Product Management

Why we built a Print API for Printchomp and how we did it

Posted By Joseph Puopolo on Feb 3, 2015

Over a year ago, Printchomp started working on our API. As we brought on thousands of printers we started to have developers reach out to us and ask how they could leverage this network. We quickly obliged them and started building our Print API. If you want to skip the article and get started using the Printchomp Print API go here. Declan Whelan was the primary architect of our API. He wanted to make sure that not only external users could consume it, but our own internal development would be tied to our API infrastructure. This also changed the way we approached our own development of the API as we became primary consumers of it. We built it based upon a number of principles. 1. Scalability – Because we had 1000s of printers and many developers wanting to integrate we needed to make sure it would scale. Scalability meant a number of things. The ability of our printers to handle the load, the ability of external developers to ping our platform as needed as their apps scaled. Additionally scalability is crucial for offerings where we offering Direct Mail integration with our platform. We wanted to make sure if a person initiated a direct mail campaign from our platform it would scale both from a technology and pricing perspective. 2. Flexibility – When looking at the Print API landscape we noticed a few things and this was immediately validated by some of our early customers. When we had people approach us about the lack of customizable products. Because our printer base is so strong, we can literally offer any product under the sun, and customize it for any developer. This gives us a lot of ability to really help solve problems and not just offer a cookie cutter solution. We have the ability to spin up new products for you to order via API in less than 30 minutes if needed. Listen a little bit more about our product selection. One thing that we offer that is unique is multiple pick-pack and ship facilities across North America. That way we can find the best way to distribute based upon price and turnaround time. We can either adopt a print on demand approach or stockpile at our facilities and deplete if there is a fixed demand. 3. Monetization – Most people looking for a Print API are looking for either two principal things, either automation to reduce costs or monetize their digital assets in some way. We wanted to offer a variety of ways for people to monetize their app and providing value within their own ecosystem. So please, if you want to...

What happens when you fall off the blogging wagon

Posted By Joseph Puopolo on Oct 29, 2014

Over the past year I have been horrible about blogging. In fact after writing 50+ articles in a year, I went to virtually nil. What happened? It was all going so well. Well, life happened. Between building a business, helping my wife start her business, having a new baby, moving to a new home, traveling, trying to stay in shape etc. etc. I haven’t been on the ball. This is no excuse, because others seem to do it, but something I need to fix. I recently completed some personal projects and now am going to make some time for more blogging. Not necessarily for other people, but for myself. I found it to be a wonderfully cathartic exercise that I miss out on. Here are some updates that I will be sharing News on Printchomp – There is so much goodness going on that I need to do a better job sharing how awesome our team is and how much we are growing. Lots of news on this coming soon! Community News – Last year, I wrote my then last blog article on Why I moved back to the Waterloo Region. I have been kindly asked by Kara Swisher to contribute to her new kick-ass blog Re/code. You can expect for me to do a killer update on all the goodness going on with startups near me and the entire scene Startup lessons learned – Over the past 2 years with Printchomp and interacting with other startups, I have learned so much. After having a series of dinners with friends and colleagues namely ones with Scott Oldford and Alkarim Nasser, I realized that if I don’t share these lessons, I think I am missing out on the opportunity to crystallize them in my head and more importantly share them with others. I had an amazing trip to San Francisco a couple months ago and was so neglectful not to share all the cool people I got to meet with. Nope I won’t review your product – I am still getting regular requests to review new products. Unless it is something I stumble upon myself and is absolutely amazing I probably won’t write about it. I won’t do fake sponsored blogs either, unless what you are shilling is absolutely amazing and you’ll give me one (or have a truck full of cash show up). Trends – Being head down in my startup I am seeing a lot of cool technology trends, more importantly potholes and things to avoid. I’m going to try to share this stuff because there are some amazing things going on. Video Studio – I’m happy to...

Printchomp: Year 1 – Reflections on the first year

Posted By Joseph Puopolo on Jun 23, 2013

So a year has passed since Printchomp came into the world. Suffice it to say it hasn’t been an uneventful year.  Calling it an emotional roller coaster ride wouldn’t even properly characterize it. In order to make this startup journey possible, I had to change all facets of my life. Over a year ago, I sold my house, I began commuting an hour back to Waterloo (as I prepared to move back), and I changed everything and turned things on their head.  One would think that changing their entire life in their early 30’s was a natural progression. The backdrop was quite unusual in this case. My wife was in the process of finishing an epic journey of realizing her own dream in become an anesthesiologist. This is no small feat, and took over 13 years of post-secondary education to complete.  Between that and watching my daughter  grow from a baby to a little girl, this year has been nothing short of busy. In many ways I had to put aside the trappings of having steady income in order to go after a dream. It was the belief that I had something more in me than just being a cog in a wheel at one organization after another. I knew the journey wouldn’t be easy. Nothing is handed to you. A year later, I have a company with 10 colleagues. I wouldn’t call them employees; they are more like companions in this epic adventure. Rather like the Lord of the Rings it has been a trek through sometimes-treacherous terrain. Although, I often catch myself admiring the beautiful scenery I know I must keep pushing forward to my goal. We now have thousands of clients on the system. When I tell people I run my own company they always say must be nice to be your own boss. The thing that many do not realize is that when you have customers you have thousands of bosses. Each one of them must be properly taken care of and addressed. The connection with the customers has been invaluable to shaping the product. Since we launched only 3 months in, there were many things that weren’t fully built out. Features were sparse, but the vision was there and that is what people kept responding to. Little by little, we began addressing each crucial piece of functionality and made it easier and easier to do seemingly simple tasks. The way that our development team has evolved the site with the number of constraints they have faced over the year is nothing short of amazing – evolving a simple flow into something far more elegant...

Why You Shouldn’t Build A Business On An API Call

Posted By Joseph Puopolo on Oct 14, 2012

I am constantly amazed by the number of startups that build applications and take a huge business risk by building their company on an API call. Countless apps, particularly social apps, have popped up through the last 24 months that have taken data from other systems and re-displayed it in their systems. While there is widespread usage of APIs (and not for a moment am I suggesting that people not use them at all), I just think that start-up founders consistently underplay the business risk. The risk is clear, if the data dries up so does your business. For all that have created apps based largely on API calls, consider what would happen if that information fire hose wasn’t there anymore. The companies who provide these APIs may not disappear, but it will definitely be a game-changer. The changes to Twitter’s API should serve as a warning sign and an important reminder. Countless third-party Twitter apps have found all their hard work rendered useless by the latest release of their 1.1 API, as the vital flow of data has come to a halt or slowed greatly. Some might blame Twitter and say how dare they shut down the fire hose to the community. I think a lot of responsibility needs to be placed on the developers who consciously build on an ecosystem they knowingly can’t control. Two examples cited directly by Michael Sippey on the Twitter blog are Tweetbot and Echofon. In the words of Sippey, “Nearly eighteen months ago, we gave developers guidance that they should not build client apps that mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience. And to reiterate what I wrote in my last post, that guidance continues to apply today.” I am not here to parse the he said she said, just to offer a warning to startups building their business on an API. If your startup could have its throat cut by a TOS (Terms of Service) change or API change, you shouldn’t just brush inherent risks to your company under the carpet. Moving beyond the risks to your company you should also consider what the true value you are providing to your users. In many cases (especially in the case of social), apps merely have a new UI on top of the information of Twitter or Facebook. On the contrary, there is something amazing to be said for companies who build into the ecosystem and allow their functionality to be seamless across a broader group of applications. The best example that comes to mind is 37 Signals universe and the way they have built and integrated into countless other useful applications. They allow vital business information to...