From Atlassian to Startup: Sleuth’s Playbook for Marketing to Engineering Leaders

Engineering leaders are notoriously skeptical of marketing. After spending a decade at Atlassian and now building Sleuth, Dylan Etkin has cracked the code on how to reach this challenging audience – and it starts with throwing out the traditional marketing playbook.

Authenticity Through Technical Credibility

In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Dylan shared how Sleuth approaches marketing to technical audiences. Their secret weapon? A CTO who embodies technical credibility. “Don is an architect… he is the developer’s developer,” Dylan explains. “I’ve never really met anybody who is better at breaking the back of a really hard problem in three overnight sessions.”

This technical depth isn’t just for show – it’s fundamental to how Sleuth communicates with its market. The company puts Don front and center in their marketing because “he’s straight shooting and he knows what he’s talking about and he’s passionate about subjects. And so we just kind of have him out there talking about the things that matter to all of us in that very, again, genuine way.”

Finding the Right Channels

Rather than blasting marketing messages across every platform, Sleuth focuses on where engineering leaders actually spend their time. “There’s a conference that we’re going to at the end of August, the ELC summit, which a lot of great engineering leaders show up at,” Dylan notes. “And it’s just finding the places where our kind of customer profile is living and talking to them in a way that comes across as genuine and useful.”

This targeted approach extends to their industry partnerships. Dylan mentions “sponsoring the state of DevOps report” as another way they connect with their audience through channels that already have credibility with engineering leaders.

The Evolution of Technical Marketing

The market’s understanding of engineering efficiency has evolved significantly since Sleuth’s launch. “Being in a market that is nascent and currently evolving, our messaging and what resounds and what customers are looking for is evolving daily,” Dylan explains.

This constant evolution requires Sleuth to regularly reassess their marketing approach. What worked 18 months ago might not work today. As Dylan notes, “we have to continuously remind ourselves that what was really giving us traction 18 months ago may not be actually giving us traction today, and that the conversation has evolved and the competition has evolved.”

Building for the Long Term

Instead of chasing quick wins, Sleuth is building toward a bigger vision that resonates with engineering leaders. Dylan draws a parallel to another transformative platform: “The analogy I like a lot right now is Salesforce for engineering… what Salesforce did was sort of say to everybody, this is how you do it. You don’t have to be a top tier team in order to use these tools.”

This vision informs both their product development and their marketing approach. Rather than just selling features, they’re selling a transformation in how engineering teams operate – a message that resonates with engineering leaders looking to improve their organizations.

Key Takeaways for Technical Founders

1. Lead with technical credibility
2. Find authentic voices within your organization
3. Meet your audience where they already gather
4. Evolve your message as the market matures
5. Build toward a bigger vision that resonates with technical leaders

For technical founders looking to market to engineering leaders, Sleuth’s approach offers a valuable template: start with genuine technical expertise, focus on channels where your audience already gathers, and build toward a compelling vision for transformation. Most importantly, remember that with technical audiences, authenticity isn’t just nice to have – it’s essential for success.