PLAY PODCASTS
Writing for developers with Karl Hughes

Writing for developers with Karl Hughes

Software People Stories

June 12, 202238m 31s

Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (play.hubhopper.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.

Show Notes

In this episode, Karl Hughes, founder and CEO of Draft.dev, shares

  • Starting his career, working with startups as a software engineer
  • Taking on engineering management and CTO roles
  • Covid triggering a shift to get into technical writing for developers
  • How to think of documentation for developers, as an intentional activity
  • His views on Agile approaches and documentation and the need to right size the documentation
  • How the product maturity influences the need and depth of documentation
  • Why writing is the most effective way to document and communicate
  • His thoughts on effectiveness of visual communication
  • Writing for a diverse audience and the role of video for communicating with developers
  • Importance of reviews and feedback for greater effectiveness of written content
  • How he got interested in writing 
  • If writing is a teachable or learnable skill
  • How he balances and manages his time between the maker and manager modes of working
  • His experience with Shark Tank, when his company was invited to pitch at Shark Tank
  • Working with a global, distributed team of software engineers
  • Whether audio has a role to play as a medium for communicating with developers
  • His career tips for getting into writing


Bio: Karl Hughes is a former software engineer and CTO in Chicago. He is now the Founder and CEO of Draft.dev, a specialized technical marketing agency that creates content designed to reach software engineers.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarlLHughes

Draft.dev writer application: https://draft.dev/write