Over the past decade, platforms have spread through many industries and generated an increasing share of the global economy. Many of the world’s most valuable companies have adopted a platform-based business model and today, we find that platforms pervade our everyday lives. So far, however, the existing management literature has failed to provide professionals and students with appropriate tools to understand the business models that makethose platforms successful. This book offers rigorous analysis of the complexity of platforms, as well as practical strategic guidance and tools to help you deal with this complexity.
Written in an accessible style and based on a comprehensive approach, Platform Strategies is self-contained and does not require the reader to have specific prior knowledge. The book is both academically rigorous and a pragmatic and efficient guide, incorporating path-breaking insights from academic research on platforms with real-world applications of concepts and tools. The book engages with case studies and highlights important take-aways that can be implemented in practice. You’ll learn how to use new tools of strategic management and how to adapt well-established ones.
Getting started
Platforms:
What are they? Platforms vs. Pipelines What is this book about? How is this book organized?
PART I: Value Proposition
Chapter 1
Understanding and activating network effects What are network effects? Drawing the Linkage Map Activating network effects and exploiting feedback loops Implications for value proposition, creation, and capture
Chapter 2:
Co-creating value with platform users Why? What? To Whom? The Multisided Value Proposition Canvas (MVPC Phrasing a compelling value proposition
Part II: Value Creation
Chapter 3:
Assessing a platform’s competitive position The traditional competitive analysis The Platform Value Net Network effects and competitive advantage
Chapter 4:
Launching a platform: The big challenge Start “small” The chicken or the egg: Which should come first? How to catch chickens or collect eggs?
Part III: Value Capture
Chapter 5:
Monetizing a platform Pricing strategies for platforms Complementary sources of revenues Regulating prices on the platform
Chapter 6:
Consolidating and growing a platform Trust – A vital building block Retention – When a platform leaks, everybody sinks Growth – Densify or diversify your value proposition Monitoring – Measure and improve
