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SHUT IT DOWN
HOW TO:
Tyler Singletary
@harmophone
“IT IS FORBIDDEN TO KILL; THEREFORE
ALL MURDERERS ARE PUNISHED
UNLESS THEY KILL IN LARGE NUMBERS
AND TO THE SOUND OF TRUMPETS.”
Voltaire
SHUT IT DOWN
SHUT IT DOWN
LET'S SET SOME CONDITIONS
▸ LET: The API is built. The program is launched.
▸ LET: You have usage, some significant partnerships or
customers
SHUT IT DOWN
WHY??
▸ Your executive
leadership just isn't
into it
▸ You didn't hit the
revenue or enterprise
value to channel
conflict ratio
▸ The product wasn't
good enough :(
SHUT IT DOWN
TWO WAYS TO KILL YOUR API
SHUT IT DOWN
LET IT DIE
▸ Don't invest in it. Minimal human effort. API Management runs it.
▸ Don't engage and support with your customers.
▸ Don't have buy-in from executive leadership.
▸ Don't regularly check in with engineers that manage Pager Duty, nightly
jobs, data quality, overall health.
▸ Market only to developers.
▸ Don't treat it like a product, don't have a sales process. Product lifecycle.
▸ Sell too soon. Over monetize and process-ify your process.
OR...
SHUT IT DOWN
CULTIVATE, BRING TO MARKET, SWAP CROPS
▸ You don't have to leave your program to die, even if you're
shutting it down
▸ Time to end-of-life after any legal contracts expire, and don't
auto-renew them. [Conversely...]
▸ Turn off new API sign ups, if you're public. Make it clear your
program is closed to new customers.
▸ Provide a path to alternatives. Might be: partnering, exports,
SAAS alternatives, and the dreaded competitor-
recommendation
SHUT IT DOWN
MORE THAN A COLLECTION OF ENDPOINTS
▸ You can shut down particular use cases (see: Twitter)
▸ You can shut down particular customers
▸ You can change your terms, business model, pricing,
packaging, rate limits
▸ Move from Open to Partner API, or Partner API to Private
▸ Version your API, or version your commitments
SHUT IT DOWN
HOW TO:
Tyler Singletary
@harmophone

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HOWTO: Shut It Down

  • 1. SHUT IT DOWN HOW TO: Tyler Singletary @harmophone
  • 2. “IT IS FORBIDDEN TO KILL; THEREFORE ALL MURDERERS ARE PUNISHED UNLESS THEY KILL IN LARGE NUMBERS AND TO THE SOUND OF TRUMPETS.” Voltaire SHUT IT DOWN
  • 3. SHUT IT DOWN LET'S SET SOME CONDITIONS ▸ LET: The API is built. The program is launched. ▸ LET: You have usage, some significant partnerships or customers
  • 4. SHUT IT DOWN WHY?? ▸ Your executive leadership just isn't into it ▸ You didn't hit the revenue or enterprise value to channel conflict ratio ▸ The product wasn't good enough :(
  • 5. SHUT IT DOWN TWO WAYS TO KILL YOUR API
  • 6. SHUT IT DOWN LET IT DIE ▸ Don't invest in it. Minimal human effort. API Management runs it. ▸ Don't engage and support with your customers. ▸ Don't have buy-in from executive leadership. ▸ Don't regularly check in with engineers that manage Pager Duty, nightly jobs, data quality, overall health. ▸ Market only to developers. ▸ Don't treat it like a product, don't have a sales process. Product lifecycle. ▸ Sell too soon. Over monetize and process-ify your process.
  • 8. SHUT IT DOWN CULTIVATE, BRING TO MARKET, SWAP CROPS ▸ You don't have to leave your program to die, even if you're shutting it down ▸ Time to end-of-life after any legal contracts expire, and don't auto-renew them. [Conversely...] ▸ Turn off new API sign ups, if you're public. Make it clear your program is closed to new customers. ▸ Provide a path to alternatives. Might be: partnering, exports, SAAS alternatives, and the dreaded competitor- recommendation
  • 9. SHUT IT DOWN MORE THAN A COLLECTION OF ENDPOINTS ▸ You can shut down particular use cases (see: Twitter) ▸ You can shut down particular customers ▸ You can change your terms, business model, pricing, packaging, rate limits ▸ Move from Open to Partner API, or Partner API to Private ▸ Version your API, or version your commitments
  • 10. SHUT IT DOWN HOW TO: Tyler Singletary @harmophone