On markets today: on one hand we're seeing ultra-specific domain models (marketplaces) and on the other end very generic/horizontal contracting platforms, such as Haier's rendanheyi and its supporting software
Haier's EMC (self-managed and self-defined multi-sided smart contracts aimed at creating a certain outcome) is a kind of *evolution* of a transaction: as transaction cost plummets complex (smart) contracts can become the new transactions, reducing the need to rely on scale.
In terms of evolution:
1. We started with complicated and dumb contracts = bureaucracies: amassing suppliers, contractualize them for the long term, the only part of the transaction that was left on the market was purchasing (consumer);
2. Then we moved into the age of marketplaces where essentially the transaction is heavily modeled and scaled, the role of produced is allowed but encased/constrained in a role;
3. We're now moving into ecosystemic organizing the transaction is much less dictated/specified: the reduction of tr. cost allows contracts 2b signed easily. Digitalization allows easy distribution of revenues, equity ...making it easier to engage w and distribute #skininthegame
I think I'm on it. I'm identifying a pattern for the development of ecosystemic strategies based on 6 layers: 1. an open protocol (domain model) that abstracts the domain of the interactions, the entities, the workflows and the transactions;
2. a shared infrastructure for transparent and untamperable data persistence of informational and financial transactions;
3. a set of network enablement services provided to all members of the network including a full-stack software architecture to allow the development of commercial initiatives such as SaaS, marketplaces, plug-ins, and more;
I've read the lead essay by @DavidCStark6 and @ivanapais from "Power and Control in Platform Monopoly Capitalism" and some other pieces. sociologica.unibo.it/article/view/1… I found this work a bit disconnected from the newest evolution of the "so-called" platform economy.
More specifically, I think I see two issues: first it doesn't really capture how the continued drive towards niche(r) marketplaces is pushing the pendulum more towards supplier enablement vs componentization, seems that the whole discussion is still anchored on that idea of ...
asset-light horizontal marketplaces that we used to see in the first/second wave and doesn't capture major trends such as creator/passion economy and vertical b2b marketplaces that now largely play counterpart to the GAFA/UberForX/AirbnbForX narrative.
At @Boundaryless_ we recently spent a few weeks researching the key aspects of *pricing* in platforms and marketplaces to provide the key challenges: here's a thread with what I've learnt 🧵 👇
One of the highlights of a recent conversation we had with @JamesCurrier was that as we move into more vertical/managed marketplace opportunities, a mix of platform-provided services often complements the "transactional" nature of the marketplace and pricing becomes strategic
When thinking about pricing in a platform-marketplace one needs to understand that there are at least 3 contexts where pricing is a fundamental question to be addressed: (1) the transactional marketplace; (2) the product side; (3) and the extensions of the platform.
𝐎𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐬
"best products map to how customers think about their workflow. They match the abstraction level of their customers: not too high that it’s unusable, but not too low that it’s hard to use easily or extend..."
"These are the core concepts around which the entire product is built. They not only align with how customers think of their workflow, but often crystallizes for customers how they ought to. "
The transformation of the firm when transaction cost plummets and potential grows at the edge (a thread)
👇1/18
What is happening in the context of organizing? 1) transaction cost plummets thus elements of the workflow that can be leveraged from outside a firm become more and more compelling (the ratio between transaction cost and interaction value plummets)
2/18
2) As potential grows at the edge many small players become able to provide services vs one big player
3)Contracting cost declines and contracts become abstracted and standardized through technological means (e.g. smart contracts)