EdX

Platform Strategy for Business (edX)

Offered by Boston University, BUx,
Platform Strategy for Business (edX)

Learn how to design, launch, monetize and compete in a networked platform market. Firms such as Apple, Alibaba, Facebook, SalesForce, Uber and Yelp operate as platform ecosystems that match buyers and sellers, gain value and market share from network effects, and harness their users to innovate. This course teaches you how to convert products to platforms and how to generate platform innovation. You will learn how to negotiate platform startup, convert existing businesses, and make vital decisions on issues of openness, cannibalization, and competition.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see EdX's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

You will discover how to apply concepts from two sided networks, information asymmetry, pricing, intellectual property, and game theory to real problems.

This course is taught by the instructor who literally wrote the book on this topic, “Platform Revolution: How Networked Markets Are Transforming the Economy—and How to Make Them Work for You.”
This course is part of the Digital Transformation Leadership MicroMasters Program.

What you'll learn

  • How to successfully launch and design a business platform
  • Why platform firms beat product firms and how the structure of platform firms is fundamentally different
  • Why traditional platform pricing models fail and how to choose a successful pricing model
  • How to compete in winner-take-all network markets

Course Syllabus

Week 1: Foundations
What’s happening in the economy. Why platform firms are fundamentally different than product firms.

Week 2: Architecture
Components of and design principles of successful platforms.

Week 3: Launch
Strategies for solving the chicken-or-egg problem and how to gain critical mass.

Week 4: Monetization
Why pricing is different in platform markets and how to choose price.

Week 5: Open vs Closed
How Steve Jobs got it wrong the 1st time. How to choose what to give away and what to keep.

Week 6: Strategy
Why product strategies fail for platforms and how to compete in a network market.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Introduction to the Music Business (edX) EdX
Berklee College of Music,BerkleeX

Introduction to the Music Business (edX)

Film & Audio

Learn the latest about the rapidly changing music industry from recording, publishing, and distribution to legal issues confronting music commerce. Three things are clear about today’s music industry: The consumption of music is expanding at the greatest rate in history and from the most portals ever imagined, the cost of producing music is decreasing, and the number of artists creating and seeking to expose their work and develop careers through the Internet has increased dramatically.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Business Music Music Industry
Details
Strategic Management (edX) EdX
Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore,IIMBx

Strategic Management (edX)

Management & Leadership

Learn how a manager or CEO develops a business strategy, including analyzing the market and creating competitive advantage. In this business and management course, you will develop a strong understanding of how firms compete by learning about important analytical approaches that underlie business strategy.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Business Management Strategy
Details
Critical Thinking & Problem Solving (edX) EdX
Rochester Institute of Technology,RITx

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving (edX)

Marketing & Communication Business

The most successful professionals are able to assess the environment, analyze a situation, design a solution, and ultimately win in a competitive scenario. In today’s business environment, organizations have identified critical thinking and problem-solving as skills that are integral to an employee’s—and their organization’s—success.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Business Critical Thinking Problem Solving
Details
Advanced Corporate Strategy (edX) EdX
Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore,IIMBx

Advanced Corporate Strategy (edX)

Business

Learn how to manage a multi-business firm using tools and frameworks of corporate strategy. This course is offered for students who seek advanced exposure to corporate strategy. It builds on IIMBx course “Strategic Management” which dealt with strategies for single business firms. The principal focus of this course will be the strategic issues that are faced by firms operating in more complex, multi-dimensional environments.

Self Paced
5-12 Weeks
Business Strategy Corporate Strategy
Details
Supply Chain Design (edX) EdX
MIT,MITx

Supply Chain Design (edX)

Management & Leadership Engineering

Learn how to design and optimize the physical, financial, and information flows of a supply chain to enhance business performance – part of the MITx MicroMasters Credential in Supply Chain Management. CTL.SC2x Supply Chain Design covers all aspects involved in the design of supply chains for companies and organizations anywhere in the world. The course is divided into four main topic areas: Physical flow design, Supply chain finance, Information flow design, and Organization/Process design.

Self Paced
13-24 Weeks
Business Supply Chain Design Supply Chain
Details
Circular Economy: An Introduction (edX) EdX
Delft University of Technology,DelftX

Circular Economy: An Introduction (edX)

Management & Leadership Engineering

Ready to make a difference? Learn how to contribute to a sustainable economic system by implementing novel business and design approaches! Our global society is not sustainable. We all know about the challenges we’re facing: waste, climate change, resource scarcity, loss of biodiversity. At the same time, we want to sustain our economies and offer opportunities for a growing world population. This course is about providing solutions we really believe in: a Circular Economy.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Business Sustainability Circular Economy
Details
Introduction to Project Management (edX) EdX
University of Adelaide,AdelaideX

Introduction to Project Management (edX)

Management & Leadership

Learn the principles of project management and apply them in your own work and life. Project management is an essential skill-set for many careers and in many contexts in our lives. Introduction to Project Management is an ideal starting point if you need to manage projects at work or at home, while not necessarily being a formally trained project manager. It is also suitable if you are considering undertaking a project in the near future and are seeking to learn and apply essential project management knowledge and skills.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Business Management Project Management
Details
Introduction to Bookkeeping (edX) EdX
ACCA

Introduction to Bookkeeping (edX)

Management & Leadership Economics & Finance

Start learning at your own pace to get a qualification and a career in business and finance, with this introduction level course from ACCA-X. Interested in a career in accounting? Want to stand out from the crowd? Look no further, this is the place to start. As accounting is so integral to the successful running of a business, the Introduction to Bookkeeping course is designed to arm you with the fundamentals you need to grasp the basic concepts underpinning accounting.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Finance Business Accounting
Details
An Introduction to Credit Risk Management (edX) EdX
Delft University of Technology,DelftX

An Introduction to Credit Risk Management (edX)

Management & Leadership Economics & Finance

What is credit risk? Why is it so important, in modern economies, to correctly deal with it? This course combines theory with practice to answer these questions. Imagine that you are a bank and a main part of your daily business is to lend money. Unfortunately, lending money is a risky business - there is no 100% guarantee that you will get all your money back. If the borrower defaults, you will face losses in your portfolio.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Business Management Risk Management
Details
Managing Disruptive Change (edX) EdX
RWTH Aachen,RWTHx

Managing Disruptive Change (edX)

Management & Leadership

Get yourself and your company ready to face disruptive trends in your industry – be ahead of the wave, don’t get buried underneath. Disruption is simultaneously the greatest threat and the biggest opportunity for any business. While some companies proactively manage this potential risk and leverage it to further grow their business, others fall behind by not acknowledging the profound impact that this type of change might have.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Business Management Disruption
Details
Customer-Centric Innovation (edX) EdX
RWTH Aachen,RWTHx

Customer-Centric Innovation (edX)

Management & Leadership

Learn to take on competition by creating successful and innovative ideas for your business through a thorough understanding of your customers’ needs. Addressing the needs of your customers is the core factor of managing innovation successfully. Exactly this is the task of the first stages of an innovation project. In this course, you will learn about key concepts and methods of generating customer-centric business ideas and innovative concepts.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Business Innovation Competitive
Details