#114 - Building an SDK feat. Dr. Daniel Hauschildt // CPTO @ IMG.LY

The Tech and Business Side of Building an SDK
Get insight into the SDK business (and learn about cross-platform performance and developer marketing) with Dr. Daniel Hauschildt (MD & CPTO at IMG.LY). As a client-side offering (no servers!), IMG.LY needs to take extra steps to ensure reliability on all devices 📱, platforms 💻 and browsers 🌐. From crafting developer-friendly documentation to optimizing performance on every device and platform imaginable, Daniel shares hard-earned insights from the SDK business.

• 👨‍💻What makes an SDK truly developer-friendly? 🤔

• 📜Documentation: The secret sauce of INBOUND developer marketing

• 🔌 API Design: Beauty of purpose-driven entry points

• 🧩How they build for the future with modular design

• 🐙 Cross-platform support: Native vs. cross-platform frameworks (React, Flutter etc.)

• ⚙️Why they focus on algorithm optimization over compute optimisation

Listen here (alphalist.com/podcast/114-daniel-hauschildt-cp…)

Timestamps:
(00:00) Welcome

(00:38) Who is Dr. Daniel Hauschildt

(02:15) Pivoting IMG.LY

(03:58) Daniel's Nerd Journey

(05:28) IMG.LY's Business Model and Growth

(06:14) Documentation in Developer Marketing

(09:08) Documentation Inspiration

(10:06) SDK Business: Technical Challenges and Solutions

(10:43) Challenge of Cross-Platform, Cross-Device, and Cross-Browser Support

(14:23) How They Modularise the SDK

(17:18) Versioning and Breaking Changes

(18:29) Algorithm Optimization Over Compute Optimization

(21:59) Native vs. Cross-Platform Frameworks (Flutter, React, etc.)

(24:15) Documentation Tools

(24:54) AI Integration

(26:14) Client-Side Functionality

(28:03) Future Plans for IMG.LY

(32:01) IMG.LY Team Composition

(33:20) What Is the ICP of an SDK?

(34:48) DevX: Marketing to Developers

(35:40) DevX Function Calls

(37:48) DevX: UI/UX of API Design

(38:47) Message to Younger Self