👋 A weekly round-up of what was written or said at the intersection of #platforms, #marketplaces and #business, and stood out.
Entrepreneurship & E-Commerce:
We're never going to become a retailer ourselves, but it means that when we go to meet the shipping companies or the payment companies, or we go to meet capital partners, we are showing up there as the second-largest retailer. And when we negotiate rates for our merchants, rather than keeping the economies of scale for ourselves, we are able to give it directly to those entrepreneurs, those businesses, which means they're able to compete.
👷♀️ In praise of Horizontal Awesomeness—Washington Post Live
China's country-level platform strategy:
And as trade, labor, and money grow increasingly digitized and are exchanged on platforms, countries need to rethink their positions in the global flow of these goods. If they are to gain a competitive advantage, countries need to increasingly pursue a platform strategy.
🤴 Seeing Like a State, platform style—Sangeet Paul Choudary
The Rise of Communities — Building Communities in B2B:
Communities can be a powerful moat, as well. Competitors might copy features and follow similar acquisition strategies, but it’s incredibly hard to replicate a community and user-generated content.