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This deserves a top-level comment. John Britton's NY Tech Meetup demo of Twilio[0] in 2010 is legendary. The CEO had been doing it in small groups for a little

by johns 4y ago

This deserves a top-level comment. John Britton's NY Tech Meetup demo of Twilio[0] in 2010 is legendary. The CEO had been doing it in small groups for a little while, but the whole dynamic of it changed in such a large venue. Epitome of "show, don't tell." Hard to overstate what an impact it had on the company at the time (I think we were about 25 employees). [0]: https://avc.com/2010/08/how-to-pitch-a-product/ https://avc.com/2010/08/how-to-pitch-a-product/

swyx 4y ago
great tip - thank you. i have a pet saying that with developers, the classic advice of "talk benefits, not features" doesnt work (https://twitter.com/swyx/status/1361279902889086980?s=20&t=AWGEYKDwkBTy9eyjJZra5Q https://twitter.com/swyx/status/1361279902889086980?s=20&t=A...)
- swyx 4y ago
  (author here) I've now added this to my tracking list of pitches: https://dx.tips/pitches https://dx.tips/pitches thanks for the suggestion on John Britton's talk!
stingraycharles 4y ago
A great sign of this being a classic is that I have heard about this a dozen times before, but this is the first time I actually saw the video. Absolutely great demo, also because it’s so low profile: it’s the type of demo we can all imagine ourselves doing at a meetup, it’s not the kind of super-smooth demo that only a charismatic Steve Jobs-type personality can pull off. It lets the product do the talking. But that’s also the caveat of this demo: it’s typically very difficult to figure out how to engage your audience in such a way with your product, and Twilio being in the mobile space makes that a lot easier.
- wyclif 4y ago
  it’s not the kind of super-smooth demo that only a charismatic Steve Jobs-type personality can pull off And that's exactly why I like this demo so much more than even the original iPhone demo.
anildash 4y ago
Was one of the first I was going to mention. Being on the board of the NY Tech Meetup, and in the room for the demo, it was electric. Set the bar for every similar demo that followed.
- swyx 4y ago
  ooh - any other favorites that come to mind from the NY Tech Meetup scene?
  - kevstev 4y ago
    Personally I saw Dropbox launch there and was blown away by it. The utter simplicity of the interface and just drag and dropping into a web page, for the time it was ground breaking. Iirc they were preceded by a guy demoing an alarm clock webpage and just the contrast was striking...
kilroy123 4y ago
So much nostalgia. I feel like tech was so much more fun back then. I've been working for software companies for 15 years, it just felt more fun back then. Maybe I'm older and more jaded?
- rlt 4y ago
  My theory is tech downturns are more fun because it flushes out the people who were only there for the money, leaving those truly passionate about technology. But it’s also possible I’m just older and more jaded.
jayzalowitz 4y ago
I can hear myself wooing in the background! (The semicolon bit too, because I was a php dev back then!) I am old now. Im pretty sure @alexisohanian was there too.
dmor 4y ago
Came here to post this <3 It’s funny, the impact this had internally. It’s like we all believed in what we were doing even more when we felt that magic. I hadn’t watched this again since it happened, still gave me chills.
johndbritton 4y ago
Aw, shucks. Y’all are very kind. This was also a pivotal moment in my career, so much good stuff traces back to this five minute demo.
- tekknolagi 4y ago
  Long time no see :) Great demo.
2143 4y ago
If anyone wants the YouTube link for the above: https://youtu.be/-VuXIgp9S7o https://youtu.be/-VuXIgp9S7o You can thank me later.
- stavros 4y ago
  I will thank you later.
- herodoturtle 4y ago
  I am thanking you later.
mmcnl 4y ago
Live coding always makes me so nervous, even if it's just a simple example.
- capableweb 4y ago
  Best way to get better is to just practice, practice and practice (if you want to get better). But even then, always have a snippet in some tab/window behind everything when you're presenting, so in case you get stuck, you can copy-paste a snippet you know is working. Also removes a bit of the edge as you know you have a backup.

by johns 4y ago

swyx 4y ago

great tip - thank you. i have a pet saying that with developers, the classic advice of "talk benefits, not features" doesnt work (https://twitter.com/swyx/status/1361279902889086980?s=20&t=AWGEYKDwkBTy9eyjJZra5Q https://twitter.com/swyx/status/1361279902889086980?s=20&t=A...)

swyx 4y ago
(author here) I've now added this to my tracking list of pitches: https://dx.tips/pitches https://dx.tips/pitches thanks for the suggestion on John Britton's talk!

stingraycharles 4y ago

A great sign of this being a classic is that I have heard about this a dozen times before, but this is the first time I actually saw the video. Absolutely great demo, also because it’s so low profile: it’s the type of demo we can all imagine ourselves doing at a meetup, it’s not the kind of super-smooth demo that only a charismatic Steve Jobs-type personality can pull off. It lets the product do the talking. But that’s also the caveat of this demo: it’s typically very difficult to figure out how to engage your audience in such a way with your product, and Twilio being in the mobile space makes that a lot easier.

wyclif 4y ago
it’s not the kind of super-smooth demo that only a charismatic Steve Jobs-type personality can pull off And that's exactly why I like this demo so much more than even the original iPhone demo.

anildash 4y ago

Was one of the first I was going to mention. Being on the board of the NY Tech Meetup, and in the room for the demo, it was electric. Set the bar for every similar demo that followed.

swyx 4y ago
ooh - any other favorites that come to mind from the NY Tech Meetup scene?
- kevstev 4y ago
  Personally I saw Dropbox launch there and was blown away by it. The utter simplicity of the interface and just drag and dropping into a web page, for the time it was ground breaking. Iirc they were preceded by a guy demoing an alarm clock webpage and just the contrast was striking...

kilroy123 4y ago

So much nostalgia. I feel like tech was so much more fun back then. I've been working for software companies for 15 years, it just felt more fun back then. Maybe I'm older and more jaded?

rlt 4y ago
My theory is tech downturns are more fun because it flushes out the people who were only there for the money, leaving those truly passionate about technology. But it’s also possible I’m just older and more jaded.

jayzalowitz 4y ago

I can hear myself wooing in the background! (The semicolon bit too, because I was a php dev back then!) I am old now. Im pretty sure @alexisohanian was there too.

dmor 4y ago

Came here to post this <3 It’s funny, the impact this had internally. It’s like we all believed in what we were doing even more when we felt that magic. I hadn’t watched this again since it happened, still gave me chills.

johndbritton 4y ago

Aw, shucks. Y’all are very kind. This was also a pivotal moment in my career, so much good stuff traces back to this five minute demo.

tekknolagi 4y ago
Long time no see :) Great demo.

2143 4y ago

If anyone wants the YouTube link for the above: https://youtu.be/-VuXIgp9S7o https://youtu.be/-VuXIgp9S7o You can thank me later.

stavros 4y ago
I will thank you later.
herodoturtle 4y ago
I am thanking you later.

mmcnl 4y ago

Live coding always makes me so nervous, even if it's just a simple example.

capableweb 4y ago
Best way to get better is to just practice, practice and practice (if you want to get better). But even then, always have a snippet in some tab/window behind everything when you're presenting, so in case you get stuck, you can copy-paste a snippet you know is working. Also removes a bit of the edge as you know you have a backup.