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

alphalist.CTO Podcast - For CTOs and Technical Leaders

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

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