Clidey

What do they actually do

Clidey builds two developer tools. Docucod connects to a GitHub repo, scans the codebase to generate project documentation, and keeps it updated as code changes. It can push the docs back to the repo for deployment, with public examples showing generated docs for sample projects [whodb-docs.docucod.com and todo-docs.docucod.com](http://whodb-docs.docucod.com/, https://todo-docs.docucod.com/). This focus is also reflected in Clidey’s website and YC profile (clidey.com, docucod.com, YC profile).

The company also ships WhoDB, a lightweight database client/data explorer available via Docker, desktop downloads, and Kubernetes, with features like schema exploration, raw SQL, and optional AI chat interfaces (whodb.com, WhoDB GitHub, WhoDB docs example).

Who are their target customer(s)

• Early-stage engineering teams without a dedicated docs owner: Code and READMEs change faster than docs can be updated, slowing onboarding and creating repeat “how does this work?” questions that interrupt development.
• Internal platform/dev‑experience engineers maintaining internal APIs/SDKs: Keeping internal references, runbooks, and architecture notes accurate across many repos is tedious and error‑prone, leading teams to rely on tribal knowledge instead of searchable docs.
• Open‑source maintainers and contributors: Out‑of‑date docs hurt user adoption and contribution rates, while maintainers lack time to continuously update setup, usage, and contribution guides.
• Data analysts/engineers and adjacent product teams: They field ad‑hoc data questions and write one‑off queries instead of building features; they need a faster way to explore data and share answers with non‑technical teammates.
• Support and product teams relying on user‑facing docs and API references: Incomplete or stale docs increase tickets and slow customer onboarding; they need docs that track with releases and source changes.

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Founder‑led outreach to ~50 target repos and startups (YC, micro‑VC portfolios, active OSS). Offer a 4–6 week pilot where the founder handles integration and initial docs for one repo to prove value and capture before/after examples and a short demo video.
• First 50: Turn early wins into repeatable outbound and community motions: referrals/testimonials, targeted messages (email, GitHub issues), and hands‑on webinars on CI integration. Add a lightweight self‑serve tier with a one‑click repo connector and templates so small teams and OSS can try without live help.
• First 100: Optimize self‑serve trial-to-conversion (repo connectors, templates, in‑app walkthroughs) while focusing sales on larger platform teams. Publish several short case studies with measurable outcomes and expand channels via GitHub/GitLab marketplaces, small paid tests, and 1–2 co‑sell partnerships.

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

There are tens of millions of developers globally; estimates range from ~28.7M (Statista/Evans Data, 2024) to ~47M (SlashData, 2025) (Statista, SlashData). A meaningful subset work in teams that rely on Git‑based workflows and need docs that stay in sync with code.

Bottom-up calculation:

If Clidey targets 200k small‑to‑mid engineering orgs using Git‑hosted repos and converts 10–20% over time at $1k–$5k ACV for auto‑maintained docs, that implies a $200M–$2B TAM for Docucod. WhoDB can expand the footprint with a freemium-to-paid path inside data/engineering teams.

Assumptions:

• Targetable orgs are engineering teams using GitHub/GitLab with 5–200 engineers and active repos.
• Long‑run attach rate of 10–20% among targetable orgs (mix of paid seats and repo‑based pricing).
• Average annual spend per team of $1k–$5k for docs automation; WhoDB monetization considered additive but not required for core TAM.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• Swimm: Docs‑as‑code that ties documentation to code lines and updates or flags docs when code changes, with CI/IDE integrations and auto‑sync workflows. Overlaps directly on keeping docs current in‑repo (features).
• ReadMe: Developer docs platform with bi‑directional Git sync and API hub workflows, competing where teams want hosted portals that stay aligned with source control (bi‑directional sync).
• Mintlify: AI‑forward docs product that generates and assists with documentation from code and provides an in‑app AI assistant for readers (homepage, docs features).
• GitBook: Team knowledge/docs platform with AI writing/search and GitHub integration, often used for internal documentation and onboarding (AI overview).
• Redocly: API‑first docs and docs‑as‑code pipelines for generating and publishing reference sites from OpenAPI and Git flows (product/docs, automation docs).