When faced with a blank canvas and numerous API design decisions to make at the start of a new project or a new company, how does one go about that? Finding the design fit for APIs — private and public alike — is usually a pursuit aided by experience and reflections. In this talk, we explore lessons learned at big companies like Microsoft and LinkedIn, and adapt the insights drawn from them to fit a fast-growing startup.

API design choices for green-field projects subsume a wide spectrum: security, programming languages, transfer protocols, tools and frameworks, data formats, parameter composition, etc. Instilling insights from successful API designs and avoiding costly API design bugs help fast-growing startups design their APIs sensibly in the face of ambiguity and unknowns.