Entrepreneur lesson #9: Two-sided markets are uphill battles until you win

Many of the founders I work with are interested in finding a way to become a platform company. Having customers and complementors engage with each other and taking a cut of each transaction is an incredibly attractive concept that anyone in their right mind would love to realize. It feels like a money-printing machine that just keeps going without you having to do anything.

Although the reality of running a platform company often isn’t as rosy as it may seem from the outside, it simply is true that owning a successful platform is one of the most effective moats you can have around your business. Once you’ve achieved critical mass and passed the “ignition point” where the flywheel of the ecosystem based on the platform is self-sustaining, it’s a great place to be for any enterprise.