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Matchmakers

The New Economics of Multisided Platforms

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Matchmakers

By: Richard Schmalensee, David S. Evans
Narrated by: John McLain
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About this listen

Many of the most dynamic public companies, from Alibaba to Facebook to Visa, and the most valuable start-ups, such as Airbnb and Uber, are matchmakers that connect one group of customers with another group of customers. Economists call matchmakers multisided platforms because they provide physical or virtual platforms for multiple groups to get together. Dating sites connect people with potential matches, for example, and ride-sharing apps do the same for drivers and riders. Although matchmakers have been around for millennia, they're becoming more and more popular - and profitable - due to dramatic advances in technology, and a lot of companies that have managed to crack the code of this business model have become today's power brokers.

Don't let the flashy successes fool you, though. Starting a matchmaker is one of the toughest business challenges, and almost everyone who tries to build one, fails.

In Matchmakers, David Evans and Richard Schmalensee, two economists who were among the first to analyze multisided platforms and discover their principles, and who've consulted for some of the most successful platform businesses in the world, explain how matchmakers work best in practice, why they do what they do, and how entrepreneurs can improve their chances for success.

Whether you're an entrepreneur, an investor, a consumer, or an executive, your future will involve more and more multisided platforms, and Matchmakers - rich with stories from platform winners and losers - is the one book you'll need in order to navigate this appealing but confusing world.

Cover design by Stephani Finks.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2016 David S. Evans and Richard Schmalensee (P)2016 Audible, Inc.
E-Commerce Economics Entrepreneurship Forecasting & Strategic Planning Management New Business Enterprises Business Inspiring
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What listeners say about Matchmakers

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    4 out of 5 stars

great book, hard to listen at times

good information, and really good to get an over view of marketplace economics.

However, at times I find the narrator a little robotic. Like listening to a computer, which left me to switch off on a number of occasions.

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Fine intro to platforms

Ok book, looked into some companies and explained their Journey. A little too long for My taste in case of too much storyteling instead of cold facts delivered

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It's okay, just

Repetitive message, made worse by overdramatic narration. While some of the case studies are interesting, in general this book could have been summarised in one chapter

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A must read for the modern tech entrepreneur

Nicely combines economic theory, case studies , risk strategy and common sense in a few hours.
It's up there with the work from Carlota Perez and other platform literature.
Written by two very smart guys!

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Excellent book

This book provides an excellent and precise analysis of multi-sided platform innovation. I will highly recommend it for executives to understand the fundamentals of this powerful development.

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