developer-first-gtm skill (samber): turn developer adoption into revenue
Designs how a developer product's free adoption becomes revenue: the motion, the handoff rule and the expansion path.
- Installs
- 12.5K
- on skills.sh
- Stars
- 7
- on GitHub
- Files
- 5
- besides SKILL.md
- Updated
- Nov 2026
- last repo commit
developer-first-gtm decides how a developer's first success turns into an organization's purchase, and writes the path down as rules a team can run without you. It runs a 13-question interview, three friction gates (entry, value, spread), then compares up to four motions: bottom-up self-serve, developer-influenced sales, top-down with developer proof and ecosystem-mediated. It ends in a 10-section GTM memo.
It triggers on questions like "our funnel is broken", "should we hire a sales rep" or "when should we contact a free user". It bundles no scripts and names no API key. SKILL.md says it is a strategy skill, not a pricing page or launch plan, and it sends price points to devtools-pricing-strategy.
Good for
- Founders whose signups are high but paid accounts are flat
- DevRel and growth owners deciding between self-serve and hiring sales
- Teams deciding when to contact a free user
Install developer-first-gtm
Claude Code
- 1
Copy this prompt.
Install the developer-first-gtm skill in Claude Code. Run this command: /plugin marketplace add samber/developer-relations-skills /plugin install developer-relations-skills@developer-relations-skills Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.
- 2
Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.
The README recommends installing the whole collection because its skills reference each other, and developer-first-gtm names other skills in the collection to hand work to. The whole-collection routes add all 93 skills in the repo (counted from the git tree); the repo holds no hooks, agents, commands or MCP server files, and 14 of its skills bundle a script. Pick one route per agent.
From the project README. Source.
What's in the skill
When it loads
Designs the go-to-market motion for a developer-facing product - bottom-up self-serve adoption, developer-influenced sales, top-down with developer proof, or ecosystem-mediated distribution - plus the self-serve entry, the developer-to-buyer handoff rule and the land-and-expand path. Use whenever a founder, devrel or growth owner asks how developer adoption turns into revenue, whether to go bottom-up or hire sales, when to contact a free user, why signups are high and paid accounts flat, or how landed teams expand across an enterprise - even if they only say "our funnel is broken". Not price points - use samber/developer-relations-skills@devtools-pricing-strategy.
Sections in SKILL.md
- Typical invocations
- Interview
- Step 1 - Fix the constraints before exploring anything
- Step 2 - Run the three friction gates
- Step 3 - Brainstorm the motion space, do not jump to an answer
- Step 4 - Design the entry the chosen motion needs
- Step 5 - Write the developer-to-buyer handoff rule
- Step 6 - Design expansion by vector, not by hope
- Step 7 - Write the GTM memo, validated section by section
- Constraints model and paid boundary, product friction, response capacity
- Friction gates entry / value / spread, with the evidence for each
- Rejected motions each one, and the constraint that ruled it out
- Primary motion money path, prerequisite, what must be built or hired
- Entry design first-value moment, steps removed, what stays open forever
- Handoff rule account rollup, signals, threshold sentence, who acts, who is never contacted
- Expansion path vector per account segment, trigger, owner, multi-threading rule
Key facts
- Skill version
- 1.0.3 (SKILL.md metadata)
- Installs on skills.sh
- 12,469 (Nov 2, 2026)
- Last repo commit
- Nov 1, 2026
- Audits on skills.sh
- Gen Agent Trust Hub: pass, Socket: pass, Snyk: pass
What it includes
Asks 13 questions, one at a time; the last three set the ranking of motions.
InterviewStates the business model, product friction and response capacity first.
States the business model, product friction and response capacity before any brainstorming.
Step 1: Fix the constraintsTests entry, value and spread with evidence such as a cold run of your onboarding.
Step 2: Three friction gatesDeletes ruled-out motions, ranks the rest and offers two or three candidates.
Deletes ruled-out motions, ranks the rest and presents two or three candidates before you choose.
Step 3: Brainstorm the motion spaceNames the first-value moment and removes or defers every step not needed to reach it.
Step 4: Design the entryWrites the account rollup, signals, one-sentence threshold and do-not-contact line.
Writes the account rollup, signals, a one-sentence threshold, who acts and a do-not-contact line.
Step 5: Developer-to-buyer handoff ruleGives each account an expansion vector, a trigger and an owner.
Gives each account an expansion vector, a trigger and an owner, plus a multi-threading rule.
Step 6: Expansion by vectorWrites a 10-heading memo and validates each section with you before the next.
Step 7: The GTM memoRequires a checklist, including exactly one primary motion and sourced numbers.
A checklist the memo must meet, including exactly one primary motion and a labeled source for every number.
Pass threshold
From the official docs
Permissions
Low risk
developer-first-gtm is interview and planning instructions with no scripts, and it may save notes to devrel-context.md.
What it can do
- Read your data
- Create and change things
- Delete things
- Read-only mode
Watch out for
It may save notes to devrel-context.md
SKILL.md tells Claude to keep task and project context in devrel-context.md when memory lives in a file, or in the memory system your tool already uses. Check the file before you commit it. github.com
The whole-set install adds 93 skills, 14 with scripts
The README says to install every skill. The git tree has 93 skill folders, and 14 of them hold .py or .sh files. This skill bundles no scripts, and the tree holds no hooks, agents or MCP config files. github.com
Technical details
| Turning on read-only | SKILL.md describes no read-only mode. |
|---|---|
| Sign-in and keys | SKILL.md names no account, key or token. |
| Scopes |
|
Questions
What does developer-first-gtm do?
It designs the go-to-market motion for a developer-facing product. You get a decision on the motion, a rule for when a free user becomes a sales conversation, and a path for teams to expand inside a company.
How do I install it?
Use the install box at the top. The README says to install every skill in the repo, because the skills point to each other. The box shows the whole-set route for each app.
Does it set my prices?
No. SKILL.md says it produces a motion decision, not a pricing page, and routes price points to samber/developer-relations-skills@devtools-pricing-strategy. It also expects the business model to be settled, and points to devtools-business-model if it is not.
Do the benchmark numbers it quotes come from a source?
Some do. SKILL.md labels each number as sourced, with its source and definition, or as its own default. It cites a 5% median free-to-paid figure for developer-focused companies to Lenny's Newsletter and tells you to set your own targets from your own data.
Is it safe to install?
The skill bundles no scripts. Signup, revenue and account numbers you share go into your conversation. The whole-set install adds 93 skills, 14 of which bundle scripts.
Should I contact every free user?
SKILL.md says no. It has you write a do-not-contact line, lists contacting on signup as a failure mode and says outreach above your threshold should be a technical offer.
Information
updated Nov 2, 2026
- Repository
- samber/developer-relations-skills
- Folder
skills/developer-first-gtm
Sources
Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.
Show all 3Hide
- README · github.com
- developer-first-gtm SKILL.md · github.com
- LICENSE · github.com