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Ask Your Developer: How to Harness the Power of Software Developers and Win in the 21st Century Hardcover – January 12, 2021

by Jeff Lawson (Author), Eric Ries (Foreword)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 504 ratings
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Jeff Lawson, developer turned CEO of Twilio (one of Bloomberg Businessweek's Top 50 Companies to Watch in 2021), creates a new playbook for unleashing the full potential of software developers in any organization, showing how to help management utilize this coveted and valuable workforce to enable growth, solve a wide range of business problems, and drive digital transformation.

From banking and retail to insurance and finance, every industry is turning digital, and every company needs the best software to win the hearts and minds of customers. The landscape has shifted from the classic build vs. buy question, to one of build vs. die. Companies have to get this right to survive. But how do they make this transition?

Software developers are sought after, highly paid, and desperately needed to compete in the modern, digital economy. Yet most companies treat them like digital factory workers without really understanding how to unleash their full potential. Lawson argues that developers are the creative workforce who can solve major business problems and create hit products for customers—not just grind through rote tasks. From Google and Amazon, to one-person online software companies—companies that bring software developers in as partners are winning. Lawson shows how leaders who build industry changing software products consistently do three things well. First, they understand why software developers matter more than ever. Second, they understand developers and know how to motivate them. And third, they invest in their developers' success.

As a software developer and public company CEO, Lawson uses his unique position to bridge the language and tools executives use with the unique culture of high performing, creative software developers. Ask Your Developer is a toolkit to help business leaders, product managers, technical leaders, software developers, and executives achieve their common goal—building great digital products and experiences.

How to compete in the digital economy? In short: Ask Your Developer.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    304 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Harper Business
  4. Publication date
    January 12, 2021
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 1.01 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0063018292
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0063018297
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Jeff Lawson’s Ask Your Developer is the ultimate guide for creating a software developer culture that unlocks the passion, creativity, and empathy needed to build amazing products and succeed in the digital economy." — Marc Benioff, chair and CEO of Salesforce

“Jeff shows business leaders at every level how to unlock growth and innovation while empowering their talent. Crisp and easy to read.” — Padmasree Warrior, founder, CEO, and president of Fable Group Inc. and former CTO of Cisco

“Thank you, Jeff, for teaching both developers and business leaders how to speak the same language—this is going to smash so many misconceptions that get in the way of innovation.”
— Anil Dash, CEO of Glitch, entrepreneur, and writer

“Engineering is one of the most creative jobs in the world. Jeff’s Ask Your Developer philosophy is spot on—unleashing the creativity of developers is the key to innovation, no matter what industry you are in.” — Werner Vogels, CTO of Amazon

“I’ve been studying culture in companies for a long time, and I’ve talked to hundreds of CEOs. What Jeff and the team have done is one of the most complete and thoughtful approaches to culture I’ve come across yet. Ask Your Developer is a must-read for any leader who is looking for a playbook from one of the most intentional CEOs I’ve interviewed.” — Adam Bryant, coauthor of The CEO Test

About the Author

Jeff Lawson is a co-founder and CEO at Twilio. He is a serial inventor with over 15 years of entrepreneurial and product experience. Prior to co-founding Twilio, Jeff was Founder & CTO of NineStar, Founding CTO of Stubhub.com and Founder, CEO & CTO of Versity. He was also one of the original product managers for Amazon Web Services.

At every business, Jeff identified the fundamental need for a platform for developers and companies to easily build communications-based business solutions.

Jeff grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, started his first company in middle school, and earned his BS in Computer Science & Film/Video from University of Michigan.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Business (January 12, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0063018292
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0063018297
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.01 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.01 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 504 ratings

About the author

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Jeff Lawson

Jeff Lawson

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Jeff Lawson is co-founder and CEO of Silicon Valley-based Twilio, one of the world’s fastest growing technology companies. A lifelong software developer, Jeff founded Twilio in 2008 with the belief that empowering developers was key to unlocking innovation within nearly every kind of business. Millions of software developers and hundreds of thousands of companies use Twilio’s platform to add communications to the websites and apps you use daily.

Jeff is a serial entrepreneur having been the founder of Versity.com and NineStar, and founding CTO of StubHub prior to Twilio, as well as one of the first product managers at Amazon Web Services.

