APIs as Graphs not Endpoints, building a company on open source foundations, why VPs of Engineering face impossible trade-offs | Apollo GraphQL CEO Matt DeBergalis

Startup Project: Build the future

### About the episode:

Join Nataraj as he interviews Matt DeBergalis, CEO of Apollo GraphQL, about the evolution of GraphQL from an open-source project to a product company. Matt shares insights on building and scaling APIs, the challenges of transitioning open-source tech into a viable business, and how AI is reshaping API development. Discover how Apollo is helping companies of all sizes leverage GraphQL to build agentic experiences and modernize their API strategies.

### What you’ll learn

- Understand the journey of GraphQL from open source to a product-driven company.

- Explore the challenges of adopting and scaling GraphQL in enterprise environments.

- Discover how GraphQL simplifies complex data combinations with its declarative language.

- Learn how Apollo GraphQL helps companies accelerate the development of robust APIs.

- Examine the role of GraphQL in building modern agentic experiences powered by AI.

- Understand how to balance short-term shipping pressures with long-term architectural considerations.

- Identify when GraphQL makes sense for a company based on its API size and consumption needs.

- Discover how AI is driving increased API consumption and transforming user interfaces.

### About the Guest and Host:

Guest Name: Matt DeBergalis is the Co-founder and CEO of Apollo GraphQL, previously CTO and Co-founder at Meteor Development Group.

Connect with Guest:

→ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debergalis/

→ Website: https://www.apollographql.com/

Nataraj: Host of the Startup Project podcast, Senior PM at Azure & Investor.

→ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natarajsindam/

→ Twitter: https://x.com/natarajsindam

→ Substack: ⁠https://startupproject.substack.com/⁠

→ Website: ⁠⁠⁠https://thestartupproject.io⁠⁠⁠

### In this episode, we cover

(00:01) Introduction to Matt DeBergalis and Apollo GraphQL

(00:37) Matt's journey and the origins of Apollo GraphQL

(03:24) The transition from open source to a company

(05:02) GraphQL as a client-focused API technology

(07:22) Meta's approach to open source technologies

(10:11) Challenges of converting open source to a business

(13:11) Balancing shipping speed with architectural considerations

(15:52) The risk of adopting the wrong technology

(19:13) The evolution of full-stack development

(23:57) When does adopting GraphQL make sense?

(26:45) Apollo's customer scale and focus

(31:48) Acquiring customers and marketing to developers

(33:52) Matt's transition from CTO to CEO

(37:02) Apollo's sales motion and target audience

(40:24) Matt's thoughts on AI and its impact

(47:12) How AI is changing business metrics

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