Distribute + Monetize APIsDistribute + Monetize APIsDistribute + Monetize APIs

Defrag 2014 - Broomfield, CO

Orlando Kalossakaswww.mashape.com

@orliesaurusorlando@mashape.com

Sit back and relaxWhy APIs - Tap into the API market

API Economy - $$$ Models

Distributing - DevXperience

History is important

The industrial revolution stems from:

Industralization led to Efficiency

Quality of Life led to working force

Financial Innovations enabled more entrepeneurs to make it

Transportation links sped up commerce

Communication between peers improved

And then...

Nothing is stopping the API economy

A whole universe of developers capable of consuming APIs

Over 3 billion connected people on the web

Growth

source: wikipedia.com

1990

5B

3B

7B

2013

Internet citizens’ growth

source: forbes.com

Devices connected to the Internet

2013 2015 2020

15B

8.7B

50B

Dev

ices

Con

nect

ed

Years

source: forbes.com

Mobile Connectivity Penetration

source: opensignal.com

Developers fuel apps

1.4M

1.2M

300K149K

Data, Microservices, Scalable platforms

No excuses for not having an API

Build a library, then an empire

- Expose data and functionality through service interfaces.

- Communication must happen only through these interfaces

- Any technology works- Design from the ground up to be

externalizable. No exceptions.

source:http://siliconangle.com/furrier/2011/10/12/google-engineer-accidently-shares-his-internal-memo-about-google-platform/

APIs and usage in modern times

Mashape.com: over 10.000 private and public API

GoogleTwitterFacebook

Billions of API calls per day

Mashape Pricing Distribution

API consumers over time

APIs come in different forms...

As a product:

The customer uses the API directly to add capabilities

As an extension of a product:

The API is used in conjunction with the product to add value

As a promotion for a product:

The API is used as a mechanism to promote the product.

(Private and Public)

API Economy - Price it right● Pricing - have a clear business model

○ Free○ Freemium○ Paid

● Paid or Freemium can come in different flavours○ Pay as you go with or without tiers○ Monthly recurring○ Unit price○ Rev share○ Transaction fee

API Economy - Price it right

Depending your business model, you might end up paying developers to use

your API

But wait

Have you (or your team) built an API before?Is your audience right?Do your competitors have APIs?Could they copy your model easily?How will your API support your roadmap?

Food for thought+ Security & Access Control:

+ Cloud or On Premises:

+ Monitoring and Analytics:

+ SOAP vs REST:

Prepare for the API economy

+ Discovery+ Security + Monitoring / QA+ Testing+ Support+ Documentation+ Monetization

Achieving great DX

How will you publish your API?

Onboarding and Documentation are the face of your API

Achieving great DX:What do developers love you for?

• Track endpoint analytics• Track Documentation’s web analytics• Get involved in physical Hackathons• Keep API documentation up to date• Don’t break things (versioning)

In conclusion

- It’s happening, it’s big, you can do it. Don’t miss out- Developers are hungry and ready to pay to use your

service if you provide them with a good experience- You need to invest time and $$$ in making sure their

experience is great, as soon as possible- You can make a lot of money with only an API.

Thanks for listening

orlando@mashape.com

POST /questionsGET /answers

Image Takedown processI made these slides by hand and I do not own copyright of these images, they’re owned by whoever took the pictures. Thank you to all those who upload images on flickr.com and if you do not want me to use an image on my slides get in touch and I shall remove it!