Usually the simplest way is leveraging environment variables. You can set the API key as one on the remote server, then you can get it with `API_KEY = os.environ.get("API_KEY")`. That's a Python-specific example - but hopefully you get the idea.
There are other services that manage securely saving/storing these keys rather than just hosting it on the server itself (e.g. AWS Secrets Manager)
Tesorio is a 100% distributed enterprise fintech startup. We help mid-to-large companies with Accounts Receivable Automation & Forecasting. We raised our Series B last year and hiring a few roles below:
This is not necessarily true. PMs are incentivized to use product as a means to grow the business. This usually does manifest itself as delivering product features - but it can manifest itself in other ways. Ultimately product managers are tasked with discovering how to grow the product areas they are owning. Great product managers will work closely with users to understand their needs to refine & grow the product. Examples of ways PMs can accomplish things like this without necessarily delivering new product features: better user onboarding, in-app product tours & engagement, etc.
If a PM is just delivering features without tying it back to user needs, business growth & product strategy then they are just a "feature factory" which is bad product management.
You mention POST hooks for Slack bots - what about webhooks in general? Been thinking about moving to API Gateway -> Lambda -> SQS -> Lambda funnel for processing webhooks async & scaling easily. But this could be for higher volumes rather than low traffic.
The thing is - in startups, there always is an external deadline (assuming you're not cash flow positive or profitable) - it is tied directly to your runway and when you'd run out of cash. That is the ultimate deadline for pretty much all startups.
The very early stages of a startup (and even later stages) usually require this much effort because you honestly don't have enough money to last you the "right" amount of time you need - and therefore you need to put in more time.
As you said - this isn't sustainable long-term - but, especially in the early stages, you may not have a "long-term" in that venture if you're not able to put these hours in.
Not to say it's impossible to find a great work-life balance for an early stage startup - but it's highly unlikely.
Elastic (NYSE: ESTC) was pretty much a fully distributed team upon IPO. They had offices, but they were more like "coworking cafes", where folks who happened to be in the same geographic area would meet up, or have social celebrations. At least, that's my understanding, tracking the company since its early days. On a recent podcast, Shay Banon described it as a fully distributed team of 2,000+ folks.[1] They IPO'ed in 2018.[2]
There are other services that manage securely saving/storing these keys rather than just hosting it on the server itself (e.g. AWS Secrets Manager)