Catalyst Code

More and more traditional businesses have developed the characteristics of what the authors call platform businesses that operate in multi-sided markets. A multi-sided market is one in which two or more distinct parties need each other and benefit by interacting with each other. A platform business is one that facilitates these interactions safely and securely by serving as a match maker such as a dating website that introduces and brings the distinct parties together and is paid for these matchmaking services, or a cost cutter like an auctioneer or a credit card company that expedites such interactions with great speed and efficiency, or a crowd pleaser like a magazine or a rock band that amasses large audiences of desirable customers whom other businesses want to reach. This concept of a business model - one where there is one seller and at least two buyers - differs significantly