Make Sure And Have Multiple KPIs For Your APIs

by on 05/07/2013

In the API space, we have to be constantly measuring and looking for signals that will help us understand where we should be focusing our resources, as part of an overall strategy. One of the ways we measure value within the world of APIs (and business) is using KPIs, or Key Performance Indicators. Using KPIs we strive to measure the Return on our Investment (ROI), as we gamble with the technology, business and politics of APIs. One approach to quantifying the value, that has emerged from API providers, API service providers and the tech blogosphere is using the "API call". It is simple. You launch an API, so you quantify it by the number of times someone calls it. Kind of like a page view, right? Out of this eyeball derived reality(which is silly since APIs aren't for humans), the API space has become obsessed with the number of API calls, resulting in what is known as the API billionaires club. The Billionaires Club is an elite group of tech providers who have billions of calls per month on their API. It is a pretty simple algorithm. Have API + Have Billions of Requests = Your In The Billionaires Club. And if you are in the billionaires club, you are successful.  End of calculation.... read more.

Tags: Billionaires Club, GitHub, KPI, Netflix, Signals

API Enabled Toys For Our Children

by on 05/07/2013

When it comes to the Internet of Things, APIs have a bright future. I tend to focus on the greater good when showcasing APIs, but occasionally I get tripped up by the market potential of APIs. I came across the Baby Toys Get an App Extension post in the New York Times this week, and I can't think of a more lucrative market for API interaction via a smart phone, than a baby or toddler's toys. First, can you image every mom or dad in America with access to their kids toys via their iPhone. Talk about an emotional connection. You have a real-time chord that is attached to a parents heart string. So if you are at work, missing your child that is at home, in day care, or even when you are at home with them, you have the opportunity to interact with your child via their crib, playstation or other toy? I'm not even going to start profiling the toys and the opportunity here. Second, can you imagine the data available for toy, clothing and other manufacturers? You have a daily, permanent connection between a parent and their child via the toys that are most important to a child each day, and by default, what is important to the parent.... read more.

Tags: Fisher Price, Internet-of-Things, IPhone, Smart Phones, Toys

I Am Speaking At The Dallas-Forth Worth API Professionals Meetup May 14th

by on 05/02/2013

Hey everyone. I'm heading out to the Dallas-Fort Worth area the week after next, Tuesday, May 14, to kick off the DFW API Professionals Meetup. TheRightAPI team were so kind to invite me out to speak, hang out and talk APIs, to help kick-off the area API group. Both TheRightAPI and backend as a service (BaaS) provider Proxomo are sponsoring the shindig. The group will be meeting at the Microsoft Campus, 7000 Texas 161, Irving, TX. We are thinking we'll kick it off with food and drinks from 6:00 - 6:45 PM, and I'll start talking around 7:00 PM. After that we can just hang out and talk about APIs and see what all y'all are doing with APIs in Texas. Ping me if your in the DFW area, so that I know you will be there. Look forward to seeing you there and connecting.... read more.

Tags: Dallas, Fort Worth, Meetup, Proxomo, Texas, TheRightAPI

How Much Do You Spend Attracting and Supporting Freemium API Developers?

by on 05/02/2013

I had a question from an API owner land in my inbox. It is regarding the amount of attention and resources that should be spent on on-boarding new customers. Directly from the email: How would you suggest companies place a quantifiable value on free API users? I know that it is very important to have a lot of people use your API so that they can make great things with your API and also give people a chance to really understand the value of what the API offers, but do you have any thoughts on how companies should decide how much to spend on an API conversion (AdWords, Hackathons, etc. ) Let's first address the freemium part of the question. It is my opinion that every API should have a freemium layer. But only as one part of a well planned developer incentive ladder. This freemium tier is the top layer of your funnel. It will provide a way for people to test drive your API, understand what it does and the value it can deliver in their world. Your freemium layer should be easy to access, no billing required and provide a sensible access to your API resources--also your freemium tier should never appear as if it is in danger of going away.... read more.

Tags: Developers, Evangelism, Freemium, Funnel, Pricing, SEO

What Does The API Evangelist Do?

by on 05/02/2013

I sent three emails this morning to people, explaining what it is that I do and how they can get involved. This process reminded me that I need to do the same here via the blog on a regular basis, to help people understand what API Evangelist is, and my vision for it.   Despite popular belief I do not evangelize any single API to developers, my role (self-appointed) is to evangelize all APIs to the masses, most importantly beyond the developer community--penetrating business, marketing and other key groups. At API Evangelist I monitor the entire API space. To do this I track on 2000 of the best of the APIs out there.   I've gone through the entire ProgrammableWeb Directory and hand pick the ones that are worth paying attention to, and I continue doing this in real-time as they are added. Its not that the rest aren't worthy of use, just not an approach I feel is worth showcasing to other API owners. 700+ of these APIs have blogs, 1000+ have Twitter accounts and many have Github accounts. I monitor all in real time. I also track on 250+ blog feeds from mainstream tech blogs (TC, Gigaom, etc) as well as lesser known feeds.... read more.

