Solving chicken and egg dilemma in online platform startup: value proposition in focus
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School of Business |
Master's thesis
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Date
2017
Department
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Mcode
Degree programme
Management and International Business (MIB)
Language
en
Pages
94
Series
Abstract
Objectives Over the last decade, platforms have disrupted the way that brick and mortar businesses usually operate. Their success is phenomenal with striking example of Ebay, Google and LinkedIn but their failure rate is admittedly high as well. The ultimate benefits of such business depend largely on the interaction between multiple sides of the market through a common platform. How to drive initial liquidity to the marketplace and get both sides on board (chicken-and-egg dilemma) is the very first challenge to any platform startups. Addressing the gap in extant literature which neglect the importance of what values perceived by sellers and buyers during the user retention process, this research aims to design a benchmarking system with value proposition in focus that will assist new platform owners in realizing the parallel measurements of success and picking up the best practices to solve the chicken-and-egg dilemma. Thus the study focused on the following research questions: (1) What are different types of e-marketplace based on its value proposition to buyers and sellers? (2) What are effective strategies and business tactics to overcome chicken and egg problem in each type of e-marketplace? Methodology The research utilized qualitative multiple case study approach to help yield rich data on such complex research structure. Three case companies were selected based on criteria obtained from literature review, taking into consideration its availability of data on studied topic. The data was mainly collected from companies’ resources, reputable media discussions and academic analysis. Narrative approach was deployed to analyze available information. Findings The research findings categorized platform businesses into three categories: Growth Platform, Value Added Platform and Innovation Platform. Each of these platforms corresponds to a set of business tactics and strategies that help it to overcome the chicken-and-egg dilemma. Regardless of categories, the three cases used a combination of strategies and gave high priority to testing out its services with marquee users which is in agreement with the lean methodology that has become popular among startups as well as incumbents towards innovation. In addition, the result showed that platform transition is possible between the three categories in different phrases or expectedly with different values brought to users.Description
Thesis advisor
Koveshnikov, AlexeiKeywords
chicken-and-egg dilemma, platform, value proposition, platform strategy, platform typology