10 Takeaways from Successful Twilio IPO

APIs are where the action is

With a backdrop of the tech market receding and traditional legacy telecom companies complaining of depressed margins and valuations, Twilio hit a grand slam with an IPO which priced them at over $1 billionahead of expectations.

Twilio is essentially an API company which allows developer ecosystems to be built by adding value to other applications. If you’ve communicated with your Uber driver without sharing your actual contact information, you can thank Twilio. If you’ve communicated with your doctor via text message, there is a good chance Twilio was involved.

The story here is positive on many, many levels. Here are ten immediate takeaways:

 

  1. Telecom is thriving as it evolves from legacy businesses to value added services.
  2. Cloud conquers all – including communications.
  3. APIs are the hottest underreported tech around – they aren’t an industry per se but they enable ecosystems to be built rapidly as partners leverage your intellectual property to add value to their own solutions.
  4. The overused buzzword disruption is alive and well as Twilio helps companies like Uber disrupt numerous legacy markets.
  5. Programmers are the future of business.
  6. Business transformation is all around us and although we may think it is an overused buzzword as well, we are just in the first few innings.
  7. Marc Andreessen’s famous phrase “Software is eating the world” is alive and well – I would add, companies like Twilio give software the teeth necessary to take the bites.
  8. If a single telecom API company is worth more than one billion dollars, can the value of the entire API ecosystem be less than $50 billion?
  9. You can expect a flood of new activity in the API space – lots of news and potential follow-up IPOs are on the way.
  10. There will be continued competitive pressure put on traditional tech companies as new companies look to muscle in on their turf with API-enabled ecosystem building components. In other words, companies like Oracle will see themselves competing more with the Slacks of the world.

 

 

We have been chronicling some of the hottest APIs on the market – check out the API of the Week features for more.

Come see the world of APIs at All About The API. Our event will feature a variety of intensive hack-a-thons, in-depth company-focused workshops helping attendees understand the value propositions from key vendors, powerful keynotes, daily and nightly networking opportunities plus an exhibit hall full of companies demonstrating the latest innovations in today’s market place. Every business has to pay attention to the new opportunities they are presenting or potentially be displaced. We hope to see you July 18-21 2016 in Las Vegas!

This is the only event where you can network and see keynotes from these thought leaders:

  • Darko Vokovic Manager, Product Management, API Platform at Oracle
  • Gareth Jones, API Architect, Microsoft Graph
  • Jose de Castro, CTO, Cisco
  • Vice President, Hybrid Cloud Integration and API Economy, IBM
  • Tony Jamous, CEO, Nexmo
  • Alexis Bonillo, COO, Zenly
  • Rob Zazueta, Director, Digital Strategy, TIBCO Software
  • Neil Trevett, Vice President Developer Ecosystem, NVIDIA

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