Platforms
What is a platform? And how do they operate, disrupt, and dominate a market?
Building the platform model
Two-sided market
Add rules & infrastructure
Add the platform provider
Product vs Platform
One Sided Market
Multi Sided Market
Network Effects
Sellers ↔ Sellers
Buyers ↔ Buyers
Buyers ⟶ Sellers
Sellers ⟶ Buyers
Platform Types
Nintendo Switch
Invest Initial Asset
Upwork
Underutilized Free Asset
Network Effect Flywheel
- Clients → generate interactions
- Data → captured on every interaction
- Patterns → emerge from the data
- Product → improves and attracts more clients
Case Studies
From messaging to super-app: the most embedded platform in the world.
“You can live inside WeChat.”
Alibaba
A full commerce + logistics + finance + cloud ecosystem.
Cameo
Personalized videos marketplace connecting talent (sellers) with fans (buyers).
Talent ↔ Talent · Fans ↔ Fans
Fans ⟶ Talent (demand pulls supply) · Talent ⟶ Fans (catalog pulls demand)
Reliance Jio
How free voice + cheap data rewrote India's digital economy in 18 months.
Market cap, USD (approx). Tech vs Oil majors.
Subscribers (M). TAM: 1.17B.
- Airtel24%
- Vodafone18%
- Idea17%
- BSNL9%
- Others32%
- Jio0%
- Airtel29%
- Vodafone35%
- Idea0%
- BSNL10%
- Others5%
- Jio21%
- Airtel33%
- Vi (Voda-Idea)18%
- BSNL8%
- Jio40%
Cheap Hardware + Free Voice + Cheap Data + App Ecosystem
Platform Evolution Framework
Inception → Scaling → Monetization → Protection → Expansion
Workshop · 5 Stages
Inception
- TAM + willingness to pay
- Strong value proposition
- Repeat usage interactions
Scaling
How are you going to address the chicken & the egg problem of generating strong network effects when both sides are dependent on each other?