Building Platforms and Multi-sided Marketplaces
by Brian
Categories:
CTO,
Product Manager,
Startup Founder
Summary
Platforms and multi-sided marketplaces surround us:
- Airbnb
- Rover
- Amazon
- OpenTable
- Uber
These books explore how these platforms rise to prominence, sometimes taking over existing industries and other times creating entirely new industries.
Matchmakers
The New Economics of Multisided Platforms
by David S. Evans and Richard Schmalensee
Recommended: 7 / 10
Matchmakers is all about two-sided marketplaces. In this book, you’ll learn about the chicken-and-egg problem, achieving critical mass, and what advantages if any the first mover has.
Strategy Rules
Five Timeless Lessons from Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Steve Jobs
by David Yoffie and Michael Cusumano
Recommended: 8 / 10
Strategy Rules teaches platform strategy through the examples of Apple, Microsoft, and Intel. This book is particularly good if you enjoy both history and technology.
The Long Tail
Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More
by Chris Anderson, Editor in Chief of Wired magazine
Recommended: 6 / 10
The Long Tail will teach you about concepts like pro-sumers, created when consumers turn into producers using platform technology like Tiktok and Instagram. If critical mass is achieved, these platforms fill the long tail with a seemingly infinite supply of niche content.
How Google Works
by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg, Former CEO and Former SVP of Products at Google
Recommended: 9 / 10
Most of How Google Works covers other interesting topics, but Eric Schmidt does include a section about platform theory and development with emphasis on how Google approaches platforms.
