This document discusses API communities and what they mean. It defines a community as a group of interdependent organisms or people sharing common goals. API communities bring together API providers and developers around common tools and goals. When the goals of the community members are aligned through cooperation and opportunities, everyone benefits - the company through revenue and customer retention, and developers through easier work and increased productivity. For the community to succeed, the community builder must devote significant resources to tracking metrics like exposure, usage, sales, and sentiment in order to analyze and adjust the community over time.

1. API Communities
@TimFalls
community guy
@SendGrid
Defrag 2011
Nov 9-10

2. our discussion
sendgrid
community, generally speaking
api communities: why / what / how
what does it all mean for you!?

4. Webster says
Community is:
“a feeling of fellowship with others, as a
result of sharing common attitudes,
interests, and goals”
[ecology] “a group of interdependent
organisms of different species growing or
living together in a specified habitat”

5. communities:
they come in all shapes and sizes

6. your neighbors + your hometown = a community

7. fans + teams = community

8. fans + bands = community

9. people + a cause = community

10. an awesome business + awesome customers = community

11. “Some organizations depend on their collective resources and complementary strengths to achieve a broad, far reaching
goal.They thrive on the community that links them together - even if the community members have never met each other in
person.”

12. “people who use the
same tools to build
software:
they create
communities”

13. awesome developers + awesome API(s) = community
...?

14. yes

16. why?
oes any community exist?
mbers (groups & individuals) benefit from their involvement
derive utility / value
benefit socially + professionally

17. how?
By creating symbiotic relationships, through which all organisms in the ecosystem
feed off each others successes.
it starts with alignment of goals
it is made successful through
cooperation
social commerce
opportunities

18. the REAL “what?”
everyone wins
the company
• revenue, happy users (customer retention),
product adoption, respect, appreciation,
support
the developers/customer
• ease of use, simpler life, job well done, $
savings, less stress, increased productivity,
revenue, props

19. results
as the community builder, you must:
a) be willing to devote resources, lots of them
b) watch, analyze, adjust and repeat
things to track:
exposure - how many people do you reach? online and offline
sales - new customers/users - free or paid
usage - API calls, emails sent, apps built
sentiment - what are people saying?

20. the customers
developers, employing companies/startups, community members, open source code contributors
who?
the company
employees, leaders, investors, founders
economy
competition: the advancement of the technology, industry, and marketplace, in general

21. takeaways
1. evaluate
2. recognize
3. act

22. questions / comments
me
@timfalls
timfalls.me