- 11 Nov 2020
- Research & Ideas
How Hackathons Help Decide Platform Winners and Losers
Hackathons are an overlooked venue for developers to learn about new technologies—and a lucrative place for tech companies to show off their platforms, says Andy Wu.
- 02 Aug 2020
- What Do You Think?
Is the 'Experimentation Organization' Becoming the Competitive Gold Standard?
SUMMING UP: Digital experimentation is gaining momentum as an everyday habit in many organizations, especially those in high tech, say James Heskett's readers. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 14 Apr 2020
- Cold Call Podcast
'Fortnite' Was a Blockbuster for Epic Games. What’s the Encore?
Epic Games, maker of the incredibly popular "Fortnite" multiplayer game, considers whether to become a PC-games distribution platform. Andy Wu discusses his case study, “Epic Games.” Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 06 Mar 2020
- Working Paper Summaries
Consumer Protection in an Online World: An Analysis of Occupational Licensing
This paper uses new data collected by a digital platform to study the role of occupational licensing laws on individual choices and market outcomes. Results suggest that more stringent licensing laws restrict competition but do not lead to improvements in customer satisfaction.
- 05 Sep 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
The Value of Intermediation in the Stock Market
Despite the rise of alternative trading platforms, high-touch broker trading remains prominent in institutional equity markets. The authors analyze how fees, research, quality of execution, and information can help explain how execution decisions and preferences vary across investors.
- 22 Jul 2019
- Book
How to Be a Digital Platform Leader
The most valuable companies in the world have one thing in common: all are leaders in the platform economy. In a new book, David Yoffie and colleagues identify key strategies and tactics for success on digital platforms. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 01 Jul 2019
- Research & Ideas
The Airbnb Lesson for Startups? Success Takes More Than Technology
As investors speculate about the timing of an Airbnb IPO, Thales S. Teixeira discusses the analog tactics and economic conditions that helped catapult the company. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 25 Jun 2019
- Cold Call Podcast
In the Platform Economy, Upwork Searches for Better Matches in the Cloud
Welcome to the Platform Economy, where business strategists must learn a new form of competition. David Yoffie and Michael Cusumano explain choices facing Upwork, which matches jobs with job hunters in the cloud. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 17 Jun 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
The Comprehensive Effects of a Digital Paywall Sales Strategy
Many print media firms are switching to a business model requiring readers to pay for online content. This study of media paywall strategies in the US finds that adopting a digital paywall can lead to positive demand substitution from digital to print channels, particularly for large-sized firms and those with unique content.
- 21 May 2019
- Cold Call Podcast
If the Key to Business Success Is Focus, Why Does Amazon Work?
Sunil Gupta explores the infiltration of Amazon into dozens of industries including web services, grocery, and movie production. What’s the big plan? Is the company spread too thin? Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 26 Mar 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Managed Ecosystems and Translucent Institutional Logics: Engaging Communities
Organizations increasingly rely on engagement with external communities of contributors. This paper explores transitions to a managed-ecosystem governance mode and its implications for strategy and innovation. To be successful, firms must develop the capabilities to shepherd communities, leverage without exploiting them, and share intellectual property rights.
- 26 Jan 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Marketplace Scalability and Strategic Use of Platform Investment
One well-known feature of marketplace platforms like Airbnb and eBay is their scalability. This paper identifies the strategic trade-off and implications for scalability when a platform provides services to existing and potential sellers that help reduce their fixed costs of running the business. Timing this investment is an important consideration for maximizing marketplace scalability.
- 30 Oct 2018
- Working Paper Summaries
Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 14 Introducing Open Platforms and Business Ecosystems
Platform systems have existed in various forms for centuries. Beginning in the 1980s and 1990s, newly competitive technology of open platform systems based on digital technology and modular architectures changed the structure of entire industries. This paper lays the groundwork for a comprehensive theoretical investigation of open platform systems.
- 26 Jun 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Inventory Management for Mobile Money Agents in the Developing World
Mobile money agents in the developing world face a key inventory management challenge: How much cash and e-float should be held to minimize both stockouts and excess working capital? The authors develop two inventory models and show substantial inventory cost reduction with a large dataset of East African mobile money transactions.
- 17 Apr 2017
- Research Event
The Most Pressing Issues for Platform Providers in the Sharing Economy
Platform providers Rover.com, OpenBay, and Agora discussed “chicken-and-egg” and other challenges they face at a recent Digital Initiative event at Harvard Business School. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 22 Feb 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Platforms, Open/User Innovation, and Ecosystems: A Strategic Leadership Perspective
Focusing on incumbent organizations transitioning to platform, open/user innovation, and ecosystem strategies, this analysis looks at institutional logic shifts associated with transitions to these strategies, and leadership considerations related to them. Leaders should consider how contrasting institutional logics co-exist and manage this duality including potential organizational identity challenges.
- 16 Nov 2016
- Research & Ideas
Turning One Thousand Customers into One Million
In the second part of a series on growing startups, Thales S. Teixeira explains how Uber, Etsy, and Airbnb climbed from one thousand customers to one million. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 13 Jul 2016
- HBS Case
How Uber, Airbnb, and Etsy Attracted Their First 1,000 Customers
Thales Teixeira studies three of the most successful “platform” startups to understand the chicken-and-egg challenge of how companies can attract their first customers. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 10 Dec 2014
- Working Paper Summaries
Multi-sided Platforms
There is growing interest in the economics of multi-sided platforms (MSPs), which-like eBay, Uber, and Xbox-get two or more sides on board and enable interactions between them. In this article the authors study firms' strategic positioning decisions between a multi-sided platform (MSP) mode and three alternative modes. The main focus is on the choice between operating in MSP mode and operating in vertically integrated (VI) mode. The authors provide a formal model of this choice. The model highlights the key trade-off between the coordination benefits of the VI mode when there are spillovers across the decisions of individual professionals/employees and the benefits of the MSP mode in motivating unobservable effort on the part of professionals/employees. The authors also study how this trade-off shifts according to the nature of contracts available under the two different modes. Finally, they also highlight some of the key trade-offs that arise in the choice between operating as a MSP or as a reseller, and between operating as a MSP or as an input supplier. Key concepts include: Economic trade-offs drive organizations to position themselves closer to or further away from a MSP model, relative to more traditional alternatives such as retailers, vertically integrated firms, or input suppliers. The paper provides a comprehensive discussion of the defining features of MSPs, along with a new definition of MSPs that clarifies what makes them special. At the most fundamental level, MSPs have two key features beyond any other requirements (such as indirect network effects or non-neutrality of fees): 1) They enable direct interactions between two or more sides, and 2) Each side is affiliated with the platform. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
Biased Sampling of Early Users and the Direction of Startup Innovation
New ventures catering to female customers should be aware that the underrepresentation of women among early users on digital platforms can reduce the venture’s growth and chances of survival. As a result of gaining fewer early users, these ventures reduce future product development and are less likely to raise VC funding.