Platform Variety

March 02, 2021

Read The Full Prompt

Digital technologies give rise to a variety of platforms. Think about how iTunes makes apps available for iPhone users or Match.com helps those seeking partners.

For this assignment, please pick ONE of the following two options:

1) Identify a platform firm, describe how it creates and capture value, and evaluate its scalability and sustainability.  To make it interesting, please stay away from well-known platforms such as those owned by Amazon, Google, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft.

2) Identify a firm that tried to work with a platform (e.g., Australian banks or X-Fire) or tried to become a platform (e.g., Lexoo). Describe the opportunities and challenges in its journey.

In both cases, stress the strategy for value creation, but feel free to make observations about aspects of value capture.

Create an approximately 750-word post. Make your contribution by 6pm on March 2.

Please also respond to and comment on three other posts by 8am on March 3. Feel free to use graphics, data, videos, and links to other sites to corroborate your points.

Selected posts will be discussed in class and also featured on the HBS Digital Initiative website.

Please prepare a 2-3 min summary of your blog post before class.

Submitted (30)

How Mercadolibre became the biggest company in Latin America
Tomas Bresler
Last modified on March 3, 2021 at 1:56 am
During the covid pandemic of 2020 Mercadolibre came out as one of the biggest winners, experiencing growth of more than 100% in their volume of transactions and becoming the biggest company in all Latin America. But, how did this garage [...]
Fundrise: Private Real Estate Investment For Everyone
Kyle R
Last modified on March 1, 2021 at 4:14 pm
Fundrise is a crowdfunding platform democratizing commercial real estate investment for non-accredited investors. Can it compete with the well-established public REIT market for retail investor capital?
NBA TopShot – The Next Big Thing?
Kyle Larkin
Posted on March 2, 2021 at 5:15 pm
Virtual "trading cards" could be just the first step in the creation of a marketplace full of digital sports related assets.
Slickdeals: Treasure Hunting
Jibran Ahmad
Last modified on March 1, 2021 at 1:02 pm
Slickdeals is a crowdsourced, deal-oriented eCommerce platform.
Opendoor: Transforming the Residential Real Estate Market
Merrill
Posted on March 2, 2021 at 4:25 pm
Residential real estate is one of the largest markets yet to be transformed by digitalization. Opendoor is trying to change that.
Kaspi. Kazakhstan. Very Nice!
Almas Kaptagayev
Last modified on March 2, 2021 at 10:56 pm
We are not a bank. Banks think in terms of the back office. We are at the front end of the relationship between the customer and our products and services. Are we a financial services company? Yes. Are we a [...]
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