Die Plattform-Revolution
Von Airbnb, Uber, PayPal und Co. lernen: Wie neue Plattform-Geschäftsmodelle die Wirtschaft verändern - Methoden und Strategien für Start-ups und Unternehmen
Geoffrey G. Parker, Marshall W. Van Alstyne, Sangeet Paul Choudary
Why are platform companies so successful, and why does every company suddenly want to be one?
Anyone dealing with business models today can no longer avoid the topic of platforms – it feels like every business model is supposed to be converted to a platform model.
“A platform is open if 1.) there are no restrictions for participants on development, commercialization or use, or 2.) all restrictions – such as the need to comply with technical standards or to pay license fees – are reasonable and non-discriminatory, i.e. apply uniformly to all potential participants of the platform.”
— Die Plattform-Revolution, page 136
Sure, the success of platform companies such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook or Airbnb is undeniable. But what is the reason for it? What makes a good platform business model successful, and how do you build one? That is exactly what Geoffrey Parker, Marshall Van Alstyne and Sangeet Choudary try to explain in their book "Die Plattform-Revolution". In this book review, you'll find out why they succeed at it without slipping too far into a textbook style.
Which topic and problem does the book “Die Plattform-Revolution” address?
As the title already emphasizes quite strikingly, the book is explicitly about the functions and phenomena of platform companies and platform business models. In my opinion, it covers the most important points, such as:
- Monetization
- Strategy
- Launch
- Governance
- Architecture (not in technical depth)
I want to highlight the chapter on the launch of your own platform. If, on the one hand, you talk about network effects among the players of a platform, it is important to learn how to get enough traffic onto your own platform to kick off the self-scaling network effect in the first place. True to the motto: what comes first? The chicken or the egg?
Who is the book “Die Plattform-Revolution” for?
The book is suitable for newcomers to the world of platforms. Experienced entrepreneurs will not learn much that is new. Anyone who has heard of "these platforms" before and wants to better understand what is behind them will be very satisfied with the "Plattform-Revolution".
My personal opinion
All three authors work in academia, but I still didn't have the impression that I was reading a dry nonfiction book. I liked that a lot.
They made an effort to include many practical examples, which made it very easy for me to follow their explanations. While reading, I kept catching myself thinking about refreshing or rebuilding my own professional spheres of influence with a few methods from the "Plattform-Revolution".
Further information
By the way, Sangeet Paul Choudary has also built an interesting website of his own, where you can dive deeper into the topic of platform business models: https://platformthinkinglabs.com/
And anyone who looks at the chart of the world's most valuable companies will see very clearly that the enormous importance of platform companies should not be underestimated.