0 to PMF with a Dev-first GTM strategy

What we tackled

Challenge

Low early adoption and an unclear onboarding journey for a complex developer workflow tool.

Approach

Led GTM, onboarding strategy, and analytics infrastructure with a focus on developer experience.

Action

Created persona-based funnels, tracked behavior with PostHog and Retool, and built a crisp investor narrative.

Impact

Results

Improved user activation by 27%, increased engagement metrics, and secured additional funding based on clear product-market fit indicators.

Key learning

Developer tools require hyper-specific onboarding paths based on existing workflows, not generic product tours.

The persona-based approach completely changed how we think about our product. We're now seeing much better engagement from day one.

Zak Mandhro, CEO @PullFlow / (ex‑Google, Apple; Stanford)

How I did it

Conducted 27 user interviews to identify personas and pain points.

Implemented custom event tracking to identify friction points in the onboarding flow.

Created targeted content for each user segment based on their technical background.

Built and tested multiple onboarding pathways using feature flags.

Context

Pullflow had a solid vision for coordinating complex developer workflows but struggled to communicate value and activate its earliest users. By reframing onboarding around distinct developer personas, we were able to move the product toward repeatable adoption.

What changed

Introduced persona-driven onboarding branches with feature flags to experiment safely.
Built a shared metrics layer in PostHog and Retool to monitor friction and activation milestones.
Paired product analytics with narrative work for investors to demonstrate traction.

Outcome

Activation and engagement climbed steadily, and the team gained clarity on how to serve each persona without overcomplicating the experience.