Kin Lane
Bio: I am the API Evangelist, making sense of the technology, business, people, and policies of APIs since 2010.
Role: API Evangelist
Company: API Evangelist
Industry: API Evangelist LLC
API Evangelist Conversation with Kin Lane
This is the introductory pilot for the new API Evangelist Conversation podcast, where I interview myself (Kin Lane) to explore the new format, and work out all the kinks with producing and distributing this podcast. It is a little robotic and awkward as I interview myself, but something that will get more natural once I am talking to other human beings.
Who are you?
Oh, my name is Kin Lane.
What is your role?
I'm the API evangelist.
Where do you work?
Well, I work for myself at API Evangelist, LLC.
What industry do you work in?
What industry do you work in? Well, it's the API industry, which really is a cross cutting industry across every other industry.
Are you an API producer, consumer, service provider, tooling provider, or analyst?
Well, be all the above. I produce, consume, sell services, build tools, and I've been analyzing the API space since 2010. I personally think it's important to be [00:02:00] both an API producer and consumer, actively thinking about both sides of the equation. I've also learned to build services and tools for the space, which has really helped me understand the business dynamics of selling to the enterprise, as well as being sold to while working in the enterprise.
My views as an analyst, I think, is where I shine though. It really brings a unique perspective to the space. But honestly, it's also where I seem to cause the most problems and get in the most trouble.
What is API Conversations?
Well, API conversations are just a continuation of the conversations I enjoyed as the API evangelist from 2010 through 2019, as well as taking what I learned from the 125 plus episodes of my Breaking Changes podcast at [00:03:00] Postman. I really learned a lot talking to folks. about APIs, and realize how dependent I am on these conversations for my feedback loops.
I'm looking to recreate this, but this round I'm looking to keep things short, concise, and focused on micro conversations, but also the macro level awareness that's generated by documenting these conversations. I'll be producing transcripts and other aggregate data from across the conversations I have.
And then I'm going to use this to drive my services and storytelling across the API evangelists. I'll be pro I'll be prioritizing producer and consumer practitioners over service providers and tooling providers. I'll still talk to them, but I'm really going to prioritize people who are on the ground making things happen.
Why do APIs matter?
Well, APIs literally power everything around us. They're behind all those icons on our phone. They're behind the web and mobile applications that we depend on for our business. They power transit, our buildings, our cars, our televisions, and they touch every aspect of our personal and professional lives.
We all make thousands of API calls each day, and they digitally and physically guide us through our day. APIs matter, like, like electricity, water, sewer, and other utilities matter. But they're way more universal. APIs matter to us personally and professionally. And everyone should have some awareness of them.
And professionally, you should really be expanding this awareness. Whether you are a business or a technical. Your awareness and control over APIs will define and control your career, how your business does, and in your personal life.
Do you use OpenAPI?
I do. It's central to defining all my relationships with API technology. OpenAPI describes the surface area of my digital resources and capabilities. OpenAPI makes sure I have a plan and I'm in alignment with everyone I work with. I know most people see OpenAPI simply as a configuration for documentation, but it's really much more than that.
OpenAPI is one of the most important things to happen to the world of APIs and technology in years, and it isn't for the reason most technologists believe. OpenAPI helps us see APIs by documentation, SDKs, mock servers, and sandboxes, but also as YAML or a JSON contract, with the YAML really being a [00:06:00] critical olive branch that we're extending to business stakeholders.
I use OpenAPI as the technical contract for any API relationship I'm engaged in at the producer or at the consumer level.
Do you use JSON Schema?
I do. It's really the most important API specification in my toolbox. More important than my own specification, API is JSON, or even OpenAPI, as they both depend on JSON Schema. Thanks a lot. JSON schema is the most important API specification in my opinion because it defines and validates everything.
It allows me to move forward confidently as long as I take the time to define the JSON schema for whatever digital object I'm working with. Every piece of information in every process in my world is defined as JSON schema. I use [00:07:00] AJV and then other services and tooling to validate that all along the way.
JSON schema is one of the most ubiquitous. As well as invisible API specifications out there, which every enterprise depends on, but people are largely unaware that it exists or how to properly configure it and use it.
What is your biggest challenge with APIs?
Well, it's gotta be API education, ensuring that people understand that APIs matter in the first place and are literate in at least the API basics. I encounter numerous very smart and well meaning people, as well as some not so well meaning people who are producing and consuming APIs as part of their business, but they don't even have the basics like REST, JSON, YAML, and the other building blocks you need.
Enterprises just don't properly invest in API literacy. Venture capital often forbids their portfolios from spending money on education in this area. There is a massive vacuum in this space when it comes to API literacy. Resulting in a noisy mix of information, disinformation and misinformation out there when you're trying to, and they're just trying to generate page views.
If companies who invest in the fundamentals with web API and literacy, everybody would be better off for it.
What is a priority for you right now?
Well, making money. I just quit my job and I'm living off my savings. I have a number of partners who I'm talking with to sponsor my work, but I'll need to keep more of my business running. There are sources of money like venture capital I could chase, but honestly I've seen this lead to a [00:09:00] real API space that we all experience today.
I'll be avoiding getting loans or accepting venture capital, and I'm going to focus on building out my partner network first, and then landing the clients I need for my contract services. To make, make the ends meet. I'm confident I can do it, but I'd like to use this platform and these API conversations to help bring attention to the wider API space, but also to potentially sell my services.
I wouldn't say making money is a priority for me, but making sure my API evangelist works, uh, work is sustainable. This round is a priority for me.
What is not a priority but wish it was?
Well, I would say building tools. I wish I had more time and honestly more ability to build industrial grade micro tools, uh, across the API lifecycle. I would like to make more tools be purely local and, and to service enterprises who are, are really kind of adverse to the cloud and, and would like things running locally.
I would like to make tools that stitch together and do many things in concert. But really can also run individually. I think that API services and tools tend to get bloated and become a hotel California is over time, meaning you can't ever leave. I'm a big fan of small desktop and web tools that won't do one thing well and are free and open source.
I would love to spend all my time here building the tools that are needed around APIs, JSON, open schema, but you know, really, I just don't have the time. the discipline or the proper skills to do it. So, I mean, I can hack together simple JavaScript widgets and back end APIs, but I only know enough to be dangerous.
What keeps you going each day?
Well, hearing and telling stories. I like listening to what people encounter during their day, producing and consuming APIs and even building services and tooling for APIs. I like writing and distilling these stories. And what I learned from these people down into small blog posts that others can read. I like speaking in honest terms and not using the usual marketing, blah, blah, blah.
You hear in this space, I like being genuine and honest and I like being a little personal to let people know that I'm human and that I empathize with them. But I also really like diving into the technology and assessing the business and politics that swirls around technology. I find that the ways that APIs are used across different industries to be fascinating and always full of [00:12:00] learnings.
This is really what keeps me going after 15 years of this hustle.
