The document discusses how platforms have become the new product and APIs are fueling this transition. It provides examples of how companies like Comcast, USA Today, and Best Buy have built platforms using APIs that allow developers to create new applications and experiences, which has helped these companies scale more quickly, reduce costs, and increase engagement. The key messages are that companies should think like platforms, embrace APIs, and drop technologies like SOAP in favor of simpler standards like REST and JSON to better support developers and fuel innovation.

1. Platform is the New Product
Delyn Simons
@delynator, @mashery
#edc2012drc
March 2012

2. Web 1.0
screen-scraping
personal websites
directories
stickiness
publishing
O’Reilly.com, Sept 2005

3. Web 1.0 Web 2.0
screen-scraping APIs
personal websites blogging
directories tagging
stickiness syndication
publishing participation
O’Reilly.com, Sept 2005

4. Web 1.0 Web 2.0
screen-scraping APIs
personal websites blogging
directories tagging
stickiness syndication
publishing participation
O’Reilly.com, Sept 2005

8. Accelerating Growth of APIs
Based on directory of 3,900 web APIs listed at ProgrammableWeb, October 2011
8

9. APIs since 2006

10. “Think like a Platform.”

11. Developers
change the game

12. Developers
are 21st
century
craftsmen
Photo Credit:
flickr.com/tom_w_bn

13. Developers build stuff
Photo Credit:
flickr.com/mashery

14. Developers solve
problems
Photo Credit:
flickr.com/delynator

15. Developers
tinker and prototype Photo Credit:
flickr.com/techcrunch

16. Your API Ecosystem

17. Developer Marketing? Try Solving Pain.
API Survey conducted by YourTrove, Inc. August 2011

18. “Think like a Platform.”

19. Product Think Platform Think
Device-centric Services-centric
OS Cloud
Hardware Content
Download Stream
Wired Magazine, Dec 2011

20. Think Like a Platform
1. Please Drop the SOAP
2. Sell Aspirin, Not Vitamins
3. Interactive Documentation
4. Drink your own Champagne
5. Prepare for disruption

22. Photo Credit:
flickr.com/delyn

23. REST vs. SOAP: Simplicity wins again
Distribution of API protocols and styles
Based on directory of 3,200 web APIs listed at ProgrammableWeb, May 2011
23

24. REST vs. SOAP: Simplicity wins
Distribution of API protocols and styles
Based on directory of 3,200 web APIs listed at ProgrammableWeb, May 2011
24

25. JSON Rising: 55% of new APIs support JSON
Percentage of new APIs with JSON support
Based on directory of 3,200 web APIs listed at ProgrammableWeb, May 2011
25

26. 20% of new APIs support only JSON
Percentage of new APIs with only JSON support
Based on directory of 3,200 web APIs listed at ProgrammableWeb, May 2011
26

27. 1 in every 5 new APIs: “goodbye XML”
Percentage of APIs with XML support
Based on directory of 3,200 web APIs listed at ProgrammableWeb, May 2011
27

28. Think Like a Platform
1. Please Drop the SOAP
2. Sell Aspirin, Not Vitamins
3. Interactive Documentation
4. Drink your own Champagne
5. Prepare for disruption

29. Think Like a Platform
1. Please Drop the SOAP
2. Sell Aspirin, Not Vitamins
3. Interactive Documentation
4. Drink your own Champagne
5. Prepare for disruption

31. Five Things Developers Hate
about Your API
• Restrictive Terms of Service
• Unsupported Docs/Code Samples
• 5 minutes < first API call
• NOT Your Outsourced QA team
• Deprecate with little/no notice

32. Think Like a Platform
1. Please Drop the SOAP
2. Sell Aspirin, Not Vitamins
3. Interactive Documentation
4. Drink your own Champagne
5. Prepare for disruption

33. Think Like a Platform
1. Please Drop the SOAP
2. Sell Aspirin, Not Vitamins
3. Interactive Documentation
4. Drink your own Champagne
5. Prepare for disruption

37. Think Like a Platform
1. Please Drop the SOAP
2. Sell Aspirin, Not Vitamins
3. Interactive Documentation
4. Drink your own Champagne
5. Prepare for disruption

38. Think Like a Platform
1. Please Drop the SOAP
2. Sell Aspirin, Not Vitamins
3. Interactive Documentation
4. Drink your own Champagne
5. Prepare for disruption

39. Platforms and Pivots

40. Platforms and Partners

41. Think Like a Platform
1. Please Drop the SOAP
2. Sell Aspirin, Not Vitamins
3. Interactive Documentation
4. Drink your own Champagne
5. Prepare for disruption

42. Think Like a Platform
1. Please Drop the SOAP
2. Sell Aspirin, Not Vitamins
3. Interactive Documentation
4. Drink your own Champagne
5. Prepare for disruption

43. Disruption happens.

44. At Comcast, it used to take 6 to 8 months to share resources
to make great digital experiences. Now? 30 minutes.
New apps with CodeBig
3,600+ affiliates
advanced viewing integration platform
features
TV programs
movies
subscriber info
channel info
listings
cable box info
“With Mashery, we can scale.”
Agustin Schapira, Principal Architect, Comcast

45. USA TODAY deployed #1 iPad, Kindle Fire news apps and get on
multiple platforms, millions of devices.
Scaling partnerships
is faster and easier
Mobile apps on millions • 700+ distribution
of devices partners
• 15 private APIs
• Partner on-boarding
from months to minutes
new articles
census data
photos
movie reviews
Engagement of public
book lists developers
sports salaries • 9 public APIs
• Commercial use OK
• Hackathons
“Our API is a platform for being wherever customers want our
content.”
Erik Bursch, Director of Operations, Content Systems, USA TODAY

46. Best Buy’s API saves millions of dollars in development.
100s of affiliate
partners
New web
features &
mobile apps
product info
commerce
store info
store inventory
reviews
timely offers
mobile upgrade
“The API saved us over $1.5 million and many months when
deploying new features and partnerships.”
Kumar Kandaswamy, Sr Director, Emerging Platforms, Best Buy

47. Think like a Platform
1. Please Drop the SOAP
2. Sell Aspirin, Not Vitamins
3. Interactive Documentation
4. Drink your own Champagne
5. Prepare for disruption

48. Think like a Platform
1. Please Drop the SOAP
2. Sell Aspirin, Not Vitamins
3. Interactive Documentation
4. Drink your own Champagne
5. Prepare for disruption

49. Thank you!
Your feedback is a gift.
Delyn Simons
@delynator, @mashery
#edc2012drc
March 2012