Modern Monopolies: What It Takes to Dominate the 21st Century Economy

by Alex Moazed, Nicholas L. Johnson

Overview

In Modern Monopolies, Alex Moazed and Nicholas L. Johnson tell the definitive story of what has changed, what it means for businesses today, and how managers, entrepreneurs, and business owners can adapt and thrive in this new era.

What do Google, Snapchat, Tinder, Amazon, and Uber have in common, besides soaring market share? They're platforms - a new business model that has quietly become the only game in town, creating vast fortunes for its founders while dominating everyone's daily life. A platform, by definition, creates value by facilitating an exchange between two or more interdependent groups. So, rather that making things, they simply connect people.

The Internet today is awash in platforms - Facebook is responsible for nearly 25 percent of total Web visits, and the Google platform crash in 2013 took about 40 percent of Internet traffic with it. Representing the ten most trafficked sites in the U.S., platforms are also prominent over the globe; in China, they hold the top eight spots in web traffic rankings.

The advent of mobile computing and its ubiquitous connectivity have forever altered how we interact with each other, melding the digital and physical worlds and blurring distinctions between "offline" and "online." These platform giants are expanding their influence from the digital world to the whole economy. Yet, few people truly grasp the radical structural shifts of the last ten years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250091895
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/31/2016
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	884,802
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Alex Moazed is the Founding CEO of Applico and an expert on mobile and platform technology. He appears frequently on Bloomberg, CNBC and Fox, and has been profiled in Inc. Magazine, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. He has co-founded the Application Developers Alliance.

Nicholas L. Johnson is Head of Platform at Applico, where he oversees the company's research into how platforms work. He works with clients on business model design and bringing cutting-edge platforms to market. Prior to joining Applico, he spent several years as an editor at the Institute for New Economic Thinking where he worked closely with the Institute's leadership, including six Nobel Prize-winning economists

Table of Contents

Prologue: The Burning Platform 1

1 Platforms Are Eating the World 17

2 Hayek versus the Machine, or Why Everything You Think You Know about the Twentieth Century Is Wrong 49

3 The Zero-Marginal-Cost Company 77

4 Modern Monopolies: Platform Capitalism and the Winner-Take-All Economy 95

5 Designing a Billion-Dollar Company: How the Core Transaction Explains Tinder's Success 109

6 The Visible Hand: The Four Functions of a Platform 125

7 Let the Network Do the Work 159

8 Why Platforms Fail, and How to Avoid It 189

Conclusion: How to Spot the Next Big Thing 203

A Word from the Authors 237

Glossary of Platform Terms 239

Acknowledgments 243

Notes 247

Index 263

Editorial Reviews

"{A} stimulating book....The authors are particularly interesting on how modern platform companies are able to outsource much of their innovation."—The Financial Times

"Modern Monopolies brilliantly lays out the formula for how to get rich in the platform economy. From building audiences to creating network value, this book will become the handbook for the next generation of business leaders."—George F. Colony, CEO, Forrester Research

“A provocative and highly accessible primer on building twenty-first century monopolies that aptly deconstructs the winners and losers with deep insight and analysis. Modern Monopolies provides a deep understanding of emerging platform business models that is required to create the next Amazon, Google, or Uber."—Craig Hatkoff, Co-Founder of the Tribeca Film Festival, Disruptor Foundation

"Modern Monopolies unmasks what Internet platforms are, how they work,
and why they are important. A required read for anyone interested in building, or investing in, network-based businesses."—Andrew Weissman, Partner, Union Square Ventures

“Two-sided marketplaces or platforms are tough to start and scale. Modern Monopolies brilliantly reveals the secrets of the startups that are scaling platform businesses. A must read for any serious entrepreneur or investor, as well as anyone interested in innovation."—Oisin Hanrahan, co-founder and CEO of Handy

"This timely book very persuasively and elegantly sets out the framework for the emerging dominance of the platform business model. Modern Monopolies is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand platforms, as well as anyone considering building a new business.”--Sudip Nandy, Former CEO of Aricent and Frog Design

"This book is satisfying and timely, a valuable contribution to our understanding of modern business."—Booklist

From the Publisher