Platform Innovation™ Weekly Round Up – June 6

Here’s what we’ve been reading this week.

1. Katie Couric Talks to Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky About Secret Plans goo.gl/pokJLD

Airbnb founder and CEO Brian Chesky speaks to Katie Couric about Airbnb’s plans for expansion and how the company got started (Cap’n McCains!). He also talks about how important trust and safety are for platforms — note that about 100 of Airbnb’s 1000 employees work in Trust and Safety. Couric also interviews an Airbnb host, who offers a good overview of the value Airbnb offers to its producers.

2. Lyft now offering drivers discounts on AT&T cell phone plans, spa treatments, movies http://goo.gl/X7Pwzy

In it’s fight for platform dominance, Lyft is going all out to get producers on board. They know that whoever controls the producer ecosystem will win. So on the heels of a $250mm round of funding, Lyft is now offering more perks to drivers. Discount massage, anyone?

3. Uber Gets an Uber-Valuation goo.gl/Ar47gX

Uber announced that it raised $1.2 billion in additional funding, at a valuation of $18 billion. That’s a lot of spa treatments.

4. Social Capital: The Secret Behind Airbnb and Uber goo.gl/FrKpX

An interesting look at the different kinds of social capital and how they help to create the trust needed to facilitate digital interactions.

5. Study: How Corporations are Deploying in the Collaborative Economy goo.gl/4ErpBe

The founder of Crowd Companies looks at how large companies can benefit from new business models (platforms) in the collaborative economy.

6. A video history of iOS goo.gl/MSHMCg

A cool look at the history of iOS and how it’s changed over the years. And don’t forget to check out Applico CTO Matt Power’s review of iOS8.

7. From Social Media to the Sharing Economy: The Three Drivers of Business Disruption goo.gl/Htpd4C

Platform expert Sangeet Paul Choudary identifies three shifts that led to the rise of platforms. For more from Choudary, check out recent Applico interview.

8. The Platform Wars goo.gl/7LKFJh

With Apple upping the ante at this year’s WWDC, Techcrunch’s Alex Wilhelm looks at the state of the mobile OS platform wars.

Filed under: Platform Innovation | Topics: Airbnb, iOS, Lyft, news, Platform Startup Advisory, platforms, Uber