這個(gè)行業(yè)正在大爆發(fā),，但大數(shù)多人并不了解
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亞馬遜因顛覆零售業(yè)而得到了諸多贊譽(yù)，也受到了很多批評(píng),；作為云計(jì)算行業(yè)先鋒,，它同樣贏得了喝彩。與此同時(shí),，亞馬遜給IT界帶來(lái)的巨變催生出了一個(gè)全新業(yè)務(wù)類(lèi)別,，那就是應(yīng)用程序編程接口（API）提供商。雖然此項(xiàng)業(yè)務(wù)仍然處在發(fā)展階段,，但它已經(jīng)開(kāi)始為一些有先見(jiàn)之明的投資者帶來(lái)了收益,。 這家大型科技企業(yè)的云計(jì)算業(yè)務(wù)Amazon Web Services已經(jīng)成為推動(dòng)聯(lián)盟營(yíng)銷(xiāo)和為電子商務(wù)網(wǎng)站賦能的途徑。而近幾年這項(xiàng)業(yè)務(wù)又孕育出了一個(gè)宏大愿景。亞馬遜正確地預(yù)見(jiàn)到通過(guò)向各種各樣的公司提供基本IT功能可以讓它大賺一筆,。它是這么宣傳的：不用擔(dān)心所有那些乏味的基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施維保工作,，也不用擔(dān)心計(jì)算、存儲(chǔ)或者帶寬,。我們將為您處理這一切,。 這個(gè)點(diǎn)子成了亞馬遜的主要增長(zhǎng)動(dòng)力之一，在上一財(cái)年為它貢獻(xiàn)了256億美元收入,，增幅高達(dá)47%,，而且對(duì)微軟和谷歌等亞馬遜競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手來(lái)說(shuō)也成了一門(mén)賺錢(qián)的生意。與此同時(shí),，火爆的云計(jì)算也引發(fā)了大規(guī)模連鎖反應(yīng),，從而出現(xiàn)了API“大爆炸”。 API是應(yīng)用軟件之間的橋梁,，它讓連接成為可能——就像電線上的插座,，是數(shù)據(jù)流通和互動(dòng)的渠道。投資管理公司D.A. Davidson & Co.的分析師瑞什·賈盧瑞爾說(shuō)：“軟件正在吃掉這個(gè)世界是流傳最久的一種說(shuō)法,，而API正在吃掉軟件,。” 對(duì)企業(yè)用戶(hù)來(lái)說(shuō),，API提供商將SAP,、甲骨文和IBM等提供的第一代笨重軟件包拆解開(kāi)來(lái)。他們把這些軟件包變成了最簡(jiǎn)單的“零部件”,，或者說(shuō)像樂(lè)高積木那樣的模塊,，分別用于通信、支付,、內(nèi)容管理,、電子簽名等方面?？蛻?hù)獲得的同樣主張也讓云計(jì)算變得非常有吸引力,。乏味的任務(wù)由別人承擔(dān)，這樣客戶(hù)就可以把精力集中在重要事務(wù)上,。舉例來(lái)說(shuō),，Uber和Lyft實(shí)現(xiàn)飛速增長(zhǎng)的很大一部分原因就是他們可以通過(guò)API來(lái)導(dǎo)航、簽約和交易,。 這實(shí)現(xiàn)了雙向繁榮,。隨著他們服務(wù)的科技公司不斷擴(kuò)張，API提供商也搭上了便車(chē),。目前,，API型公司幾乎都沒(méi)有盈利,，但隨著他們數(shù)據(jù)通道和工具的流行，龍頭提供商將獲得“網(wǎng)絡(luò)效應(yīng)”,，成為自身領(lǐng)域中的主導(dǎo)者和客戶(hù)首選目標(biāo),。由于API提供商服務(wù)的是軟件開(kāi)發(fā)商，所以他們可以在任何規(guī)模的公司內(nèi)部打造追隨者群體,，他們的營(yíng)銷(xiāo)成本可以忽略,，還能實(shí)現(xiàn)明顯的規(guī)模效益。同時(shí),，隨著他們的API得到更多的應(yīng)用,，這些提供商的收入也將上升。 初創(chuàng)公司Plaid用API將銀行賬號(hào)和金融科技應(yīng)用連接在一起,，比如支付軟件Venmo和投資經(jīng)紀(jì)軟件Robinhood,。該公司業(yè)務(wù)發(fā)展和策略負(fù)責(zé)人西瑪·甘地說(shuō)：“人們經(jīng)常把我們稱(chēng)為水暖工?！北M管大多數(shù)消費(fèi)者都沒(méi)有聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)它的名字,，但Plaid表示它的業(yè)務(wù)牽涉到美國(guó)四分之一的銀行賬戶(hù)。甘地說(shuō)：“我們把臟活都干了,?！?!-- cend --> |
Amazon gets lots of credit and flak for turning retail upside down; it also earns plaudits for its pioneering cloud-computing business. But in a still-unfurling development, the seismic shift that Amazon wrought in the IT world has spawned a whole new business category—providers of “APIs”—that has already begun paying off for a few prescient investors. Amazon Web Services, the tech giant’s cloud-computing business, began as a way to boost affiliate marketing and power e-commerce sites. But within a few years, the project had incubated a grander vision. Amazon bet—correctly—that it could make a killing providing basic IT functions to all kinds of businesses. The pitch: Don’t worry about all that tedious infrastructure upkeep, or about computation, storage, or bandwidth. We’ll manage it for you. The idea became one of Amazon’s primary growth drivers, contributing revenues of $25.6 billion in its most recent fiscal year and growing at a healthy 47% clip—and has become lucrative for rivals like Microsoft and Google too. But the cloud-computing boom has also generated a powerful knock-on ?effect: an API-related Big Bang. APIs, or application programming interfaces, are pieces of technology that act as bridges between software applications. APIs enable connection, like electrical outlets porting to power grids: They’re the conduits through which data flows and interacts. “There’s been this saying for the longest time that software is eating