Platform Revolution: How Networked Markets Are Transforming the Economy and How to Make Them Work for You: How Networked Markets Are Transforming the Economy―and How to Make Them Work for You

by Geoffrey G. Parker

One difference between platform businesses and traditional pipeline businesses is that, in the world of platforms, pull strategies designed to encourage virality are more important than the push strategies (such as advertising and public relations) used in conventional marketing. Successful platforms use one of eight proven strategies for solving the chicken-or-egg problem: the follow-the-rabbit strategy; the piggyback strategy; the seeding strategy; the marquee strategy; the single-side strategy; the producer evangelism strategy; the big bang adoption strategy; and the micromarket strategy. The speed of a platform’s expansion can be accelerated through viral growth. This depends on four key elements: the sender, the value unit, the external network, and the recipient.