Tags: Industry Analysis, Research, Services, trends, White Papers

Startups Need To Work Together on API Definitions

by on 05/02/2013

I am tracking on 2000 APIs that I have deemed worthy enough to pay attention, out of the 9000 on ProgrammableWeb, 13,000 in APIHub and numerous APIs in Mashape's marketplace. In addition to these APIs, I'm also closely watching 30+ backend as a service providers, 20+ reciprocity providers and emerging big data, analysis, visualization and other emerging platforms who are using APIs in new ways. I was reading some of the great research coming out of OPENi, which is a "Open-Source, Web-Based, Framework for Integrating Applications with Cloud-based Services and Personal Cloudlets"--specifically the post on OpenI API Framework: Studying the Landscape of Cloud-Based Services. What is great about OPENi, is they are doing all this research and planning, and sharing the process with everyone publicly. Which is great for everyone, but will take some time to play out, as they study, plan and execute in the space. As I watch aggregate API providers like Singly plow forward and reciprocity providers like Zapier deliver some amazing integrations, using APIs, and bridging some of the most meaningful cloud platforms in our world--I can't help but think about how much redundant work is going on amongst startups.... read more.

Tags: Aggregation, OPENi, Reciprocity, Singly, Zapier

Parse Is Successful By Truly Solving Problems for Mobile Developers

by on 05/01/2013

I don't personally use Parse or any other backend as a service (BaaS) provider to build mobile applications. I'm just playing role as analyst when it comes to the backend as a service space, but I am a developer so I can tell when any technology provider is speaking to developers or just marketing and hock'n their wares. Each week I monitor the tech blogosphere, the API space and where it has expanded into the backend as a service space and driving mobile development. I pull 300 + feeds from random blogs and 700+ feeds from APIs providers. I see the contrast between what Techrunch, GigaOm and NextWeb produce alongside what API and BaaS providers publish to their blogs. Day after day you can really start smelling the bullshit. The positive side is that this high profile bullshit really makes good quality posts, that are actually about solving problems, stand out. I see a lot of posts come out of BaaS providers, and day after day, Parse is producing high quality posts, such as Versioning and Verification for your AWS Security Group Configuration and Six Creative Ways to Use Push Notification Marketing in Your Mobile App.... read more.

Tags: BaaS, Facebook, parse

API Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Forego Talking to a Person

by on 04/30/2013

Listening to an episode of Traffic and Weather yesterday, renewed a concept that John Sheehan(@johnsheehan), founder of Runscope made in an article he wrote for NextWeb back in March. In the post, John walks us through his “Three Commandments for Using Someone Else’s API”, which, after listening to him talk about his story on Episode 8 of Traffic and Weather, I couldn't stop thinking about commandment #2: Thou Shalt Not Forego Talking to a Person An open API is a great way to test drive an integration, but it does not absolve you from the responsibility of building a relationship with the provider. If you can’t reach someone, that should be all the reason you need not to use that API. This commandment comes out of Johns unique experience which spans: Twilio - Experience managing large, successful developer ecosystem IFTTT - Experience being consumer of not just one, but many APIs Runscope - Providing tools that make API developers lives easier This experiences is what make John’s perspective unique. He doesn’t just understand delivering APIs and managing developers, he knows what it is like to be a developer and consumer of APIs.... read more.

Tags: Developers, Ecosystem, Ifttt, John Sheehan, Runscope, Traffic and Weather, Twilio

API Trends

by on 04/28/2013

I study the API space. I want to understand how we got where we are at, and try to understand where we are going with our usage of APIs. To do this I monitor the best of the existing and new APis, using the blogosphere, Twitter, LinkedIn, Github and the open web looking for examples of how people are using APIs in different ways. Currently I monitor the blogs of 804 API related companies and 205 blog feeds from other news and blog sources, as well as around 1000 API twitter accounts. As I read and curate this every day, I tag items according to a process I've evolved over 3 years of operation. Then at the end of each week I look at which tags are trending for the week, based upon what I've written and other news items I've curated along the way. This is how I monitor trends. When Is see a tag trending, and I feel the area is interesting or has potential, I tend to spin off the topic into its own trend area. Now I can monitor it separately and potentially give it more attention, with the hope of finding new sources of information, companies and domain experts in this area.... read more.

Tags: Aggregation, Backend as a Service, Realtime, Reciprocity, trends

API Priorities

by on 04/28/2013

I spend a lot of time on API Evangelist getting excited about APIs. Going on three years doing this, I'm getting a little more hardened in my view on what is "good" in the API space. Along with that evolution, I'm getting my priorities in order. While I may get excited about cloud computing APIs or quantified self APIs, there are other areas I think are straight up priorities--ones that we can't ignore. To support this I'm launching several research projects into areas I have labeled as API priorities: Federal Government City Government Education Healthcare Libraries Universities These represent areas I'm actively doing research in, looking for the best APIs, tools, services, building blocks and news while also generating as much analysis and white papers as I can to help define what is going on. As with all of the API Evangelist network of research projects, everything is a work in progress and represents what I have time to dive into.... read more.

Tags: City Government, Education, Federal Government, Healthcare, Libraries, Priorities, Universities


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