John Agan

John Agan

Practitioner · Executive · Advisor · Investor

Santa Barbara · SF · Chicago · Atlanta

johnagan.com in/johnagan @johnagan johnagan

Bio

John Agan is a technology practitioner, investor, and advisor specializing in developer platforms and AI.

Over nearly 30 years, he's built and scaled products at some of the world's leading developer-first companies — GitHub, Slack, Twitch, Atlassian, Webflow, Replit, and Postman — shipping the APIs, SDKs, marketplaces, and partner integrations that turn casual users into paying developers, and developers into enterprise revenue.

I help developers build successful products, teams, and businesses.

Background

John started his career as an engineer and a founder — building one of the first online mortgage platforms before "fintech" was a word, then a banking-API company that modernized core integrations for credit unions and community banks. The through-line across three decades and three companies he founded has been the same: putting technical capability into the hands of teams that didn't have it before.

That's what pulled him from founder-operator work into developer platforms at scale — as the first technical hire at Slack, the solutions-engineering leader at GitHub, the identity and developer-API owner at Twitch, the DX leader at Atlassian and Webflow, and VP of Product & Data at Replit. Each move was deliberate, timed to an inflection point: he joins products right before they become developer platforms, ships the APIs, SDKs, marketplaces, and partner integrations that get them there, and moves when the platform motion matures.

Currently

After a decade on the exec track — Director through VP — John made a deliberate choice in 2025 to return to the hands-on craft. The best work he's done has always been technical: API surfaces, partner integrations, the 0→1 platform launches. The org chart was never the point.

Principal at Aganomix, his independent practice at the intersection of developer experience and AI. Engagements blend principal-engineering work, AI-strategy advisory, and prototype-driven partner development.

Two lanes: advising developer-platform founders at the seed stage — angel investing and board advisory where the first DevEx decisions shape trajectory — and working with large enterprises on applied AI and developer-experience strategy.

Notable clients

  • Postman AI Entrepreneur in Residence
  • JP Morgan Chase AI Strategy Advisor, Brand Team
  • Linden Capital AI Strategy Advisor

Advisory & Angel