The platform dilemma: Growth vs. profitability
Every platform CEO faces a defining choice: grow fast, or protect margins.
In this video, Xu Zhang, Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School, explores how bargaining power in platform markets depends on one key factor: who brings users.
Partners with strong demand have more leverage early on, but as the platform scales, that power shifts back.
The takeaway is simple: growth is not automatically a win. The right strategy builds leverage, not dependency.
Every platform CEO faces a defining choice: grow fast, or protect margins.
In this video, Xu Zhang, Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School, explores how bargaining power in platform markets depends on one key factor: who brings users.
Partners with strong demand have more leverage early on, but as the platform scales, that power shifts back.
The takeaway is simple: growth is not automatically a win. The right strategy builds leverage, not dependency.