The same cycle of viral growth—a form of growth impossible in the industrial economy of pipelines and products—helps to explain the success of many other platform startups. Airbnb encouraged users with rooms to rent (hosts) to list their offerings (value units) on Craigslist (external network). Those who saw the room listings (recipients) and were motivated to rent those rooms became Airbnb users—and many subsequently began renting out rooms of their own, fueling the growth of the platform. OpenTable similarly encourages diners (hosts) to share their dinner reservations (value units) over
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