Introduction to APIs from a Business Perspective by Shafqat Islam, Founder and CEO, Newscred

THE BUSINESS OF APIS Shafqat Islam CEO NewsCred

ABOUT ME•  Cofounder and CEO of NewsCred•  Creating a better Associated Press and reinventing the newswire industry•  Our core product is an API•  I helping publishers build APIs•  Contacts: –  shafqat@newscred.com –  @shafqatislam

SYLLABUS•  Brief History/Background•  Definition•  Examples•  The Business Case: Why Build an API•  Getting Started•  What Makes a Good API•  Risks

HISTORY OF APIS•  Sears Catalogue (1886) –  Getting closer to customers –  Direct to Indirect Model –  Going beyond the store•  RSS (1999) –  Distributing underlying content to create and enable new experiences

HISTORY OF APIS•  Ebay (2000) •  Creating a symbiotic relationships with developers to enlarge markets •  Powering 60% of listings today•  APIs are how people get to your business

THE FIRST MASHUP•  Housingmaps.com (Craiglist vs GMaps)

DEFINITION•  Application Programming Interface•  “a particular set of rules and specifications that a software program can follow to make use of the services and resources provided by the software program that creates that API.”•  Huh?

IT’S JUST AN INTERFACE•  A web site is a user interface between a human and a computer.•  An API is a programmable interface between two computers.•  Examples:

AUTOMATING WORKFLOWS

WHERETHELADIES.AT

AMAZON MECHANICAL TURK•  Scaling crowd sourced tasks•  Used during the Haiti Earthquake to save lives

YOUR APPLICATION STACK

BUT WHAT ABOUT 3RD PARTYAPPS AND SITES?

THE API LAYER

READ VS WRITE APIS•  Read APIs•  Write APIs

APIS BY CATEGORY

BUSINESS SEGMENTS

BUILDING YOUR BUSINESS…YES YOU CAN

TECHNOLOGY•  There are standards, so use REST•  Use XML, JSON, oAUTH – nothing weird

WHY BUILD AN API?•  Distributed Growth•  Syndication•  Outsource Innovation•  Decentralized Business Development•  Reduce Costs•  Branding•  Revenues and New Business Models

DISTRIBUTED GROWTH•  10x more traffic to the API than actual website•  “The API has been the most important thing we’ve done with Twitter.” – Biz Stone

GROWTH VIA ECOSYSTEM

SYNDICATION•  Syndicate content and data (archives?)•  Putting information in the hands of the public•  Drive links and traffic back•  Multi-platform and multiple form factors

WHERE DOES API TRAFFICCOME FROM?

OUTSOURCE INNOVATION•  Let others do the hard work•  New insights and re-imagination of what’s possible with your content and data•  Remember: saving lives in Haiti

EASY BIZDEV

APPLE – NYTNO BIZDEV

3 TYPES OF APIS•  Public•  Partner•  Private

REDUCE COSTS•  Reduce Operational Costs –  Internal development efficiencies across business units –  Speed up time to market –  NPR API•  Facilitate Self Service Integration with Partners

BRANDING•  Spread your brand through the web and other channels –  Twitter –  Google Maps (300% growth versus Mapquest’s 20% growth)•  Become an intrinsic part of the experience –  New York Times & Guardian vis a vis news

BUSINESS MODEL•  Bake your business model into your API•  Release early, monetize early•  Treat it as a distribution channel for your “core business” (Ebay)•  Make money as an extension to your core business model

BUSINESS MODELS•  Advertising•  Licensing –  Tiered –  Flat Fee•  Affiliate

BUSINESS MODEL EXAMPLES

GETTING STARTED•  Inventory of Assets: “Nouns” –  Content –  Listings –  Products –  Actions (Checkin, Tweet)•  Establish Goals –  Read versus Read/Write –  Transactions

“API FIRST” APPROACH•  Build your own site/product on top of API•  Eat your own dogfood!•  Single codebase•  No additional work for a public API•  Consistent behaviour•  Full set of services exposed means more innovation

ESTABLISH TARGET MARKET•  Establish who the API is for: –  Developers –  Business Partners –  Internal Business Units –  End users

ESTABLISH SUCCESS CRITERIAIn order of difficulty/value:•  API Registrations•  API calls•  Business events (i.e. checkins, tweets)•  Content distribution•  User acquisition•  Revenue

WHAT MAKES A GOOD API?•  The underlying service•  The right business model•  Simple, open and easy to get started•  Choices•  Developer support (they are your clients)

RISKS•  If you build it, no one comes•  Scalability•  Cannibalization•  Legal challenges (rights)•  Brand/reputational risk•  Pricing

THE API JOURNEY•  Developing an effective API strategy is a journey, not a single project•  Invest in assets –  API –  Developer docs and community –  Sample apps•  …then iterate on the long term strategy/ ROI

THE TIME IS NOW

EXAMPLE: VISUALIZATIONS

EXAMPLE: MOBILE APP

EXAMPLE: LOGIN SYSTEMS

Introduction to APIs from a Business Perspective by Shafqat Islam, Founder and CEO, Newscred

by Aika Nakashima on May 02, 2011

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Introduction to APIs from a Business Perspective by Shafqat Islam, Founder and CEO, Newscred — Presentation Transcript