Our company is looking to expose some cool internal tech we use to quite a few partners who are looking to consume data and interact with our systems using API’s.
As the product manager, I want to understand how to get this right. What should I consider not just with the API design, but everything else that is associated with it. For example, API management, developer portals, integrations, security, gateway (and all the questions I do not know but should be asking).
What books, tutorials or resources should I be reading?
Any and all pointers are appreciated. Thanks for taking time to read my post.
As far as a “single authority” on the matter? I’m not sure it exists. A good start would be to read some “API best practices” articles from reputable outlets and get a feel for what everyone agrees on. A few starters:
I’ve prior experience working in the APIs space for about 5 years, engineering lead on APIs for a while before that.
Unfortunately, I have yet to find a single book that accurately reflects my job. Most focus on API design, which is only a tiny fraction of the overall developer experience you will manage. I did pick up APIs: A Strategy Guide by Jacobson recently though, I just haven’t had time to get to it.
That said, there are good articles and presentations for most aspects of API product management. You just have to piece it together yourself.
In addition to giving APIs: a strategy guide a shot, I would start by digging through the API developer weekly newsletter. It has a large archive of articles across all aspects of API management: LaunchAny
Many of the best practices of API product management carry over from other products like mobile and web apps. Being closer to engineering than say being an iOS PM, there is a tendency to let the non-engineering tasks slip (design, metrics, documentation, onboarding, etc). I recommend looking at what popular API platforms (Algolia, Stripe, Twilio, Auth0, Clearbit, etc) do in terms of their design and how they appeal to their developer community. Also learn common practices of running an API platform and marketing to developers (which is very different than normal B2B or B2C). Some of my favorites are:
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