FYI, the Digital Ocean tutorial writers get paid $50 to write them: https://www.digitalocean.com/company/blog/get-paid-to-write-...

Looks like a great way for DO to both build a sense community and also appear high in Google rankings when you search for something. I googled some Linux question earlier today, and ended up on a DO page -- refreshing their brand in my mind.

While this doesn't directly pertain to your comment, perhaps it's somewhat related to onboarding with GAE...

I've been developing on GAE since it was released in 2008 and recently became "Google Cloud Platform Certified".

I'm considering offering a "Google App Engine for Startups" class/workshop (at something like General Assembly). The class would primarily include details about the platform's architecture and best practices for building high-scalability apps (like, say, Snapchat) so your app can "scale without thinking twice." Do you think there'd be some interest in a class like this?

From organizing past events, it's much easier to just do it and have it flop (nobody's going to notice it if it does) than try looking if there's interest or not. Ask your target venue if you can do it, make sure it has some visibility (ie. make sure it's in the program), setup a slide deck or two and do it. Good luck!

To the point about what would attract users to a platform, offering a developer friendly environment and quick ramp up time, I certainly agree.

The 1M writes/second would be a capability more specifically focused for users/developers interested in using already existing platforms such AWS's High Performance Computing platforms and the like.