How to sell to Heads of People at Developer tools companies
Heads of People at developer tools companies prioritize employee retention rates, as high turnover can disrupt product development cycles. They respond positively to outreach that acknowledges the unique challenges of hiring and retaining technical talent, especially in a competitive market. Understanding their specific pain points, such as the difficulties in sourcing candidates with niche skills, can significantly increase engagement.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 587 developer tools company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- high turnover rates
- difficulty sourcing niche talent
- long hiring cycles
- inefficient onboarding processes
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent funding rounds
Filter your target list for developer tools companies that have recently secured funding. These organizations are often looking to expand their teams quickly and may be more receptive to solutions that help streamline hiring processes.
- 02
Analyze team growth metrics
Use LinkedIn to check for companies that have recently posted job openings or increased headcount in their engineering departments. Highlighting your understanding of their growth can make your outreach more relevant and timely.
- 03
Reference specific hiring challenges
Craft your email to address common hiring pain points in developer tools, such as finding candidates with expertise in CI/CD or observability. This specificity demonstrates that you understand the unique landscape they operate in.
- 04
Acknowledge industry competition
In your follow-up, mention the competitive landscape for developer talent, emphasizing how your solution can help them stand out. This approach resonates with Heads of People who are keenly aware of their challenges in attracting top talent.
- 05
Suggest a strategic timing for a call
Propose a call shortly after their quarterly planning sessions, when they are likely reassessing their hiring strategies. This timing shows that you are attuned to their business rhythms and increases the likelihood of securing a meeting.
Can developer tools companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 587 developer tools companies, sampled evenly across company sizes, to see how many authenticate their own email. It matters in both directions: a domain that does not authenticate is a domain whose team is used to mail going missing — and if your own domain is in the gap, yours is the mail going missing.
Publishes a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject — the domain actually asks receivers to act on failures.
The gap is the finding: 27.4% of 1–10-person companies against 94.9% of the largest — 68 points apart. Small companies are where the unauthenticated domains are, and small companies are who most cold outreach is aimed at.
Where does your domain sit?
Same three lookups, run live against your domain. Nothing is stored and nothing is emailed to you.
How this was measured
Company domains were sampled within employee-count bands, then queried over public DNS for SPF (TXT at the apex), DMARC (TXT at _dmarc.) and MX. One domain per company, deduplicated. Anyone can reproduce any single row of this with dig.
DKIM is deliberately absent. A DKIM key lives under a selector that cannot be enumerated from outside the domain, so a company with flawless DKIM under a name we did not guess would be counted as having none. That would measure our guess list, not the industry.
Domains with no MX record are excluded rather than counted as failures — parked and redirect-only domains would otherwise drag every figure down and make the result an artefact of the sample.
Sampled within bands, so this describes the population of companies, not of employees: a 10-person company counts once, as does a 10,000-person one. Each band is at least 60 domains; bands below that are not published. Figures are percentages of the sample, not of the whole industry, and we publish no company names — only counts.
Measured 2026-09-03. Re-measured monthly.
The full census across every industry — sortable, with sample sizes, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Subject lines that fit
- Hiring challenges in developer tools
- Improving retention rates
- Streamlining your hiring process
Questions
- Why do Heads of People in developer tools ignore outreach about generic HR solutions?
- Heads of People in developer tools often receive outreach that lacks specificity to their industry. They are more likely to engage with messages that address their unique challenges, such as sourcing technical talent or improving employee retention in a competitive market.
- What factors influence hiring decisions in developer tools companies?
- Hiring decisions in developer tools are heavily influenced by the need for specialized skills, such as proficiency in APIs and cloud services. Additionally, cultural fit and the ability to adapt to fast-paced environments are critical factors that Heads of People consider.
- How can I demonstrate value to a Head of People in developer tools?
- To demonstrate value, provide insights into industry-specific hiring trends and solutions that have been effective in similar organizations. Tailoring your messaging to their unique needs shows that you understand their challenges and can offer relevant support.
- What is the typical process for hiring in developer tools companies?
- The hiring process in developer tools typically involves multiple technical interviews and assessments to evaluate candidates' skills. Heads of People often collaborate closely with engineering teams to ensure alignment on candidate qualifications and cultural fit.
Or have it run itself
SoloRiff does every step above on its own — finds the companies, finds the people, writes each of them individually, and handles the replies. Drop your URL and watch it work before you sign up for anything.
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