Platform businesses scale differently than traditional businesses. Platforms scale through network effects. In the previous post, we introduced and described a widely used metaphor: pipes vs. platforms. Traditional businesses are pipes. Their value chains are linear. Value is added at sequential stages before a final product or service is delivered to consumers at the end of the pipeline. Platforms do not produce goods or services themselves—they make connections among stakeholders and facilitate value exchange among those stakeholders. Value is created outside the platform. Both pipeline businesses and platform businesses strive to achieve scale—but the type of scale they strive for is vastly different. In this post, we’ll explain how pipeline businesses strive for economies of scale (on the supply side) and how platform businesses scale through network effects (on the demand side).
digital goods
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An Epic Fight For the Metaverse—Fortnite Takes on the Big Tech Oligopolies
You might have missed it amongst all the headlines about the U.S.P.S., the 2020 elections, and, of course, that little thing we call the pandemic, but Fortnite got kicked off Apple's App Store (and subsequently Google Play). I'm not a gamer, but I am fascinated by gaming, because, as Steven Johnson put it, "The Future is where people are having the most fun." Tim Sweeney, the founder and CEO of Epic Games, Inc., which makes Fortnite, seems to be having a lot of fun. And he thinks the future is the Metaverse. Healthcare, take note. The tech giants were reacting to Epic allowing "permanent discounts" on developer fees for in-game purchases made directly, rather than going through Apple or Google. Developers thus avoid the 30% commission charged in those Stores. Mr. Sweeney has been railing about the commission level for some time, leading to the recent decision.
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Sharing knowledge: VIPS on exclusive UN list for open source digital goods - Nibio
A new international initiative the Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA), endorsed by the UN, aims to accelerate attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in low- and middle-income countries by investing and sharing openly licensed technologies. This includes open source software, data, AI models, standards and content that adhere to privacy and other applicable best practices. VIPS, an open online free of charge forecast and information service for decision support in integrated management of pests, diseases and weeds - created by the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, NIBIO, is one of 22 technologies chosen from almost 500 nominees for the registry. The MET Norway Weather API also made the list from Norway.
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The New Rules of Healthcare Platforms (Part 2): Pipe Scale vs. Platform Scale
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