Platform Revolution

Sangeet Paul Choudary, Geoffrey G. Parker and Marshall W. Van Alstyne explain platforms, the two-sided markets behind companies such as Airbnb, Uber, PayPal, Apple and Amazon, which link sellers with buyers, hosts with visitors and drivers with riders. They describe the technologies, standards and rules that make up a platform and show newcomers how to find promising markets and monetize networks. For established firms, they examine the strategies of rising platforms such as Tinder and SkillShare and how traditional companies can adapt. Security, regulation and consumer trust are covered too, as are markets that may be ripe for platforms, including healthcare, education and energy. Forbes put it on a list of 16 business books for 2016.

Laurentiu-Victor Balasa, CEO of Underline, named it while explaining that he wants to understand how to scale a two-sided marketplace.