the world,” says Rishi Jaluria, an analyst at D.A. Davidson & Co. Now, he says, “APIs are eating software.” For corporate customers, API providers are paring down the hulking software packages that characterized the first generation of enterprise tech sold by the likes of SAP, Oracle, and IBM. Purveyors of APIs reduce these packages to their simplest component parts: Lego-like modules for communications, payments, content management, electronic signatures, and more. Customers get the same proposition that made cloud computing so attractive. Someone else handles the humdrum tasks, so they can focus on what matters. Uber and Lyft, for instance, owe much of their breakneck growth to the fact that they could turn to APIs for navigation, sign-up, and transactions. The prosperity flows both ways. As the tech companies they serve expand, API providers get to hitch along for the ride. Right now, few API-oriented companies are profitable, but as their data pipes and tools catch on, the leading providers are likely to enjoy “network effects,” becoming the dominant, go-to choices in their categories. Because API providers cater to developers, they’re able to build followings inside and across organizations of all sizes, with negligible marketing costs and powerful economies of scale. And as their APIs get used more, the providers will get paid more. “People often call us plumbers,” says Sima Gandhi, who heads business development and strategy at Plaid, which uses APIs to connect bank accounts to fintech applications such as payments app Venmo and investment brokerage Robinhood. The startup claims to have hooks in one out of four bank accounts in the U.S., despite most consumers never having heard of it. “We do the dirty work,” Gandhi says. |
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由于上述API趨勢(shì)是如此之新，以至于大多數(shù)投資活動(dòng)仍限于私募市場(chǎng),。但對(duì)有見(jiàn)地的投資者來(lái)說(shuō),，為他們提供介入方案的上市公司越來(lái)越多。 Twilio公司（TWLO）的首席執(zhí)行官杰夫·勞森曾長(zhǎng)期供職于亞馬遜云計(jì)算部門(mén),。這家公司的大多數(shù)收入都來(lái)自通信API,，后者幫助其他公司通過(guò)短信和電話和客戶(hù)聯(lián)系。這是一個(gè)增長(zhǎng)穩(wěn)定的領(lǐng)域,，隨著自家產(chǎn)品的騰飛,，Twilio的股價(jià)去年增長(zhǎng)了兩倍以上。JMP Securities的分析師帕特里克·沃爾瑞文斯向打算投資估值水平較低的通信API概念股的人士推薦Bandwidth公司（BAND）,，因?yàn)槭袌?chǎng)“還沒(méi)有特別透徹地理解”這家電信公司的業(yè)務(wù)基本面,。Twilio去年實(shí)現(xiàn)收入6.50億美元,，股價(jià)約為收入水平的18倍,；而收入2.04億美元的Bandwidth的估值僅為5倍。 API還在影響著支付過(guò)程,，因?yàn)樗鼈儙椭碳?、銀行和消費(fèi)者進(jìn)行聯(lián)系。這個(gè)市場(chǎng)中最成熟的API提供商是非上市公司Stripe,。但股市投資者可以通過(guò)正在快速趕上來(lái)的Adyen公司（AYDEN）介入這一領(lǐng)域,。Adyen是一家荷蘭支付處理公司,，上一財(cái)年的收入規(guī)模為19.5億美元，Uber和Spotify都是它的客戶(hù),。 另一家正在崛起的企業(yè)是Okta公司（OKTA）,，它推出的“ID管理”技術(shù)可以讓人們擺脫麻煩的密碼。該公司的首席執(zhí)行官托德·麥金農(nóng)說(shuō),，他們最初只銷(xiāo)售用于工作場(chǎng)所的ID產(chǎn)品,，但他們很快就發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的企業(yè)客戶(hù)急需辨識(shí)用戶(hù)身份的方法。麥金農(nóng)認(rèn)為后一個(gè)市場(chǎng)的規(guī)模有可能超過(guò)源于工作場(chǎng)所的ID產(chǎn)品市場(chǎng),。除了原有產(chǎn)品,，Okta現(xiàn)在還向Adobe和美高梅國(guó)際酒店集團(tuán)等公司銷(xiāo)售以客戶(hù)為中心的API類(lèi)產(chǎn)品。2017年上市以來(lái),，Okta的股價(jià)已上漲260%以上,，但JMP Securities的沃爾瑞文斯最近在報(bào)告中指出，Okta的估值“剛好體現(xiàn)出它引人注目的增長(zhǎng)速度”,。 位于澳大利亞的企業(yè)Atlassian公司（TEAM）的業(yè)務(wù)不是提供API,，而是向軟件開(kāi)發(fā)商提供工具，以便后者運(yùn)用其他公司的API產(chǎn)品,。比如,，它的產(chǎn)品Jira可以幫助編程人員和項(xiàng)目經(jīng)理追蹤軟件開(kāi)發(fā)進(jìn)度和軟件漏洞等問(wèn)題，另一款工具Confluence則可以幫助開(kāi)發(fā)商協(xié)同編程（就像Twilio的勞森所說(shuō),，如果把編程人員比作餅干加工廠的員工,，那么Atlassian提供的就是烘烤盤(pán)）。Atlassian的“粉絲群”正在壯大,。2018財(cái)年該公司收入同比上漲41%,，達(dá)到8.74億美元，再加上IT運(yùn)營(yíng)和服務(wù)市場(chǎng),，它的收入上升空間非常大,，可以達(dá)到200億美元。 這些API公司很小也很新,，投機(jī)色彩較大,。但風(fēng)投公司Bessemer Venture Partners的投資人拜倫·迪特爾相信他們的“增壓”業(yè)務(wù)模式就要結(jié)出碩果。迪特爾是Twilio和SendGrid的早期投資者,。SendGrid則是一家以API為主的電子郵件公司,，最近被Twilio收購(gòu)。迪特爾說(shuō)：“今后幾年股市上將會(huì)出現(xiàn)一大批這樣的公司,?！?span>（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)） 本文另一版本刊登在2019年4月出版的《財(cái)富》雜志上，標(biāo)題為《押寶科技積木》,。 譯者：Charlie 審校：夏林 |
