APIs have some fascinating implications for how companies are built and where value is created. We compiled a list of the best places to get the most impactful information on APIs.

Summary (TL;DR)

API-first companies can be confusing to explain because many of them offer both API products and traditional SaaS products. Their customers run the gamut, from large platforms like Shopify and Uber all the way down to individuals who want to accept payments online, and everything in between.

To put it simply “APIs give their customers superpowers.” That’s the phrase you see most often when researching the space and talking to people in it, but APIs obviously go much deeper.

Here’s a list if you’re interested in learning anything and everything in the wonderful world of APIs.

The List

1. Not Boring

Not Boring is the most fun way to learn about what’s going on in business and the strategy behind the decisions companies make. If Ben Thompson and Bill Simmons had a baby, it would look like Not Boring.

The Not Boring community is almost 100,000+ strong and growing, full of smart, curious people from the worlds of tech, finance, real estate, design, and beyond.

Packy M has a lot of fun writing this, and I think you’ll have a lot of fun reading it. Join our growing community by subscribing.

Notable API focused writings include:

• APIs All the Way Down — an essay going down the API-First Ecosystem Rabbit Hole with Shopify, Stripe, Twilio, and more.
• Stytch: Kill the Password — an essay announcing the Newest API-First Unicorn Saving the Internet
• Zero Knowledge — A Not Boring x Jill Carlson Collab on Moon Math, Privacy, and Hype
• Bull & Bear: Agora, the API Powering Clubhouse

https://www.notboring.co/

2. Stratechery

Stratechery provides an analysis of the strategy and business side of technology and media and the impact of technology on society. Written by Ben Thompson, perhaps the world's most distinguished tech writer, the blog’s content does not miss.

Recommended by The New York Times as “one of the most interesting sources of analysis on any subject”, Stratechery has subscribers from over 85 different countries, including executives in both technology and industries impacted by technology, venture capitalists and investors, and thousands of other people interested in understanding how and why the Internet is changing everything.

Notable API focused writings include:

• Stripe: Platform of Platforms
• From Products to Platforms
• Cloudflare’s Disruption
• The Cost of Developers

https://stratechery.com/

3. The API Economy

While the likes of Stripe, Twilio, Plaid, and Cloudflare have all built some of the biggest companies in SaaS by leveraging an API-first approach — few understand the groundbreaking shift we’re experiencing with APIs.

In this monthly newsletter, the aim of writer Peter Schroeder is to:

• Research the trends regarding APIs (starting in Saas, but bridging to the mainstream economy).
• Break down modern companies that are pushing the boundaries of API capabilities.
• Teach people more about how to either:
  • a. Build an API-first company.
  • b. Start to pivot/decouple at their current company to become API-first.

Notable API focused writings include:

• Shopify: The Entrepreneur's Platform — why Shopify's platform continues to thrive from a business & technical perspective.
• Merge: One API To Rule Them All — breaking down the company on a journey to connect one API to the entire world of SaaS.

https://www.apifirst.tech/

4. API Evangelist

The API Evangelist is about making sense of the world of application programming interfaces, or simple APIs. APIs have become part of every layer of our Internet-connected world over the last 20 years, and this their my research project into understanding what is happening. As of 2019 the author of the API Evangelist, Kin Lane is also the Chief Evangelist for Postman, but he still uses this site in the same way he has since 2010, as a workbench for what he is working on each day. Providing him with a very public way to work through his projects, while helping others see the world of APIs in different ways, and hopefully learn more about how APIs are being applied across our world.

https://apievangelist.com/

5. Nordic APIs

Nordic APIs is a series of conferences and events held throughout Scandinavia that provide knowledge and information designed to help organizations become more efficient, automated, and programmable through the use of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Every year, a multi-day event is held in one of the Nordic capitals, and smaller events are run throughout the region all year long.

https://nordicapis.com/

6. Postman Blog

Postman is an API platform for building and using APIs. Postman simplifies each step of the API lifecycle and streamlines collaboration so you can create better APIs—faster.

Their blog is a treasure trove of information covering all corners of what APIs have to offer.

https://blog.postman.com/

7. API Developer Weekly

API Developer Weekly is a weekly newsletter hyper-focused on the business, design, development, and deployment of APIs for web and mobile apps.

The newsletter is hand-curated and designed to keep you updated on the latest news, practices, and trends in the web-based API industry.

https://apideveloperweekly.com/

8. r/programming (Programming subreddit)

You’ll have to look for API-specific content, but how could we not include Reddit? ;)

https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/

9. MuleSoft Blog

Over a decade ago, founder Ross Mason created a short string of text that pioneered a simple, powerful idea: why crank out custom code over and over when it's faster and more efficient to assemble the right components? This led to the creation of MuleSoft, a platform to help you

create seamless digital experiences, products, and services — with the #1 platform for integration, APIs, and automation

Fun fact, the "mule" in their name comes from the drudgery, or "donkey work," of data integration that our platform was created to escape. Check out all things APIs on their blog.

https://blogs.mulesoft.com/bloghome/

10. Programmable Web

As the world's leading source of news and information about Internet-based application programming interfaces (APIs), ProgrammableWeb.com is known as the Web's defacto journal of the API economy. Since it was founded in 2005, ProgrammableWeb has been chronicling the daily evolution of the global API economy while amassing the Web's most relied-on directory when it comes to discovering and searching for APIs to use in Web and mobile applications.

In the past, Gartner identified ProgrammableWeb as one of several “Cool Vendors” in Information Innovation. ProgrammableWeb is also the most widely-cited source of data when it comes to the inclusion of API-related statistics in the mainstream media, conferences, whitepapers, and other forms of research.

Written by John Musser who works with APIs and AVs at Ford Motor Company, this is one of the best blogs in the world to learn from.

https://www.programmableweb.com/

Bonus:

The API Design Blog

The #1 source of tips and tricks for building quality APIs with a Design-First Approach

Merge API’s Blog

Merge is the unified API of the future. They help you integrate your product once with Merge and connect to all Payroll, Recruiting, HR, and Accounting API platforms automatically.

Merge’s founding team worked at different startups but ran into the same issue: time-consuming customer-facing integrations. Developer time spent crafting and maintaining those integrations takes time, money, and focus away from the company’s core product roadmap.

Their team of builders and problem solvers are motivated to not just make integrations incredibly accessible, but also delightful to implement. Their blog helps show you how all of it is possible from some of the smartest people in the world.

https://www.merge.dev/blog

For more API-related topics, subscribe to The API Economy and follow me on Twitter.

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