Network Effects
Marketplaces and the Chicken and Egg Problem: Supply or Demand First?
A platform brings at least two sets of users together: consumers and producers. Having one will help reel in the other, and having neither means your marketplace or platform won’t succeed. It’s the classic chicken-and-egg dilemma, which as we’ve written…
Are Investors in Scooter Platforms Betting on a Fad?
Scooter rental startups have been having their moment in 2018, and it’s easy to see why. With viral images of scooters strewn about campuses and streets, an Instagram account dedicated to scooter vandalism, profiles of the often funny and sometimes…
How to Optimize Network Growth with Local Network Effects
Successful platform businesses acquire new users at a remarkable pace. We’ve written before about network effects drive network growth. In that article, we touched on how mature platforms nurture individual micro networks within the larger network to strength their resilience against…
Battle of the Sneakerhead Startups
StockX, GOAT, and Stadium Goods compete for the sneaker vertical. What factors will determine who wins the largest market share, and what can other specialty retailers learn from the fight of the sneakerheads? For the past decade, specialty eCommerce marketplaces…
Applico in the Financial Times: Megamergers are not a silver bullet for success
The following is an excerpt from an opinion article, “Megamergers are not a silver bullet for success,” written by Applico’s Head of Platform, Nicholas L. Johnson for the Financial Times. Let them eat scale. In industry after industry when traditional enterprises…
What are Network Effects?
When talking about platform businesses, the conversation often includes a reference to network effects and how platforms can more quickly create value for different types of user groups. The concept of network effects can seem difficult to grasp at a…