolutely essential. It might not be for you. And there's certain channels that you just have to deprioritize because it might not work for the audience you're selling to.