Review of
Instaread Summary of Platform Revolution How Networked Markets Are Transforming the Economy
and How to Make Them Work for You by Geoffrey Parker, Marshall Van Alstyne,
and Sangeet Choudary
Five out of five stars
The book is
focused on the new business concept of the “platform” in driving business
contact, processes and interaction. It is loosely defined as a structure that
allows two entities to connect and exchange something of value. The definition
is rather broad, both in terms of the definition of platform as well as the
“goods” that are exchanged.
This is
summarized very well in key takeaway number 2.
“The architecture of a platform relies on five
elements: users, the item that users will be exchanging, currency, the filters
that help the user select a producer, and the information used to make that
decision.”
The example used in the explanation of the summary is
the online video site YouTube. In this case, the currency is based on the
number of “likes” and comments on the posted videos.
The emphasis is
on digital information, how it is transferred, used and reacted to. This is
summarized in key takeaway eleven.
“Many industries, including health and education, are
ideal candidates for platform business expansion because they rely on
information exchange, have human gatekeepers, are fragmented, and have
information asymmetries.”
There have been
many books and whitepapers produced over the last several years describing how
the modern business can leverage social media to their advantage. From this
summary, it is clear that the book is another that fits fairly well into that
genre. However, it is a bit more academic in nature. Two of the authors are
heavily involved in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Initiative on the
Digital Economy.
This summary makes a
strong argument for this book as being one that should be read by all
organizational people that make decisions regarding their online presence.
This book was made available for free for review
purposes.
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