Because the API trend is so new, most of the action remains in the private markets. But a growing field of publicly traded companies offers options for savvy investors. Twilio (twlo), whose CEO, Jeff Lawson, is a veteran of Amazon’s cloud business, derives most of its revenue from communications APIs—linkages that help businesses contact customers through text messages and phone calls. It’s a steadily growing category, and Twilio’s stock more than tripled over the past year as the product took off. For those seeking to invest in the communications API trend at a lower valuation, Patrick Walravens, an analyst at JMP Securities, recommends Bandwidth (BAND), a telecom concern whose business fundamentals are “not particularly well understood yet” by the market. Twilio trades at a multiple of around 18 times last year’s revenue of $650 million; Bandwidth trades at just five times its $204 million in revenue. APIs are also making an impact in payment processing, where they help connect merchants, banks, and consumers. The most mature API player in this market is Stripe, which is privately held. But public-market investors can get exposure to a fast follower, Adyen (AYDEN), a ?Netherlands-based payment processor that brought in $1.95 billion last fiscal year and counts Uber and Spotify among its customers. Another up-and-comer is Okta (okta), which sells “identity management” tech that eliminates the hassle of passwords. The company originally sold identity products for use just in the workplace, says Todd McKinnon, Okta’s CEO, but soon found its corporate customers clamoring for a way to verify the identities of their customers—a market McKinnon believes could grow to be bigger than the workplace one. In addition to the initial product, Okta now sells a customer-focused, API-powered product to companies ranging from Adobe to MGM Resorts. The company’s share price has zoomed more than 260% since its 2017 IPO, but JMP’s Walravens recently wrote that its valuation “fairly captures the company’s impressive growth.” Atlassian (team), an Australian outfit, specializes not in providing APIs but rather in offering developers the tools they need to work with the APIs other companies supply. Its Jira product, for instance, helps coders and project managers track software progress, bugs, and other issues, while its Confluence tool enables developers to collaborate on coding. (As Twilio’s Lawson puts it: If your coders ran a cookie factory, Atlassian would supply the baking sheets.) Its fan base is growing; in its 2018 fiscal year, revenue rose 41% over the year prior, to $874 million, and it has plenty of room to expand in the $20 billion–plus market for IT operations and service. Small and new as they are, these API-first businesses are relatively speculative bets. But Byron Deeter, an investor at Bessemer Venture Partners and an early backer of both Twilio and SendGrid, an API-focused email business that Twilio recently acquired, believes their turbocharged business models are only now coming to fruition. “You’re going to see a lot more of these companies in the public markets in the years ahead,” he says. A version of this article appears in the April 2019 issue of Fortune with the headline “Betting on Tech’s Building Blocks.” |
