A few days ago I posed about the trend I noticed at Google of using APIs as a way to release new products — the API-as-Product-Launch I have started calling it.
As I wrote in the previous post, I think that the API-as-Product-Launch is a very promising strategy for tech companies to look into. It allows for the launch of product ideas faster than the “Agile” model and with very minimal infrastructure.
Since this seems so promising to me, I started thinking about what it would take to succeed in this new model. Here is my (incredibly) quick shot at the requirements to kick off the discussion:
- Buzz worthy service API — preferably with lots of data. Make sure that developers can play with and push data into the API at the time of launch. An invite-only beta to build buzz and get the bugs out can’t hurt.
- Launch video of the API developers talking about what it is and why they are excited about it.
- A great story and vision for the future using the new technology.
- A pretty logo, stylish diagrams and content-as-packaged-meme for people to re-blog. This is essential to make sure everyone gets the message about why your service is genius in just the right way.
- Dead simple API test console so biz dev guys can play with the new API to understand what it is all about and feel involved enough to talk about it at parties.
- Follow-up the launch video with video screencasts showing all the cool things that you can do and how to do them. Bonus points of the community does their own screencasts.
- Double geek-bonus points if you can get mentioned in the same sentence as (or are one of) the following
peoplenew geekerati:- Brad Fitzpatrick
- David Recordon
- David Heinemeier Hansson
- Chris Messina
- Chris Goffinet
- Joseph Smarr
- And dozens of other new elite geeks that the public-at-large has never heard of and for some unknown reason I am forgetting right now…
Chris Saad wants to be on the list above really bad; but needs to stop asking people how their working applications fit into his theory of Data Portability. (Just kidding man… keep herding cats.)
What (or who) would you add to the list above?

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