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Arvind Karunakaran, Assistant Professor in Strategy & Organization, awarded 2019 SSHRC Insight Development Grant

Entrepreneurship around Multi-sided Platforms

Multi-sided platforms are becoming prevalent in many industries. These platforms could be conceptualized as a set of interrelated products and technologies that serve as foundations upon which other firms can build complementary products and services. Platforms reduce barriers to entry and provide a fertile ground for new firm creation, offering entrepreneurs with access to a customer base, variety of technological toolkits, and channels for marketing and brand building. However, the entrepreneurs who build their business around platforms also face several challenges. First, these entrepreneurs need to work with the current rules and structures set by the platform provider. Second, they also need to interpret and make sense of the various strategic actions taken by the platform provider, and in turn adjust their strategies accordingly. The purpose of this research is to understand the various categories of risks faced by nascent entrepreneurial firms who build their business around multi-sided platforms.

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