the most successful companies don’t build products, they build platform

Don’t Build a Product, Build a Platform

Ammon Curtis | @ammon_curtis

Mention: @ammon_curtis Hashtag: #PHXstartupweek #ChaseBasecamp #yesphx

Why are you here?

1.  Intrigued by the title

2.  Working on a platform

3.  All the other sessions were

booked

most successful platforms were

products first

an example of a successful

platform

most successful platforms were

products first products compete on:

price, features, service, design and experience

Platforms compete on: the power of their ecosystem

product competition is rapidly migrating to

platform competition

how to identify platform opportunities

at least two distinct sides are

active in the community

identify platform opportunities

identify platform opportunities

groups of customers are forming and

share similar needs

you are unable to fulfill customer requests due to

limited bandwidth

identify platform opportunities

growing the number of customers

will attract more partners

identify platform opportunities

lessons we are learning

most successful platforms were products first

pitfalls to avoid

1 not creating or outsourcing your

marketplace

under funding platform in

marketing investments 2

trivializing your

partner experience 3

having an ‘if we build it they will come’

mindset 4

keys to

success

1 balance growth between customers and partners

2 intentionally design and invest in your

partner experience

3 empower your partners to inject value in the ecosystem

4 drive customers to

use partner offerings

The Billion Dollar Startup Club

http://graphics.wsj.com/billion-dollar-club/

most successful platforms were products first building a product puts you in the race

building a platform puts you ahead

discussion

@ammon_curtis