The most successful tech companies in the world today are platform companies: Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon.
For the average tech CEO, aspiring to become a platform may feel too lofty, a mountain summit that only the chosen few tech giants reach. But the reality is that some startups are conceived as platforms, and many others pivot there.
Not every company can or should be a platform. But certain offerings, based on the problems they’re solving and how they’re architected, have more of a “right” to be.
Tidemark Fellow and industry veteran Avanish Sahai authored a series of articles for the Highpoint last year on the Why, What and How of building a platform and ecosystem strategy. In this podcast series, Avanish builds on that foundation by interviewing platform leaders about the types of platform and ecosystem opportunities that exist, and the required investments in tech, go-to-market and other key resources to capture the opportunity. We’ll hear from seasoned innovators who have traveled this road before, and what they learned along the way.
Our first episode features a great conversation with Dharmesh Shah, CTO of HubSpot. In this episode Avanish and Dharmesh discuss:
- HubSpot’s journey to becoming a CRM platform
- How to attract partners to the platform and striking the balance between established partners and new native apps
- The importance of being a joy to partner with and having a culture of solving for the customer
- ...and more!
Building a platform company is a journey. It takes product strategy and organizational design, intentionality and executive sponsorship. But the destination is worth reaching. Coupled with an ecosystem of partners, you can create an enviable growth flywheel that can at times seem to run on its own.
What to learn more? Pack your bags and join us on this journey.
Click here to listen to our first episode and subscribe to the podcast series.
