The Business of Platforms

"The authors authoritatively document the rules and pitfalls of platforms, combining years of research with practical guidelines and real-life examples. A must-read for all operators or participants of existing or future platform businesses." -- Stephane Kasriel, CEO of Upwork "Whether you are a customer wanting to understand the economic logic behind platforms, a business manager wanting to learn platform strategies, or a regulator wanting to become informed about platform governance, this book offers indepth, cogent, and up-to-date answers by three experts who began analyzing platforms when the word wasn't even known. A true treatise and treasure." -- Bengt Holmstrom, Paul A. Samuelson Professor of Economics and Management at MIT and winner of the 2016 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences "Essential reading for any business trying to compete as a platform or against a platform. Even traditional businesses must understand how to evolve into a platform and partner with other platforms. Sound complicated? This book will help you sort it out." -- Arne Sorenson, CEO of Marriott International "Should every business jump on, surrender to, or be a platform? Should government condemn, regulate, or imitate platform businesses? This book not only answers these questions; it also provides critical understanding of the underpinning and superstructure of platforms. For every business and social leader, this is the go-to book for learning the essential lessons about the business phenomenon of our times." -- Reed Hundt, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and author of A Crisis Wasted: Barack Obama's Defining Decisions "The Business of Platforms should be read by all managers, entrepreneurs, investors, and academics interested in platform businesses. It is rigorous and valuable, yet very readable." -- Richard Schmalensee, former dean of the MIT Sloan School of Management and coauthor of Matchmakers: The New Economics of Multisided Platforms

Michael A. Cusumano is the SMR Distinguished Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He has been a dean and vice president at Tokyo University of Science and has published over 130 articles and 13 books, including Competing on Internet Time and Strategy Rules (both with David Yoffie), Platform Leadership (with Annabelle Gawer), as well as Microsoft Secrets (with Richard Selby), The Business of Software, and Staying Power. He lives in Groton and Cambridge, Massachusetts. Annabelle Gawer is Chaired Professor in Digital Economy and Director of the Centre of Digital Economy at the University of Surrey. Author of Platform Leadership (with Michael Cusumano), she has published over 20 articles and edited 2 books on platforms. A leading voice in advancing research and managerial practice on platform strategy, she advises the European Commission, the UK Parliament House of Lords, and the OECD on the regulation of digital platforms. She lives in London, UK. David B. Yoffie is the Max and Doris Starr Professor of International Business Administration at Harvard Business School. One of Intel's longest-serving board members from 1989 to 2018, he has served on numerous high tech boards. Yoffie has written more than 200 case studies, which sold more than 4 million copies. He is the author or co-author of ten books, and has written extensively for the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. He lives in Newton, Massachusetts.