Changelog Master Feed Selling SDKs in the era of many Claudes (Changelog Interviews #677)
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Feb 19, 2026 Steve Ruiz, creator of tldraw and an SDK entrepreneur, builds a high-performance web canvas and sells drawing tooling to companies. Conversations cover selling SDKs versus SaaS, pricing and licensing lessons, keeping agents productive, AI-accelerated roadmaps, internal tooling opportunities, and the idea of spatial AIs on an infinite canvas.
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Internal Tools Unlock Managerial Leverage
- Internal tooling becomes a major productivity lever because AI can synthesize scattered artifacts into insights.
- Steve uses AI to analyze CRM, meeting notes, and PRs so leaders can both zoom out and stay in the details.
Keep Licensing And GTM Simple
- When selling an SDK, avoid exotic legal creativity and use clear commercial licensing.
- Steve recommends pragmatic licensing, product differentiation, and standard go-to-market practices rather than reinventing sales models.
License Evolution Validated Demand
- Steve explained TealDraw's licensing history: MIT/Apache early, then non-commercial, then paid perpetual licenses.
- The permissive early versions validated interest and later iterations tightened terms to capture commercial value.