Selling to developers
Most dev teams are going to make the technical decision internally. They likely have a process for making build vs buy decisions.
While buying software off of the shelf wasn't as common in the past, it's a quarterly decision for most CTOs these days.
These "build vs buy" decisions often look like a pros and cons list you would build out for decisions in your own life.
It all ends up being an expected value calculation, though devs (individual contributors) sometimes forget a few factors:
- Their own time
- The overhead of hiring
- Bus factor
CTOs know how to account for these and they often do. But individual developers are a bit different — they're mostly focused on the task at hand (what your software does).
The solution:
- Ask to help with their build vs buy decision and contribute info you see other companies use
- Show them how to use your software
It's really that simple.
Yes, getting budget, figuring out internal politics, understanding their security requirements — these all take time.
But getting the technical win? It's as simple as winning the "build vs buy" decision and making sure they really know how to use your software.