Download - Developer Competition Is Heating Up
![Page 1: Developer Competition Is Heating Up](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022051818/54b3a8384a7959c36d8b46bd/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Developer Competition Is Heating Up What that means for us
The Lob Team www.Lob.com
@Lob
![Page 2: Developer Competition Is Heating Up](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022051818/54b3a8384a7959c36d8b46bd/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
More APIs From More
Companies
www.Lob.com
![Page 3: Developer Competition Is Heating Up](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022051818/54b3a8384a7959c36d8b46bd/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
With the continued huge success and growth of API companies such as Twilio and Stripe amongst others...
www.Lob.com
…we will see many more startups built upon an API foundation going forward.
![Page 4: Developer Competition Is Heating Up](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022051818/54b3a8384a7959c36d8b46bd/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Competition from industry incumbents is on its way.
www.Lob.com
As the non-API industry giants see market share being eaten away by disruptive API companies, they will recognize the need to invest more in developers to build their own APIs to stay competitive going forward.
“In 5 years, 85% of large companies will have API programs.” http://venturebeat.com/2013/07/31/enterprise-api-programs/
![Page 5: Developer Competition Is Heating Up](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022051818/54b3a8384a7959c36d8b46bd/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
The Amazons and Googles of the world are watching closely.
www.Lob.com
Companies such as Amazon will continue to monitor the API landscape to see what is gaining traction so they can either 1) Enter the market, making it all the more difficult for new startups to succeed, or 2) Make strategic acquisitions.
![Page 6: Developer Competition Is Heating Up](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022051818/54b3a8384a7959c36d8b46bd/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Hackathons Becoming
Mainstream
www.Lob.com
![Page 7: Developer Competition Is Heating Up](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022051818/54b3a8384a7959c36d8b46bd/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
The term “hackathon” will continue to proliferate around the world.
www.Lob.com
Soon every university, high school, and tech company will be hosting their own white-labeled hackathons.
![Page 8: Developer Competition Is Heating Up](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022051818/54b3a8384a7959c36d8b46bd/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
Hackathons or code-a-thons were started with the goal of bringing together motivated and talented minds together to build awesome and useful things…
www.Lob.com
…but with bigger sponsors, bigger prizes, and more headhunting, the hackathon model is shifting from a focus on innovation to a focus on money, business, and recruiting.
![Page 9: Developer Competition Is Heating Up](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022051818/54b3a8384a7959c36d8b46bd/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Nevertheless, hackathons are an important staple of the developer community. Tech companies and startups should empower developers with the tools necessary to build and innovate.
www.Lob.com
In 2014, we will see at least one startup whale emerge out of a weekend hack.
![Page 10: Developer Competition Is Heating Up](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022051818/54b3a8384a7959c36d8b46bd/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
2013 proved to be a huge year for the open-source community and we fully expect the momentum to continue going forward.
www.Lob.com
Open-source will become even more prevalent in 2014 as developers band together to work on important projects related to government, healthcare, privacy, and other issues that will be spotlighted.
Github Repositories
![Page 11: Developer Competition Is Heating Up](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022051818/54b3a8384a7959c36d8b46bd/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
What does this mean for us?
www.Lob.com
![Page 12: Developer Competition Is Heating Up](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022051818/54b3a8384a7959c36d8b46bd/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
1. As API’s become more mainstream it will be tougher to stay competitive.
www.Lob.com
We will have to continue to make our products more accessible and easier to use. With more and more options emerging at a rapid pace, companies need to make sure they stay innovative.
![Page 13: Developer Competition Is Heating Up](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022051818/54b3a8384a7959c36d8b46bd/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
2. Hackathons are getting more corporate and its going to get tougher and more expensive to vie for developer attention.
www.Lob.com
From a developer perspective, although there will be more opportunities available, every single event will be that much more competitive. It will be difficult to stand out amongst the masses.
![Page 14: Developer Competition Is Heating Up](https://reader034.vdocuments.site/reader034/viewer/2022051818/54b3a8384a7959c36d8b46bd/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
3. With more code to be open-sourced, ideas and software will become much easier to create making proprietary knowledge more scarce.
www.Lob.com
While the community in large will benefit, it will be harder to create novel ideas as the probability of replication increases. Companies will have to find new ways to differentiate from each-other in addition to differentiating on the product. Startups are going to have to focus on customer support and user experience or else they will be left in the dust.