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Michael Aring
GTM at Gitpod | Focused on Developer Productivity
Michael Aring - Enterprise GTM at Gitpod
Michael Aring is a Go-to-Market expert who currently works at Gitpod, a cloud-native developer platform. He is focused on Developer Productivity and serves as the Enterprise GTM at Gitpod.3
Before joining Gitpod, Michael worked for Riverside, a software company. He has experience in marketing and selling software, image capture devices, digital imaging supplies, printing systems and related products.1
Michael Aring has a strong professional network, with over 500 connections on LinkedIn.2 He frequently shares insights and lessons learned from his experience in the tech industry on his LinkedIn profile.34
Some of Michael's recent posts discuss topics such as revenue-based financing4 and the competitive landscape in the AI translation market.5 He has a Bachelor's degree from UCL.2
Highlights
If you make the news with these headlines, it's time to focus on Developer Productivity.
It’s a life-and-death battle for these companies. 💀
For almost every company, we perceive the value of their products primarily through their digital experience. And it’s not just VW and Deutsche Bank. Big companies are struggling to deliver.
If they don’t make their developers productive, their chances of long-term survival in the market are slim. So, Developer Productivity moves from Engineering Managers to CTOs. The clock is ticking.
But what does that mean - make your developers productive?
High Developer Productivity means that you can ship digital products at a fast pace and high quality. The ideal state: Frequent updates + few bugs. Sadly, most companies are not in that position. And it hurts their core business.
Let’s look at two examples that caused accelerated heart rates in Frankfurt and Wolfsburg.
How Postbank shot itself in the foot
Last year, Deutsche Bank’s subsidiary Postbank planned to do a major software migration. Unfortunately, it failed in uncontrollable ways and created big headlines: over weeks, thousands of customers could not access their bank accounts. Transfers did not go through. Even ATMs stopped functioning 🫣
The damage: immense. Postbank customers did not walk, they ran, looking for a new bank.
How Cariad prevents Audi, Porsche, and VW from launching new models
4 years ago, Volkswagen created Cariad, a 6,500-strong software shop. Its vision: become a major software player in automotive and reduce VW’s dependency on Big Tech from the US.
Sadly, Cariad failed in every way. Its inability to ship software caused delays at Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche. New models cannot be launched on time. The problem is still not solved 🫣🫣🫣 The damage: billions of euros.
Cariad is undergoing a major restructuring effort that seems like the final straw for VW’s software ambitions.
TAKEAWAY
We’re in the midst of the greatest transformation of Developer Productivity in the last 20 years.
And it’s not because of AI.
It is because companies that don’t get their developers productive will simply fail.
We work with some of the biggest companies in Europe on Developer Productivity. It's encouraging that CEOs, CIOs, and CTOs make this topic a strategic priority. I am hopeful that VW and Deutsche Bank will turn things around and become software powerhouses. They have to.
What do you think? How can big old companies make their developers productive?
Wow, I don't remember an IT outage of this scale:
- United, Delta and American Airlines issue global ground stop on ALL flights
- Major airports from LAX to BER do now allow take-off
- Hospital software across the US is down
Apparently, a CrowdStrike software update caused Windows OS to crash globally.
Doesn't matter what industry you are in. The resilience of IT systems affects all of us, every day. This is wild...
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Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
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Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
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