Explore All Posts

May 2013

• 23: So you think you can go viral? Three reasons you may be kidding yourself!
• 8: Marketplace Metrics: The three success factors
• 2: Dissecting Amazon’s Platform Play

April 2013

• 24: Why Business Models Fail: Pipes vs. Platforms
• 13: Users or Customers?
• 2: Building Online Marketplaces: A checklist for Disruption

March 2013

• 27: The network effect playbook: Social products win with utility, not invites
• 13: How to become a billion dollar startup: AirBnB, YouTube and Platform Thinking
• 4: How disruptive platforms get mainstream adoption

February 2013

• 26: Reverse Network Effects: The Challenges of Scaling an Online Platform
• 9: The Three Building Blocks of Platforms
• 4: Platform Thinking: How to get startup ideas

January 2013

• 29: A Platform Thinking approach to building a business
• 19: Growth = Engagement: A product design principle you can’t ignore
• 12: Platform Thinking: A brief guide to leveraging networks for business
• 6: How to crack User Generated Content: A Presentation
• 2: A Platform Thinking Approach To Problem Solving

December 2012

• 23: Reverse network effects: Why scale may be the biggest threat facing today’s social networks
• 19: Does your startup have a wallet-acquisition strategy?
• 8: How to get users to contribute on a creativity platform
• 4: Startup Suicide: How successful startups kill themselves by competing on features

November 2012

• 28: Virality vs. Network Effects
• 24: How to build a two-sided marketplace with the Yelp model… and why Craigslist hates it!
• 17: Destination vs. Distribution: Why your product should be where your users are!
• 11: Infinite Virality: The magic of C2C customer management tools
• 7: The Network Effect Isn’t Good Enough!
• 3: The Three Trends Shaping Advertising-Based Monetization: User = Advertiser = User

October 2012

• 30: Vimeo vs. MegaUpload vs. YouTube: Contrasting Strategies Of Competing Platforms
• 25: How To Build A Great Product By Removing Barriers To Usage
• 21: False positives and the cycle of free user acquisition platforms
• 17: Incentives: How To Engineer User Growth and Virality
• 13: Naturally Viral: How To Design Your Platform For Self-Expression
• 8: Growth Hacks of Q&A Startups
• 4: The Three Forms Of Metrics That Drive Scale

September 2012

• 30: How Quora, StackOverflow And Yelp Create Sustainable User Contribution Systems With A Simple Hack
• 27: Why Facebook’s Advertising Is Getting It Wrong
• 21: Reverse Network Effects: Is Twitter Losing Its Mojo?
• 18: Micro-universe: How Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp And Etsy Exploited Pre-Existing Network Structures
• 15: One month on… A note to all Platformed readers
• 12: Permalinks: The Key To Building Platforms That Grow With Usage
• 9: Putting The Market Before The Product
• 4: The Intersection Of Freemium, Networks and Marketplaces
• 1: Why Promoted Posts Are Not The Social Network Revenue Model We Were All Waiting For

August 2012

• 30: Zynga’s Fall And Facebook’s Evolution As A Viral Marketing Platform
• 25: How Not To Go Viral: Social Spamming
• 22: Exclusivity: The Antisocial Way To Seed A Social Product
• 21: Conquer Your Micro-Universe: Choosing Your Harvard
• 21: Conquer Your Micro-Universe – Part 1
• 18: How Groupon Solved The Critical Mass Problem And Got A Thousand Clones
• 17: Paypal, Reddit and The Power Of Fakin’ It
• 16: Hacking Your Way To Critical Mass
• 14: Viral Growth: How Paypal, Youtube And StumbleUpon Gained Rapid Traction Through Piggybacking
• 13: The Appification of Social Networks – Instagram
• 12: Chicken and Egg problem: How To Seed Your Platform In Standalone Mode
• 11: How Apple Drank Its Own Kool-Aid And Created A Thriving Developer Ecosystem
• 10: Platform Seeding Strategies
• 10: How Online Dating Services Bring In The Ladies!
• 9: Why Payments Startups Fail: A Lesson In User Behavior
• 7: Chicken and Egg Problem: How To Use Your Producers To Seed The Platform
• 6: Chicken and Egg Problem: How To Make a Two-Sided Market One-Sided

July 2012

• 31: Fundamentals of Platform Design
• 29: What is a Platform?
• 18: Hacking Growth and Engagement
• 11: Platform Monetization

