Showing results by author "Marshall W. Van Alstyne" in All Categories

Facebook, PayPal, Alibaba, Uber - these seemingly disparate companies have upended entire industries by harnessing a single phenomenon: the platform business model. Platform Revolution delivers the first comprehensive analysis of how platforms use technology to match producers and consumers in a multisided marketplace, unlocking hidden resources and creating new forms of value. When a company like Uber connects drivers with passengers, everybody wins - except traditional cab companies, which are scrambling to survive.

Back in 2011, crowdsourcing was fueling an explosion in open innovation. At that time, most Fortune 500 firms had launched crowdsourcing initiatives or partnered with startups in order to access outside innovators or co-create with customers. The providers of crowdsource solutions had their heyday. Kaggle had raised $11M from Koshla Ventures. InnoCentive raised $7M and bought OmniCompete. TopCoder stepped from strength to strength, raising $11M in 2010.