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Every API Needs a Product Manager
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Elie
March 25, 2014
Technology
1
110
Every API Needs a Product Manager
Slides from my talk at APIdays Madrid, May 2013
Elie
March 25, 2014
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Transcript
Every Cloud Service Needs API Product Manager The marketer’s point
of view
@Elie__ “API” VS “Product”
@Elie__ “My API is my product” They say:
@Elie__ Are they wrong? “A mean rather than an end”
Headline should look like this @Elie__ API = Deliver a
Product ≠ Product. = A way to access an app.
Headline should look like this @Elie__ “Their product is delivered
through an API.” All we can say? But still, it feels wrong
@Elie__ No APIs Before the Product Manager Came in
Headline should look like this @Elie__ Now Everybody Knows About
APIs B2C / Prosumers
Headline should look like this @Elie__ Made APIs popular: EC2,
S3... Productization by
Headline should look like this @Elie__ Wait. “Productization?” It sounds
bad but...
Headline should look like this @Elie__ Building products That’s what
they do
Headline should look like this @Elie__ Before productization Only potential
Headline should look like this @Elie__ After productization Usable
@Elie__ Productization Is Vital
@Elie__ To Sell
@Elie__ Bezos didn’t invent REST, Jobs didn’t invent touchscreens Product
Management Is Key
@Elie__ Hum. Not convinced?
@Elie__ Know this startup? = 100% API-driven
@Elie__ Know this guy? Ex Product Manager @Amazon
@Elie__ API Veterans
@Elie__ Not a single person But still, the product was
an API
@Elie__ “As a service” Means you are Selling a Product,
Not a Service
@Elie__ Classic definitions Still valid?
@Elie__ = Physical Goods
@Elie__ = Immaterial SERVICE
@Elie__ Can’t Touch MP3s But I can listen to it
@Elie__ = The way the product is delivered Pay attention
to the “as a”
“SaaS”, “Web Service”... = Business Model / Marketing Notion
= “Get the advantages of a product, but consume it like a service.”
@Elie__ “Products” are Consistent While “Services” are Not
@Elie__ “Products” YOU pick them.
@Elie__ “Services” THEY perform.
@Elie__ Consistency VS uncertainty
@Elie__ Companies want to deliver products, not services.
@Elie__ “Your most valuable assets walk in and out of
the door every day.” A Service Company
@Elie__ “To create a service business you can sell, do
whatever you can to make your business have a product and a formula that predictably delivers results.” David Ogilvy
@Elie__ MUST be products Bottom line:
@Elie__ Turning Your API Service into a Product
Headline should look like this @Elie__ Again (I don’t own
stocks)
Headline should look like this @Elie__ 1- Name it 2-
Package it 3- Write instructions 4- Words of caution 5- Barcode it 6- Copywrite it Follow the recipe: Let’s try with an API?
Headline should look like this @Elie__ 1- Name it 2-
Package it 3- Write instructions 4- Words of caution 5- Barcode it 6- Copywrite it ‣ Mailjet ‣APIs ‣API Doc ‣Terms of Use ‣SaaS ‣Proprietary MTA See how it works Thanks P&G!
@Elie__ The API Manager makes the magic happen
I've studied philosophy but my head ended up in the
cloud. ! Head of Marketing @Mailjet Follow me @Elie__ @Elie__ About Me
See ya! elie.li speakerdeck.com/elie @Elie__