I’m currently doing the course on platform strategy on section4. Thought I’d share some thoughts from Module 1.
Most companies are either are platforms or product companies.
Platform companies though have unique advantages against product companies that make them very powerful forces of nature.
Platforms unlock massive economic value, they’re more efficient, the reduce friction in peoples lives and best of all they’re super hard to compete with. The challenge obviously is envisioning and building out the platform from day 1.
8 of the 10 most valuable companies in the US are platform companies. All of them created in the last few decades which shows the power that platforms weild.
The course deconstructs a platform evolution framework and has broken it down into 5 distinct stages
Why I found this course interesting is that I believe most platform companies, at least the ones on the list seem to have become platforms by nature of the problem they went after rather than conscious execution to become a platform.
The network effects they ended up wielding allowed them to exploit the power of platforms and double down on that strategy.
I’m not sure if the founders from day 1 believed they’d be platforms that they’ve become.
As I go through the course I’d love to share insights and learnings. I’d also love to craft the strategy of my current company more towards a platform if feasible. Considering we are a two sided curated marketplace seem like there’s a clear path to a platform approach.