API - Application Programming Interface. Essentially a way for different bits of software to pass data back and forth.

You use a ton of different APIs every day without even realizing it. Essentially it’s just a layer of software communication.

Companies build APIs so other companies/engineers/people can interact with their software.

The key bit is - you don’t really know who’s gonna poke around with your api, and you want it to be fairly easy to use.

There are tons of personal websites on the internet - most of them aren’t any good.

Not because the owners are boring, but because their sites lack purpose.

Aside from the 0.1% of people who have elite websites (they all seem to be successful in other areas too - maybe a coincidence)

The past tense of 0.1% anything on the internet is rich.

I’m not super famous, nor am I a super in-depth domain expert who tons of people want to read (yet).

It doesn’t really make sense for me to have a super professional personal site like a Tim Ferriss or a James Altucher. But I’m also not trying to fall into the obscurity of me.coms and github pages.

Enter the personal API

The personal API is a guiding principle for how to build a personal website on the internet.

David Perell thinks about the personal website like his internet home - but I’d go one further.

Your personal website is like the reception area of your office, or the lobby for the hotel of you.

Anyone can walk in off the street (but usually people come with a purpose). 

It should be a pleasant experience, but at the same time, people should be in your frame.

There should be something to do while you're there.

The doorman at a building shows you how you should treat the building “it’s important, people of some means come through here, they hired a guy just to open and close the door and make sure you’re the right person, etc.”

When you sit down to write some code with the Stripe API, Stripe tells you exactly what you can and cannot do. They set the terms.

So your personal website should tell people how they can interact with you on the internet, what kinds of things are useful to you, what can you do for them, etc.

I’m using this site as an experiment - I’ll let you know how it goes.

Some pages that I’m starting with:

• A now page, that describes my current focus, state, etc.
• A help page, that lists a couple things I wouldn’t mind (appreciate even) if a stranger wanted to help with.
• An ideas page, that has a bunch of random thoughts on it (mostly startups). People can go build them, or try and work with me.
• An assist page - what can I do for them? There are a number of things that aren’t really burdensome for me, but could be incredibly helpful to other people.
• A ‘how I work’ page, something that describes my leadership style, what communication tactics work best with me, explains that it’s best to criticize in x format, etc.

Let me know what you think - should there be more functionality? Is it a place where you can learn something new? Is it a better framework than just throwing your resume on the internet?