strategy for Haier Group, a Chinese manufacturing company, “You never take first money.” In other words, only after a value unit has been created and exchanged with results that are satisfactory to both the producer and the consumer should the platform business itself seek to capture a share of that value. A number of highly promising platforms have foundered because they ignored this rule and instead rushed to monetize their offerings prematurely. Sean Percival, the former vice president of online marketing for the failed social network
