---
type: "article"
title: "Swedish army knives?"
newsletter: "EveryDeveloper"
newsletter_handle: "everydeveloper"
newsletter_url: "https://usecommune.com/n/everydeveloper"
author: "Adam DuVander (@adamd)"
published: "2026-09-09T12:55:00.000Z"
canonical_url: "https://usecommune.com/n/everydeveloper/a/swedish-army-knives"
markdown_url: "https://usecommune.com/n/everydeveloper/a/swedish-army-knives.md"
chat_url: "https://usecommune.com/n/everydeveloper/a/swedish-army-knives/chat"
source_url: "https://duvinci-inc.kit.com/posts/swedish-army-knives"
body_source: "imported"
likes: 0
replies: 0
body_words: 492
---

# Swedish army knives?

Hey there,

My dad whipped out a pocket knife to cut his pasta. Our host gasped.

We were traveling to Sweden for the Nordic APIs conference. I brought my dad because we have Swedish heritage and he’d never been. Plus, who doesn’t want to see their son talk about APIs? Ok, so maybe the talk wasn’t the highlight.

On a walk through the oldest part of Stockholm, we saw many souvenir shops. Every single one sold an item I did not expect to see in Sweden: Swiss Army Knives.

![](https://embed.filekitcdn.com/e/UrhW4JA1A4dXGufTvZ4tt/dtDP4NZDJ5WqFAQekpVYio/email)

Real quick geography check: the Swiss live in Switzerland, not Sweden. These are separate countries almost 1,000 miles apart. Why are they selling another nation’s titular knife?

Remember that they’re in every shop. Often, they have dozens, lined up in a display case. Some had Sweden’s blue-and-yellow colors rather than the Swiss red. Is that better? I think it might be more confusing.

My theory is that clueless tourists go into these shops and ask for a Swiss Army Knife. For a while, the shop owners explained that the Swedes aren’t Swiss. But when your primary purpose is to move merchandise, you follow the market.

You sell Swiss Army Knives. Or Swedish Army Knives.

Perception is reality.

This holds true for the sightseer in Gamla Stan and also the developer looking for new tools. If you match their perception, they’ll find you. If you present a different reality, you could be missed.

That’s why I love digging into the data on how LLMs recommend dev tools. By comparing multiple queries, you can identify how the market positions your product.

Do you help developers support user authentication or implement login management? Does your dev tool provide static analysis or scan dependencies?

​[LLM Rank](https://llmrank.fyi/) and the data behind it show you what developers see when they ask AI to solve dev problems. The models were trained on developer conversations, so answers reflect what they perceive. I can help you take action on the data so you can better match that developer reality.

What’s the Swiss Army Knife you need to sell, even if it doesn’t make sense on the surface?

It’s often hard to reason these things from within the company building the product. Just as our host did not understand when Dad pulled out a pocket knife (neither Swiss nor Swedish) at the restaurant.

Ok, so I can’t say I can make sense of that action, either, other than to say “that’s my dad.” But I also didn’t expect the strong reaction from our host, who informed him it’s illegal to carry any knife in public unless it’s a tool of your profession.

“Oh, I’m a farmer,” my dad said, at least a decade out of tending any fields, and certainly not any on that trip to Sweden. Luckily, we didn’t have to explain it to the Stockholm Police.

Want to better understand your developer audience? Let’s find your Swedish Army Knife.

​

***

## Discussion

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