the.com/platform economics
whoever owns the plumbing gets paid every time water moves.
means a business model where a company profits by connecting other people's supply and demand instead of making anything itself.
from grew out of two-sided market theory in the 2000s, when economists noticed credit cards, newspapers, and nightclubs all made money the same weird way: charging one side less to attract the other side's wallet.
network effectseach new user makes the product worth more to everyone else
chicken and eggplatforms die if either side arrives first, alone
take ratethe toll booth, usually 15 to 30 percent, hidden as a fee
enshittificationthe endgame where platforms squeeze users once they're trapped
for instance
app store — apple takes 30 percent of nearly every digital transaction on iphone
amazon marketplace — third party sellers now outsell amazon's own retail, and amazon still wins
uber — owns zero cars, matches millions of rides daily worldwide
visa mastercard — process over 100 trillion dollars a year without lending a cent