SOWPub Small Business Forums  
 

Click Here to see the latest posts!

Ask any questions related to business / entrepreneurship / money-making / life
or share your success stories (and educational "failures")...

Sign up for the Hidden Business Ideas Letter Free edition, and receive a free report straight to your inbox: "Idea that works in a pandemic: Ordinary housewife makes $50,000 a month in her spare time, using a simple idea - and her driveway..."

NO BLATANT ADS PLEASE
Also, please no insults or personal attacks.
Feel free to link to your web site though at the end of your posts.

Stay up to date! Get email notifications or
get "new thread" feeds here

 

Go Back   SOWPub Small Business Forums > Main Category > SOWPub Business Forum
Register FAQ Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

SOWPub Business Forum Seeds of Wisdom Forum

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old October 18, 2011, 11:53 PM
Richard Dennis
 
Posts: n/a
Default Insider's Eval of Amazon, Google, MS, FB ...

Definitely my nomination for:

Best Rant Ever

Richard Dennis
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old October 20, 2011, 10:52 AM
Dien Rice Dien Rice is online now
Onwards and upwards!
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,357
Default Re: Insider's Eval of Amazon, Google, MS, FB ...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dennis View Post
Definitely my nomination for:

Best Rant Ever
Hi Richard,

Thanks for pointing that "rant" out... I think what he says is true! If you want to "control the world" then you gotta have a "platform"...

A "platform" is something that lets others develop software to be used on that platform. Operating systems (like Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, Android) are all "platforms" and Facebook is also a platform (since companies can create games and other things, all which "work" on Facebook)... Amazon Web Services (which many people don't know about, apart from web developers) is also a platform...

I wonder if the "little guy" can benefit from this concept somehow, though? It's worth pondering, I think...

Looking at it from one point of view, a "platform" is in fact a massive "toll position" - because all these other companies, and everyone who uses products from those companies, are dependent upon your platform... That's (in my opinion) where it's power comes from...

Hmm...

Best wishes,

Dien
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old October 20, 2011, 03:00 PM
Ankesh's Avatar
Ankesh Ankesh is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Mumbai, India
Posts: 692
Default Re: Insider's Eval of Amazon, Google, MS, FB ...

Good point about platform being a toll Dien.

Actually, a platform is harder than a toll position. Its more like a well dug in a desert. You dig a well in a desert and a village grows around it. Toll is charging a fee to folks to use the water from the well.

----

So Apple has had an awesome run this past few years. And its gotten a lot of press and publicity. There is another equally big company that also has had an awesome run. But no one talks about it. IBM.

Where Apple has focused on platforms, IBM has focused on creating toll positions. I mean - IBM has even positioned their salesmen into a toll position -- there are companies who actually tap IBM's sales force to sell their products!

------

I think before thinking if you want to focus on creating a platform or a toll position, you need to look at another factor:

The flow of money.

Some times, you can see the trends of how and where the money is going to flow and dig a well. Other times, you can find a well and build a toll around it. But the main thing is to find the flow.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old October 20, 2011, 11:26 PM
Bozo
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Insider's Eval of Amazon, Google, MS, FB ...

Android is also a platform that supports hundreds (thousands?) of applications. I'm a new smart phone user, and I'm constantly amazed at what can be done with the apps. Read bar codes in the store, scan documents, email, and even make your phone function as a flashlight.

They mostly seem to be ad supported and most of them are free to the user.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old October 22, 2011, 05:24 AM
Dien Rice Dien Rice is online now
Onwards and upwards!
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,357
Default Re: Insider's Eval of Amazon, Google, MS, FB ...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ankesh View Post
Good point about platform being a toll Dien.

Actually, a platform is harder than a toll position. Its more like a well dug in a desert. You dig a well in a desert and a village grows around it. Toll is charging a fee to folks to use the water from the well.
Hi Ankesh - I had to think about this for a little while, but I "get" your metaphor of a well, and of a "village" growing around it, as a metaphor for a platform. Very smart and very appropriate too!

Quote:
So Apple has had an awesome run this past few years. And its gotten a lot of press and publicity. There is another equally big company that also has had an awesome run. But no one talks about it. IBM.

Where Apple has focused on platforms, IBM has focused on creating toll positions. I mean - IBM has even positioned their salesmen into a toll position -- there are companies who actually tap IBM's sales force to sell their products!
I don't know much about this. I read Louis Gerstner's book "Who says elephants can't dance?" (about how he turned around IBM after its "downfall"), but that was several years ago. Could you explain further what you mean, with respect to IBM?

Quote:
I think before thinking if you want to focus on creating a platform or a toll position, you need to look at another factor:

The flow of money.

Some times, you can see the trends of how and where the money is going to flow and dig a well. Other times, you can find a well and build a toll around it. But the main thing is to find the flow.
I agree that where there is an existing flow of money, it is often possible to get a part of it! If you can identify a toll position to help you with that, it's probably easier to succeed in doing so...

Best wishes,

Dien
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Other recent posts on the forum...


Seeds of Wisdom Publishing (front page) | Seeds of Wisdom Business forum | Seeds of Wisdom Original Business Forum (Archive) | Hidden Unusual Business Ideas Newsletter | Hotsheet Profits | Persuade via Remote Influence | Affia Band | The Entrepreneur's Hotsheet | The SeedZine (Entrepreneurial Ezine)

Get the report on Harvey Brody's Answers to a Question-Oriented-Person


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:02 AM.


Powered by vBulletin Version 3.6.0
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.