Research

Studying the API space is what I do.  API Evangelist started almost 3 years ago as a research project in Summer of 2010.  Here we are in 2013 and I'm still going.  

To make money I've taken API Evangelist jobs and projects, to help me stay focused on the Business of APIs I'm accepting investement in a couple project areas:

  • Business of Twitters API - Establish a deeper understanding of how Twitter has built their ecosystem. 
  • Business of Twilos API - Twilio is an excellent blueprint for other API providers to follow.  I'd like to create a formal blueprint based upon Twilios operation.
  • Business of Amazon Web Service - Amazon is a flagship of everything cloud and APIs.  I'd like to document the platform from incarnation to until present.
  • API Stack - Establish a curated directory of high value APIs, with a ranking and monitoring system to track progress around these APIs.
  • Politics of APIs - All the challenges you face around APIs ranging from terms of use and developers rights to potential government regulation.

Those are just the active research areas I'm working that are being funded.  Upcoming research includes research and profiling in the business of:

  • Facebook's Open API & Platform
  • Google APIs
  • LinkedIn Developer Platform
  • EBay

Each research project produces all or many of the following components:

  • Raw Research
  • Blog Post(s)
  • White Paper(s)
  • Book(s)
  • Interactive Dashboard
  • Visualizations

If you are interested in any of these areas of API research, please contact me directly.  My goal is to provide content for my blogs and research that will educate everyone about the API space, while also funding what I do.  

I don't just enjoy understanding the API space.  I believe APIs are going to assist in driving a healthy economy, government and become a ubiquiotous part of our everyday lives.