He lives in San Francisco with his family and still makes time to hack on new software and hardware projects.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
504 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Nancy Laurel OConnell
5.0 out of 5 stars Informative, concise and practical
Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2022
Verified Purchase
Great summary and technical insights into the power of modern software. Highlights how we will see legacy vendors that fail to software adapt join the Sears club.
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Stuart A. Lichtman
4.0 out of 5 stars The first half is great.
Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2021
Verified Purchase
The first half is great for all entrepreneurial managers. The second half bogged down and lost my interest with too much technical jargon.

Having graduated from M.I.T. and having run numerous tech ventures for VCs, my second half observation should have some meaning.

Nonetheless, the first half is worth the price of admission.
9 people found this helpful
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Kyle N.
5.0 out of 5 stars If you work in tech, this is a must-read
Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2023
Verified Purchase
Knowing the developers are valuable should not be surprising. They are building the world we frequently find ourselves inside of - the digital world. What this book did for me was it gave me a new way of observing and working with developers.

Highly suggest this book, and like the headline says, it's a must-read if you work in tech.
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ALEJANDRO SUAREZ FUENTES
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, full of worth practical recommendations that are very well supported with real examples.
Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2021
Verified Purchase
I believe this is a must read book for anyone in the IT arena: CIOs, VPs, managers, developers, etc.
It will give you very practical recommendations of how to transform your IT department.
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Shannon Clark
5.0 out of 5 stars The book to hand to senior execs
Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2021
Verified Purchase
I don’t know Jeff though full disclosure I do know Eric Ries who wrote the introduction to this book and I do know some of Twillio’s early investors and I’ve been a customer of theirs in the past at previous jobs (and I assume I will use them again at future companies).

I’ve been online a few years longer than the author and my career has some parallels (multiple startups, stints at larger companies) and while I haven’t (yet) founded a billion dollar corporation my advice to company executives as a part time CTO/COO is nearly identical to much of this book. In fact I am likely to buy copies of this book for future clients.

So most definitely keep asking your developers - and strive to build organizations and structures to empower them and to connect all parts of your company to customers.
6 people found this helpful
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Dprusac
4.0 out of 5 stars Well put elements od modern SW Development
Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2021
Verified Purchase
A number of good stories and insights how to develop products. It is written a bit as a twillio marketing promotion material.
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This Guy
5.0 out of 5 stars Gift this to your manager for Christmas.
Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2021
Verified Purchase
I would give it 5-start for the intention, and for the message it is trying to send. As a book that is meant to land on a desk of an executive in one of the backwards companies that haven't yet adopted technology, or a tech company that isn't yet using Twilio, this is great.

But, if you are the developer this book is writing about, just don't read it. This book isn't for you. You already know what's inside this book and reading it would feel like a "duh, why did I just spend this money" moment. However, appreciate the book for what it is, an attempt to make your life and your job easier.
18 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A great book that bridges software engineering and business-minded people
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2022
Verified Purchase
The book discussed a lot of things about software development as a means of surviving the fierce competition of digital-first businesses. It fills the gap often goes unspoken within a well functioning startup company, and somehow got lost when they grew bigger and bigger. It reflects on how developer can do their best job, and so many more.
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Top reviews from other countries

JMac
5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptionally practical
Reviewed in Canada on August 24, 2021
Verified Purchase
Will become mandatory reading amongst our executive team. Many practical examples to bridge the gap between senior leadership and developers
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Michael M
5.0 out of 5 stars I was recommending it from the Prologue onwards
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 4, 2021
Verified Purchase
Every once in awhile you come across a book that touches you deeply and really fires up your mind with thoughts and creativity. Ask Your Developer is one such book and I’ve been shouting out its praise to developers , technical leadership, and business leaders alike even before I finished it. If you have anything to do with software (and Jeff makes the point that if you don't then your company is dead) then you should be reading this book.
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Ledlowe
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!
Reviewed in Canada on February 23, 2021
Verified Purchase
In my mind, for a business manager this is a must read.
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A Jadhav
4.0 out of 5 stars Great insights from a seasoned developer CEO
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 27, 2021
Verified Purchase
Highly recommended for execs and non-execs alike. Plenty of wisdom condensed in this book for anybody interested in scaling their startup or an enterprise going through digital transformation.
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Imran
3.0 out of 5 stars Useful perspective, meandering writing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2022
Verified Purchase
As a technology investor I'm always interested in how to make development work vetter at our portfolio companies. The book was recommended by the CEO of one of them and is useful but I wish it was more heavily edited. In essence, make sure your development teams are joined up to the business needs and ideally directly to the customer without too much overhead. Invest in the tools they need to focus on their core job then keep working on bottlenecks and ways to improve the efficiency.
2 people found this helpful
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