On March 12, 2015, CGE collaborated with iSPIRT, an Indian think tank representing software product companies, to host a roundtable that explored the disruptive power of platform companies. As the Indian software industry seeks to shift to higher value product and business development, platform companies represent new value creation opportunities. Bangalore is emerging as a key hub in India, and South Asia more generally, for platform innovation and development.
The Bangalore Roundtable centered on the management and operational challenges faced by Indian platform startups seeking to establish digital ecosystems. Participants discussed whether Indian platforms can succeed across range of sectors from publishing, media and e-commerce, to advertising, transportation and travel.
The roundtable, hosted by InMobi in Bangalore and attended by representatives of more than a dozen of the country’s leading platform companies, was part of CGE’s global survey of the emerging platform economy. As part of this initiative, CGE engages business and academic groups to better understand and assess platform innovation around the world.
Led by CGE Vice President Peter Evans and Sangeet Choudary, Founder of Platform Thinking Labs and CGE Fellow, the roundtable explored key trends in platform companies, the latest in VC funding and M&A activity, and how Indian companies can effectively participate in the emerging global platform economy.
Left to Right: Mani Kantan, Sharard Sharma, Sangeet P. Choudary and Peter C. Evans
Key discussion outputs included:
- Metrics: In platform businesses in which value is created by producers and consumed by consumers, both players are considered users of the platform. Instead of measuring success by user growth, platform companies would be wise to consider the interaction between producers and consumers as a key metric.
- Participant behavior data: Platform businesses achieve scale by removing barriers to producer-consumer growth and by onboarding new producers. Successful platform businesses should develop a mechanism for determining participant reputation. If producers are able to build their influence and engage a strong consumer base on one platform, it will impact the decision making dynamics of operating across multiple platforms. Consumer feedback will further strengthen these transactions and thus production and network feedback loops are a key indicator of platform performance.
- Unique Platform Business Considerations: Unlike traditional businesses, platform success depends on different control points. For example, producers are not employees, the platform goods and services are not created by the platform company, and inventory is owned by the producer, not the company. These factors mean that platform businesses need to build and maintain company culture across a diverse set of stakeholders.
CGE will continue investigating platform dynamics in key regions around the world, culminating in the publication of its research at the end of 2015.
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