Business Models

• May 8, 2013: Marketplace Metrics: The three success factors
• May 2, 2013: Dissecting Amazon’s Platform Play
• April 24, 2013: Why Business Models Fail: Pipes vs. Platforms
• March 27, 2013: The network effect playbook: Social products win with utility, not invites
• March 13, 2013: How to become a billion dollar startup: AirBnB, YouTube and Platform Thinking
• March 4, 2013: How disruptive platforms get mainstream adoption
• February 26, 2013: Reverse Network Effects: The Challenges of Scaling an Online Platform
• February 9, 2013: The Three Building Blocks of Platforms
• February 4, 2013: Platform Thinking: How to get startup ideas
• January 29, 2013: A Platform Thinking approach to building a business
• January 12, 2013: Platform Thinking: A brief guide to leveraging networks for business
• January 2, 2013: A Platform Thinking Approach To Problem Solving
• December 23, 2012: Reverse network effects: Why scale may be the biggest threat facing today’s social networks
• December 4, 2012: Startup Suicide: How successful startups kill themselves by competing on features
• October 25, 2012: How To Build A Great Product By Removing Barriers To Usage

Competition

• October 30, 2012: Vimeo vs. MegaUpload vs. YouTube: Contrasting Strategies Of Competing Platforms

Data

• December 8, 2012: How to get users to contribute on a creativity platform
• November 7, 2012: The Network Effect Isn’t Good Enough!
• September 30, 2012: How Quora, StackOverflow And Yelp Create Sustainable User Contribution Systems With A Simple Hack
• September 21, 2012: Reverse Network Effects: Is Twitter Losing Its Mojo?
• September 1, 2012: Why Promoted Posts Are Not The Social Network Revenue Model We Were All Waiting For

Growth

• May 23, 2013: So you think you can go viral? Three reasons you may be kidding yourself!
• April 2, 2013: Building Online Marketplaces: A checklist for Disruption
• January 19, 2013: Growth = Engagement: A product design principle you can’t ignore
• January 6, 2013: How to crack User Generated Content: A Presentation
• November 24, 2012: How to build a two-sided marketplace with the Yelp model… and why Craigslist hates it!
• November 17, 2012: Destination vs. Distribution: Why your product should be where your users are!
• November 11, 2012: Infinite Virality: The magic of C2C customer management tools
• October 21, 2012: False positives and the cycle of free user acquisition platforms
• October 17, 2012: Incentives: How To Engineer User Growth and Virality
• October 13, 2012: Naturally Viral: How To Design Your Platform For Self-Expression
• October 8, 2012: Growth Hacks of Q&A Startups
• September 18, 2012: Micro-universe: How Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp And Etsy Exploited Pre-Existing Network Structures
• September 15, 2012: One month on… A note to all Platformed readers
• September 12, 2012: Permalinks: The Key To Building Platforms That Grow With Usage
• September 9, 2012: Putting The Market Before The Product
• September 4, 2012: The Intersection Of Freemium, Networks and Marketplaces
• August 30, 2012: Zynga’s Fall And Facebook’s Evolution As A Viral Marketing Platform
• August 25, 2012: How Not To Go Viral: Social Spamming
• August 22, 2012: Exclusivity: The Antisocial Way To Seed A Social Product
• August 21, 2012: Conquer Your Micro-Universe: Choosing Your Harvard
• August 21, 2012: Conquer Your Micro-Universe – Part 1
• August 18, 2012: How Groupon Solved The Critical Mass Problem And Got A Thousand Clones
• August 17, 2012: Paypal, Reddit and The Power Of Fakin’ It
• August 16, 2012: Hacking Your Way To Critical Mass
• August 14, 2012: Viral Growth: How Paypal, Youtube And StumbleUpon Gained Rapid Traction Through Piggybacking
• August 13, 2012: The Appification of Social Networks – Instagram
• August 12, 2012: Chicken and Egg problem: How To Seed Your Platform In Standalone Mode
• August 11, 2012: How Apple Drank Its Own Kool-Aid And Created A Thriving Developer Ecosystem
• August 10, 2012: Platform Seeding Strategies
• August 10, 2012: How Online Dating Services Bring In The Ladies!
• August 9, 2012: Why Payments Startups Fail: A Lesson In User Behavior
• August 7, 2012: Chicken and Egg Problem: How To Use Your Producers To Seed The Platform
• August 6, 2012: Chicken and Egg Problem: How To Make a Two-Sided Market One-Sided
• July 18, 2012: Hacking Growth and Engagement

Monetization

• December 19, 2012: Does your startup have a wallet-acquisition strategy?
• November 3, 2012: The Three Trends Shaping Advertising-Based Monetization: User = Advertiser = User
• September 27, 2012: Why Facebook’s Advertising Is Getting It Wrong
• July 11, 2012: Platform Monetization

Platform Thinking

• April 13, 2013: Users or Customers?

Platforms

• November 28, 2012: Virality vs. Network Effects
• October 4, 2012: The Three Forms Of Metrics That Drive Scale
• July 31, 2012: Fundamentals of Platform Design
• July 29, 2012: What is a Platform?