Platforms are not optional
A product without a platform is a dead end. A platform without a product is a science project.
You need both. A little of both. The first product pays the freight to establish the platform’s contours. The second product goes faster because it reuses the first. Leverage compounds.
Bezos figured this out early
Every team at Amazon had to expose their data and functionality through service interfaces. Mandatory. No exceptions. This forced the organization to think like a platform company from the inside out. It’s why AWS exists.
Stevey’s Google Platforms Rant
The hard part
Platform work feels like cost when you’re staring down the barrel of the cash or delivery or launch gun. And, true - this is hair raising. Always remember though that it’s the single largest long-term value driver in software.
- The first product sets the platform’s shape. Patterns get hardened that everything downstream inherits.
- The second product validates the platform. If it goes faster, the bet paid. If it doesn’t, the platform isn’t a platform yet.
- Snowflakes are the opposite - every one-of-a-kind delivery is leverage going the wrong way. The platform decays under the weight of bespoke implementations.
Products without platforms scale linearly with headcount. Platforms enable your products to scale logrithmically.
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