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…
(@g2parker) is a professor of engineering at Dartmouth College where he also serves as Director of the Master of Engineering Management Program. He is also a visiting scholar the MIT Sloan School and a research fellow at the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy where he leads platform industry research studies. Together with Marshall, Geoff co-founded and co-chairs the annual MIT Platform Strategy Summit.
He received a B.S.E. from Princeton and M.S. and Ph.D. from MIT. Geoff has made significant contributions to the field of network economics and strategy as co-developer of the theory of “two-sided” markets and is co-author of the book Platform Revolution. Geoff’s current research includes studies of platform business strategy, data governance, healthcare systems, and platform approaches to managing distributed and renewable energy resources. He is a frequent keynote speaker and advises senior leaders on their organizations’ platform strategies. Geoff spends as much time as possible on and around water, canoeing, kayaking, rowing, and sailing.
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Awards (5)
(@InfoEcon) is coauthor of the international bestseller Platform Revolution . He is one of the world’s experts on network business models and is Everett Lord Distinguished Scholar at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. He is a frequent speaker, board level advisor, and consultant to startups and global firms. Marshall’s research has received over 10,000 Google Scholar citations and won half a dozen academic awards.
Together with Geoffrey Parker and Nobel laureate Jean Tirole, he developed the concept of two-sided markets used extensively in platform business models. Results and commentary have appeared in journals such as Science , Nature and Harvard Business Review . Interviews appear regularly across Bloomberg , The Economist , The New York Times , The Wall Street Journal and National Public Radio . Geoff and Marshall co-founded the MIT Platform Summit and Boston University Symposium, which they have co-chaired since 2013. He received a BA in computer science from Yale and MS and Ph.D. in information systems economics from MIT. He holds multiple patents; was among the first to measure the dollar value of social networks, and his theories of network businesses are taught worldwide. He is a husband and dad, who loves dogs, exercise, travel, and questions of governance.
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Awards (12)
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Platform Ecosystems:
How developers Invert the
Firm (2017) wont MIS
Quarterly paper of the year
Platform Revolution (2016) is an
award winning international
bestseller translated into eight
languages (and counting)
Pipelines, Platforms & The New
Rules of Strategy (2016) is a
Harvard Business Review
"Must Read"
Strategies for Two Sided Markets
(2006) is a Harvard Business
Review classic taught in business
schools wordlwide
CORPORATIONSONSITE EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
1-3 days at location of your choice
by private arrangement
BU EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
1-3 days in Boston, MA, $2600
request here
STUDENTSGEOFF/MIT/EMERITUS MOOC:
3 months online, $1400
request here
DARTMOUTH MEM PROGRAM:
Students interested in a Master’s of Engineering, with platform applications can
apply here
DARTMOUTH PHD PROGRAM:
Students interested in conducting original platform research and changing the shape of industries might consider applying for a doctorate. Existing platform research projects concern platform M&A, product complexity, strategy & policy.
more details
MVA EDX MOOC:
A free six week course is available online
request here
BU MBA PROGRAM:
Students interesting in platform applications or working in platform industries might consider
applying
BU PhD PROGRAM:
Students interested in conducting original platform research and changing the shape of industries might consider applying. Existing research projects concern platform M&A, valuation, news bias, strategy, antitrust, and social policy.
more details
SELECTED TOPICSThis popular keynote describes structural changes in the economy, what to do about these changes, and why platforms always beat products.
One of a platform’s biggest challenges is determining what to open and what to close. Which of four different business models are better at growth through open innovation? Which are profitable? This talk provides answers.
Platform strategy differs fundamentally from product strategy. If you’re thinking using product strategy you are bound to get it wrong. Barriers to entry shift instead to frictionless entry. Products have features but platforms have communities. This critical keynote gives you tools to understand why platform strategy beats product strategy every time.
Here we tell you how to solve the chicken-or-egg problem of creating a market when you don’t yet have critical mass. We also tell you how to convert an existing product into a platform.
Learn different methods for making money when platforms often give things away for free. We developed some of the original math behind two-sided markets and our popular article has become a Harvard Business Review classic. This talk summarizes key ways to drive revenue.
Building successful platforms requires knowing what components are necessary.Where do you start? How do platforms go viral? How do you engineer network effects? How do markets work? This speech teaches you how growth and matching are done properly.
Not everything platforms do is great for society. If badly behaved, they can spread fake news, promote discrimination, and deskill work. This speech describes how platforms can avoid such problems and how regulators should intervene when necessary.
The biggest firms in the world by market cap are platforms. They tend to dominate in winner-take-all contexts. How does the new antitrust differ from the old and what remedies are truly appropriate for creating social value?
Rules for creating value, dividing value, and settling conflict matter. What levers should a platform leader pull in order to grow and manage a healthy ecosystem? This speech presents years of analysis of major platform firms.
SELECTED SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
VIDEO EXAMPLES
We’ve been fortunate to work with a wide range of organizations from industry, academia
and government as both research partners and on an advisory basis.
AT&T, BearingPoint, C Spire, CUBIC, Deutsche Bank, GE Africa, Haier Corporation, Huawei, Trumpf,Philips Lighting, PwC, Siemens, State of New York, Thomson Reuters, Houghton Mifflin Corporation, Mindtree Corporation,
Mass Mutual, United States Postal Service,International Post Corp., SAP Corp., Cellular South, Microsoft Corp., Pearson Publishing, Elsevier, NTT Corporation, 9, Huawei Corporation, IBM, Alibaba, Mulesoft, Apigee,
Cisco, France Telecom, Telecom Italia, British Telecom, Accenture, HSM Brazil, Dong-A Business Forum, BASF, Mahindra Corporation, BMW, UBS, HSBC, PTC, Viacom, Dassault Systems, BNY Mellon, Deloitte
BOARD OF DIRECTORS TRAINING -Firms have requested our training and consultation for over a dozen boards at high tech, international, startup, and Fortune 500 firms.
EXPERT WITNESS – We have been asked to provide expert advice in tax and antitrust cases.
EXECUTIVE TEAM FACILITATION – Need to prepare your executives (or your industry) for platform transformation? We’ve done dozens of private engagements while our open enrollment course typically scores above 4.8 out of 5.
RETAINER – Given time constraints, very few of these are available.
STRATEGY CONSULTING – Short term engagements are available on a negotiated basis.
CONSULTING PARTNERS – We have relationships with leading firms that can help to bring larger projects to a successful conclusion.
STUDENT PROJECTS – We teach platform strategy in the spring and fall semesters. If you have a platform challenge you’d like solved, students will produce a curated 25 page report for $3k. Propose a student project.
Have a platform question? Join us each month for a free ask-me-anything (AMA). Interested in community events?
Join us at the MIT Platform Summit or the BU Platform Symposium, which Geoff and Marshall co-founded to support industry executives and
explore the best academic research. Interested in the latest talk? Check here for upcoming events near you.
UPCOMING EVENTS
COLLABORATORS
DR. EDWARD
ANDERSON
Professor of Operations Management
at the University of Texas
more info
SANGEET
CHOUDARY
C-Level executive
advisor
more info
DR. PETER
EVANS
Principal in the
Innovation & Enterprise
Solutions group
more info
DR. ANDREI
HAGIU
Associate Professor of
Information Systems of
Boston University’s
more info
TEACHERS
