Williamsburg Regional Library

The platform delusion, who wins and who loses in the age of tech titans, Jonathan A. Knee

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages [299]-346) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

The platform delusion

bibliography

1237101792

Jonathan A. Knee

who wins and who loses in the age of tech titans

"An investment banker and professor explains what really drives success in the tech economy Many think that they understand the secrets to the success of the biggest tech companies: Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google. It's the platform economy, or network effects, or some other magical power that makes their ultimate world domination inevitable. Investment banker and professor Jonathan Knee argues that the truth is much more complicated--but entrepreneurs and investors can understand what makes the giants work, and learn the keys to lasting success in the digital economy. Knee explains what really makes the biggest tech companies work: a surprisingly disparate portfolio of structural advantages buttressed by shrewd acquisitions, strong management, lax regulation, and often, encouraging the myth that they are invincible to discourage competitors. By offering fresh insights into the true sources of strength and very real vulnerabilities of these companies, The Platform Delusion shows how investors, existing businesses, and startups might value them, compete with them, and imitate them. The Platform Delusion demystifies the success of the biggest digital companies in sectors from retail to media to software to hardware, offering readers what those companies don't want everyone else to know. Knee's insights are invaluable for entrepreneurs and investors in digital businesses seeking to understand what drives resilience and profitability for the long term"--, Provided by publisher

Introduction -- Part I. Digital advantage and disadvantage -- 1. The four pillars of the platform delusion -- 2. Network defects: scale in the digital era -- 3. It takes a village: the sources of digital competitive advantage -- Part II. In the land of the giants -- 4. Facebook: the ultimate network -- 5. Amazon: can you have too much of a good thing? -- 6. Apple: what's at the core? -- 7. Netflix: content was never king and still isn't -- 8. Google: letter-perfect alphabet -- Part III. In the shadow of the giants -- 9. E-commerce: if Amazon is the everything store, what's left to sell? -- Fly me to the moon: who makes money when air travel goes digital? -- 11. "To travel is to live!": how Priceline became worth $100 billion -- It's nice to share, sometimes: why Airbnb will always be a better business than Uber -- Mad men, sad men: advertising and Adtech meet the Internet -- Big data and artificial intelligence: when they matter and when they don't -- Epilogue: start-up fever: is it a cure or a disease?

adult