A Map of the API Landscape

Hey there! My name is Matthew. I’ve been working with APIs as a developer, architect, product manager, and raconteur for the past two decades. I’ve also established or grown the API practice and governance at multiple Fortune 500 companies.

This newsletter - Net API Notes - humbly began as REST API Notes on TinyLetter in 2015. In late 2022, I migrated it to Substack and, in early 2024, made the switch to Ghost.

What to Expect

After subscribing, you will receive updates to your email inbox. You can also log in to the website to read the complete archives. Some of my past favorites include:

• Why Are API Product Managers Hard to Find?
• Twitter, or How to Kill an API Developer Ecosystem
• Quantifying High-Performing API Teams
• Amazon’s API Inconsistency, Or What Happens To API Design In An Ecosystem When The 900lb Gorilla Doesn’t Seem To Care
• Cutting the Gordian Knot of Consumer API Testing
• Web3’s Inconsequential Impact On APIs

See the full archive here. Subscribe now to never miss an update..

Free Signups versus Paid Subscriptions

Free newsletter signups get all Net API Notes articles advertising and paywall free.

I do not accept advertising or sell subscriber information to third parties. The costs for producing Net API Notes is offset by paying subscribers. Additional subscribers make more extensive (and more expensive) efforts possible - like API Job Listing Analysis or AI licensing to test API creation.

In addition to making Net API Notes better, paid subscribers also:

• Can suggest topics through this form
• Gain access to the ¡APIcryphal! archive, deep analysis of how the (mostly) true stories of API yesteryear still impact today’s landscape

Paid subscriptions cost $8/month or $80/year. Click here to become a paid subscriber (or to upgrade your existing free signup).

Publishing Schedule

The great thing about signing up is that when something is ready, you’ll have it delivered to you! I usually publish around two newsletters per month, sometime between Tuesday and Thursday. I’d like to say the unpredictability is because I’m too punk for deadlines. In reality, I’m a father of four, and this isn’t my job. ¡APIcryphal! is published once a month for paying subscribers.

Labors of love lose the plot when they obsess with maintaining an arbitrary schedule rather than publishing when there's something worth mentioning. Sign up to receive Net API Notes and let us reveal in the wonder that is asynchronous email!

---