[Image by Karolina Grabowska from Pixabay]
Note: In the last week of November, we organised a week of learning for our community on the Future of Platforms. This list is part of that.
The often swinging and always polarising debates around platforms underline the fact that many business leaders, technologists, politicians, policymakers and activists are still in the process of understanding the intended and unintended, near-term and long-term consequences of platforms. This list, which also includes some videos and a podcast, is curated to give a sense of how the story of platforms has panned out in the real world. Dig in.
The basics
Pipelines, Platforms, and the New Rules of Strategy | HBR | Marshall W. Van Alstyne, Geoffrey G. Parker & Sangeet Paul Choudary
Firms that fail to create platforms and don’t learn the new rules of strategy will be unable to compete for long.
Platform Revolution | Social Business Forum, 2016 | Sangeet Paul Choudary
The change
Zomato Gold: A crisis that was waiting to happen | Founding Fuel | Harsh Vardhan
The Zomato Gold membership programme was a runaway success, but the inherent conflict at the heart of the scheme has sparked off a huge battle between the aggregator and restaurants.
The gig economy | Founding Fuel | Charles Assisi
From the ingenious and the enterprising to the borderline weird, people are clambering on to platforms like Fiverr to live a life of their choosing
The Tech Battles | A two-part series by Haresh Chawla on how tech is changing the rules of the game
The fix
Will technology destroy democracy? | Founding Fuel | Arun Maira
Job destruction, fake news, polarisation. Rapid advances in technology are blamed for these. Is that claim justified? Are other factors at play? Who will regulate technology?
Why Silicon Valley can’t fix itself | The Guardian | Ben Tarnoff and Moira Weigel
Tech insiders have finally started admitting their mistakes – but the solutions they are offering could just help the big players get even more powerful
The domination of Big Tech | Sangeet Paul Chaudary
Beyond business
Country-as-a-Platform: Why Singapore's future needs a platform strategy | Pipes to Platforms | Sangeet Paul Chaudary
When a tech idea goes into a government office | Founding Fuel | NS Ramnath
Aadhaar was designed as an enabler, a utility. That is its strength and its weakness
Societal Platforms | GCD | Nandan Nilekani
The future of platforms
Investing in disruptive innovation | Azeem Azhar interviews Cathie Wood, CEO and CIO of ArkInvest [Podcast]
Special content as part of our week of learning on the Future of Platforms for the Founding Fuel community.
Making sense of the New Capitalists | Founding Fuel | Haresh Chawla
Your smartphone is the gateway for platform businesses to drive their hooks deep into your psyche and pockets, edge out traditional businesses, and reset markets. In doing so, they are becoming monopolies, the likes of which we’ve never seen before. What is fair play in this new world?
The difficulty of cross-selling | Founding Fuel | NS Ramnath
How far can businesses push the power of platforms to sell new types of products?
Understanding platform power—disruption or destruction? | Founding Fuel Masterclass
Platforms, data, analytics are not going to go away. The good news for incumbents: they do have strengths they can play to. The bad news: They will need a different mindset and rethink customer experience.
