Learning Path 26
Platforms and Marketplaces
How a two-sided market is actually built and governed. Which side to subsidize and why, what breaks the chicken-and-egg problem, why liquidity and not user count is the number that matters, where a take rate can safely sit, and the rules a marketplace has to enforce so its own users cannot route around it.
- Advanced
- ~20h estimated
- 16 modules
- 101 topics
Suggested before this path:
Why this path matters
Almost every platform failure is one of four things: the cold start was never solved, the subsidised side was the wrong side, the take rate outgrew what the platform was worth, or the rules let people game it. All four have known answers, and none of them are obvious from inside the business.
What you will understand
- Structures where every month builds on the last.
- The best product loses to the best distributor.
- The other side of the table is thinking too.
Modules in this path
Recurring Revenue Models · Business Models
Intermediary and Access Models · Business Models
- Licensing
- Franchising
- White Label
- Private Label
- Agency-to-software
- Productized Services
- Recurring Maintenance
Service and Knowledge Models · Business Models
- Retainers
- Performance Pricing
- Revenue Shares
- Affiliate Businesses
- Referral Businesses
- Digital Products
- Communities
Ownership Leverage Models · Business Models
- Data Businesses
- Training Businesses
- Certification Businesses
- Own the Customer not the Asset
- Own Distribution not the Product
- Own Financing not Inventory
- Boring Business Acquisition
Acquisition-Driven Models · Business Models
Owned vs Rented Audiences · Distribution
- Distribution versus Product
- Owning an Audience
- Renting an Audience
- Email as a Channel
- SMS Marketing
- Search Traffic
- Social Media Channels
Channels That Work · Distribution
- Creator Partnerships
- Influencer Economics
- Affiliate Systems
- Referral Systems
- B2B Outbound
- Cold Email
- Cold Calling
Outbound and Partnerships · Distribution
- Local Outreach
- Partnership Channels
- Channel Sales
- Reseller Networks
- Strategic Distribution
- Marketplace Dependence
- Platform Risk
Platform Dependence · Distribution
- Algorithm Risk
- Search Dependence
- Building a Brand Outside Platforms
- Audience Arbitrage
- Attention Arbitrage
- Local SEO
- Reviews as Distribution
Distribution Moats · Distribution
- Community Growth
- Embedded Distribution
- Distribution Moats
- Why the Best Product Loses to the Best Distributor
Strategic Interaction · Strategic Economics
- Nash Equilibrium and the Best-response Map
- Sequential Games and Backward Induction
- Credible Commitment and the Value of Removing Your Own Options
- Repeated Games and the Folk Theorem
- Entry Deterrence and Strategic Capacity Commitment
- Mixed Strategies and the Value of Being Unpredictable
Information Economics · Strategic Economics
- Adverse Selection and the Market for Lemons
- Moral Hazard and the Incentive-compatibility Constraint
- Signaling and the Separating Equilibrium
- Screening and the Self-selecting Menu of Contracts
- Information Rents and Why the Informed Party Keeps a Share
- The Principal-agent Problem and the Optimal Contract
Mechanism and Auction Design · Strategic Economics
- Mechanism Design and the Revelation Principle
- Auction Formats and the Revenue Equivalence Theorem
- The Winner's Curse in a Common-value Auction
- The Vickrey-Clarke-Groves Mechanism and Why Nobody Runs It
- Strategy-proofness and Marketplace Rules People Cannot Game
- Matching Markets and the Deferred-acceptance Algorithm
Designing a Marketplace · Strategic Economics
- Cross-side Network Effects and Which Side to Subsidize
- The Chicken-and-egg Problem and Cold-start Strategies
- Marketplace Liquidity and the Thickness Problem
- Take-rate Design and Where a Platform Can Safely Tax
- Reputation Systems and the Economics of Trust
- Platform Governance and the Rules a Market Has to Enforce
Market Structure and Power · Strategic Economics
- Market Power and the Lerner Index
- Barriers to Entry and Contestable Markets
- Horizontal Mergers and the HHI Screen
- Vertical Foreclosure and Raising Rivals' Costs
- Antitrust and the Consumer-welfare Standard
- Price Discrimination in Three Degrees
How a Price Is Actually Made · Strategic Economics
- The Limit Order Book and Where a Price Comes From
- The Bid-ask Spread as the Price of Adverse Selection
- Liquidity Provision and a Market Maker's Inventory Risk
- Price Discovery and How Information Gets Into a Price
- Market Impact and the Cost of Trading Size
- Dark Pools, Internalization, and Where Order Flow Goes
Suggested tools
Suggested case studies
After this path: Market Design