Growing Businesses in the Age of Platforms

March 05, 2018

Read The Full Prompt

One consequence of the digital transformation is that platforms are becoming increasingly prevalent in today’s economy.

Assignment

For this module please pick ONE company/organization and discuss how it creates and captures value in platform markets:

Issues you may want to address (feel free to consider other related issues not listed below):

  • How to scale up platform businesses?
  • How do various factors such as local/global network effects and multi-homing affect competitive dynamics in platform markets?
  • When can an entrant take over market leadership when competing with an incumbent in a platform market?
  • How can product/service-centric firms grow into platform-centric firms?
  • How do firms cooperate and compete with powerful platforms when they serve as complementors and partners of these platforms?

Create an approximately 500-750 word post to make your contribution on d3.harvard.edu/platform-digit by 6pm on March 5. Please create appropriate tags for your post. Please also respond to and comment on three other posts per module. Feel free to use graphics, data, videos and links to other sites to corroborate your points.

Note: Since our third module is on crowd-based business models (business models that leverage collective intelligence from a large number of users), please do not pick crowd-based companies such as Kickstarter and Threadless for this OK blog post.

Submitted (81)

HotelTonight – a Marketplace for the Spontaneous Traveler
CW
Posted on March 4, 2018 at 7:57 pm
Can HotelTonight - a pioneer in last-minute booking - sustain high risks of multi-homing and the fierce competition from OTA's and grow its platform beyond the spontaneous travel market?
The rise of a digital agriculture platform
Lama
Posted on March 1, 2018 at 8:12 pm
The climate corporation, a subsidiary of agriculture giant Monsato is on its journey towards building the “Amazon of farmers". Will they be able to achieve this goal?
Musical.ly: Breaking Through the Social Media Clutter
KZ.
Last modified on March 5, 2018 at 11:13 pm
Just when you think the social media space is crowed enough as it is, a music video platform, Muscial.ly, breaks through the clutter and became a big hit.
Examining Stanford as a platform
Pasha
Last modified on March 5, 2018 at 3:37 pm
Do non-digital platforms follow the same rules as digital ones?
How Open is Too Open?
Anton
Posted on March 6, 2018 at 11:07 pm
How Google had to adjust the openness of its Android platform, just as Apple had done before them
Wish – The Platform for the Cost-Conscious Consumer
EAP
Posted on March 4, 2018 at 8:51 pm
Wish, the online marketplace for unbranded goods, is currently the top free shopping app for both iOS and Android, helping to support its $8 billion valuation. The app allows users to shop for millions of SKUs in categories such as [...]
Gimme Five: Fiverr in the Freelancing Economy
L
Posted on March 6, 2018 at 12:03 am
$5 gigs. Feel free to get weird.
GitHub: The first mover advantage
Haley
Posted on March 5, 2018 at 4:26 pm
GitHub has created a platform for software development based on a freemium model.
Australia Zoo: A platform in the age before platforms
B4AD56
Last modified on March 5, 2018 at 1:48 pm
In a world before Facebook, Uber, or Amazon, Australia Zoo created an unlikely platform of digital media, guest experience, and celebrity to become a global powerhouse.
How Did We Decide Where to Eat before Yelp?
MHS
Last modified on March 5, 2018 at 3:35 pm
Yelp connects users, local businesses, and developers through an online platform to provide what the Yellow Pages used to: a comprehensive directory of businesses. Yelp has grown through encouraging community generated reviews, and developing value added services on top of [...]
Peloton: the digital platform revolutionizing the future of fintness
A
Posted on March 5, 2018 at 5:48 pm
A darling of the NY Tech scene, Peloton recently ascended to unicorn status, attracting the attention of well-capitalized competitors. What should Peloton do to defend its platform strategy and growth trajectory?
Convoy: the Uber for Trucking?
Austin
Last modified on March 4, 2018 at 6:59 pm
Can Convoy beat legacy brokers...and Uber...to become the Uber of Trucking?
ofo: is bike-sharing really part of the sharing economy?
Gloria
Last modified on March 5, 2018 at 4:37 pm
Ofo was founded in 2014 and is the first station-free bike sharing platform in the world. It is operated through a smartphone application, connecting users and bike manufacturers. Since founding, Ofo has grown exponentially both in terms of its customer [...]
Toutiao, an AI-powered News Platform
Ting
Last modified on March 5, 2018 at 12:21 am
Jinri Toutiao (means today’s headlines), a tech unicorn in China, is a news and information content platform powered by Artificial Intelligence. The company is China’s largest mobile platform of content creation, aggregation and distribution, with 120 million daily active users [...]
Stack Overflow: Quality through Community Control
jessica
Last modified on March 5, 2018 at 8:23 pm
Stack Overflow has created a community with very high-quality standards by ceding control to community members with strong reputations
Abs from an Audio App? Aaptiv Seeks to Engage Your Muscles Through Your Ears
Ross Galloway
Posted on March 6, 2018 at 7:42 am
In order to defeat Nike in digital workouts, Aaptiv must evolve from Service to Platform
Tokopedia: Stay ahead!
Nandx
Posted on March 4, 2018 at 5:18 pm
As a developing e-commerce ecosystem in Indonesia, Tokopedia expands its business vertically and horizontally through innovation and keeps staying ahead.
Turo: Airbnb for Cars or Platform of the Future?
ADW
Posted on March 5, 2018 at 9:00 pm
Turo, the 'Airbnb for cars', has been growing rapidly and has set itself up for the future.
The Etsy Way
NT
Posted on March 5, 2018 at 3:39 pm
Etsy is the two-sided platform for arts, crafts, and unique products. But how big can this company grow by only servicing a market more fragmented than SMBs?
MoviePigs = Netflix + LinkedIn for International Film
Al
Posted on March 5, 2018 at 12:41 am
MoviePigs: a mashup of Netflix and LinkedIn for international film, will it succeed to fill the vacuum in the international film-making market?
Shopify – Superior Product to Global Platform
RobD
Posted on March 5, 2018 at 5:47 pm
Shopify burst on the scene in 2004 as a straightforward way for merchants to set up an online store at a hosted domain. The Canadian firm initially gained traction through its product superiority and affordability. Merchants and customers loved the [...]
Amazon: The New King of Music?
ABC
Last modified on March 5, 2018 at 6:07 pm
Amazon has become the third largest music subscription globally [1]. Should Apple and Spotify be scared? Yes.
Trendyol riding the wave of Turkish e-commerce growth
jklim
Last modified on March 6, 2018 at 2:08 pm
Trendyol, launched by an HBS dropout only 6 years ago, is now Turkey’s largest flash sales e-retailer. With 20 million sales a year, annual run-rate of almost $350 million and backing from top international venture investors (Tiger Global Management, Kleiner [...]
Klarna: One-click Wonder or International Online Banking Powerhouse?
CNH
Last modified on March 5, 2018 at 6:24 pm
Since first appearing on the e-commerce scene in 2005, this Swedish company has been exacerbating online shopping addictions and helping retailers combat #cartabandonment. With 60 million unique customers, flexible payment options, a vault of transaction data, and a new shiny [...]