founder-led-content

# Founder-led content > You don't have to "do marketing." You have to become the person developers trust on *the problem*. Sell the category, not the product, and let the authority pull people in. **Use this when:** content feels slimy so you avoid it, your "blog" is a changelog, or a competitor is quietly becoming the go-to voice while you ship in silence. ## The core idea Developers reward **technical depth, honesty, and a real point of view**, and punish polished fluff. The move isn't promotion; it's education. Be the trusted expert on the problem, take a stance on where the space is heading, and the product sells itself as the obvious answer. Before product-market fit, **only the founder can do this**. It's the #2 hire (DevRel) later, not now. ## Framework: authority positioning (Frankl) - Own the **problem**, not just the product page. Talks, posts, teardowns, a distinctive thesis. - **Sell the category:** teach the problem, describe the need for "a tool like this," share results, without proactively pitching (that trips developer defenses). - Have an actual **point of view** on where the industry is going. A trusted expert has opinions; a vendor has features. **The "O'Reilly book" content plan (Frankl):** imagine the definitive book on your problem, ~10 chapters, ~10 sections each. That's ~100 genuinely useful pieces mapped out. Publish against the outline consistently. You're writing the book that makes you the authority. ## Framework: content & GitHub as dist...