API Business Models: Creating Value with APIs

APIs are eating the world, but in the end strictly speaking they are just a technical way of interconnecting networked applications. However, they do transform many of the ways how businesses work and collaborate with partners and the public. In 2012, John Musser (then at Programmable Web) started collecting the different ways in which organizations use APIs to improve their business. He then started categorizing them into what he called "API Business Models", and this model and his presentations have become a classic in the API community. In 2020, Programmable Web created an updated version of the "API Business Models", using a slightly different way of creating and structuring categories for business models. In addition, some new business models have come along since the initial version was created in 2012. In this video, John Musser talks about the history of API business models, presents the main categories of the updated model, and walks us through some examples for API business models. It's a great introduction to the topic, but if you really want to dive deeper and learn about all the different facets of how various organizations use APIs, then it would be a good idea to read the report, which lists examples for all business models presented, and is guaranteed to widen your horizon when it comes to understanding how APIs can be used to improve organizations and make money. - Programmable Web "API Business Models" Article: https://www.programmableweb.com/news/programmablewebs-guide-to-modern-api-business-models/analysis/2020/10/26 - Programmable Web "API Business Models" Report: https://www.programmableweb.com/sites/default/files/2020_Guide_to_API_Business_Models.pdf - John Musser's 2013 presentation "API Business Models: 20 Models in 30 Minutes": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfguGS8HYvM 00:00 Introduction 00:15 History of API Business Models 02:14 The 2020 Version of API Business Models 03:59 Partner APIs 05:42 Standardized APIs 07:26 Productized APIs 08:36 Marketing APIs 10:28 Example #1: Walgreens Photo Sharing API (Partner API) 13:05 Example #2: Ford Pro Vehicle API (Productized API) 15:36 Example #3: Twitter Authentication API (Marketing API) 18:13 Internal APIs 19:40 Wrapping it up