This Week in Startups

Merge's Unified API Bet in the AI Era | E2033

Oct 25, 2024
Guest
Shensi Ding
In an engaging discussion with Shensi Ding, the Co-founder of Merge, listeners discover her intriguing leap from finance to tech. She emphasizes the vital role of integrations in modern business and shares the challenges of building and maintaining them. Shensi highlights the need for standardized data models and strategic partnerships, along with ways to enhance integration observability. The conversation wraps up with insights into Merge's expansion into AI applications and the importance of financial efficiency in fostering growth.
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ANECDOTE

Merge's Origin Story

  • Shensi Ding and Gil, her co-founder, noticed integration issues at their previous companies.
  • Gil spent six weeks building a single integration and still had to handle customer support.
INSIGHT

Why Integrations Weren't Prioritized

  • Companies previously relied on third-party workflow providers or large software suites, making dedicated integration solutions less critical.
  • The need for integrations wasn't as pronounced when software was less fragmented.
INSIGHT

Merge's Unified API Approach

  • Merge offers one API to access many others, simplifying integration management.
  • It uses normalized data models per category (CRM, HR, etc.) to standardize data fields.
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