Platform Strategy: How to Unlock the Power of Communities and Networks to Grow Your Business

Open for Business translates the complex management and economic models behind commercial platforms such as Uber, Etsy, Airbnb into a practical guide for business. Platform-powered businesses have grown exponentially in the last ten years. Developing a platform-based business involves learning new management rules and learning a new basis for competing with other platforms and with traditional businesses. Laure Claire and Benoit Reillier offer a coherent and holistic picture of what platforms are, where they come from, how they work and what the implications are for new and existing businesses. They also explain how to combine your platform with other business models and offer insights into the regulation and governance of platforms. The text combines rigorous management and financial models with pragmatic tips, stories from practitioners and uses three cases studies: Amazon, Google and Apple to illustrate the ideas in practice. Most organizations have now successfully navigated the jump to a web presence; moving from there to a platform-based business represents another level of cultural, strategic and organizational complexity which Open for Business will enable you to approach with your eyes open.