3. Business
● Solving problem
● Create Value
● Satisfying Stakeholder
4. Platform Thinking &
Startup Ideas
“Match an unmonetized/unvalued
surplus with an unsatisfied scarcity”
Sangeet Paul, - Platform Junkiee
5. Definition
● Unmonetized/unvalued surplus: This implies that there is
some form of surplus which cannot be monetized at the
moment. However, given the opportunity, the owners would
want to monetize it. A similar dynamic exists for surplus
that isn’t currently valued by an audience/market (e.g. a
person’s creativity)
● Unsatisfied scarcity: The second important factor is
scarcity. More specifically, scarcity that isn’t currently
optimally satisfied. There might be solutions to the scarcity
but none of them are optimal enough
6. Example
AirBnB YouTube
A surplus of accommodation A surplus of niche creativity
in a particular location during MEET
a certain time period
A scarcity of niche
MEET entertainment
A scarcity of accommodation
in that same location during
the same time period
7. Approach to solve
problem
● Stuff Approach
Create More Stuff
● Optimization Approach
Aggregate all the information on the stuff out there
Leverage algorithms to optimally match the right stuff
with a consumer’s desire
● Platform Approach
create more inventory without creating more stuff
8. Essence
● The ‘stuff’ approach: How can we create more
stuff whenever the problem crops up?
● The ‘optimization’ approach: How can we better
distribute the stuff already created to minimize
waste?
● The ‘platform’ approach: How can we redefine
‘stuff’ and find new ways of solving the same
problem?
9. Example (AirBnB)
ACCOMMODATION PROBLEM
Problem: I’m traveling to city X and I need to end myself
some accommodation
● The ‘stuff’ approach (Sheraton): Create more hotels/room
● The ‘optimization’ approach (Agoda): build review sites to
help make the right decision.
● The ‘platform’ approach (AirBnB): How can we redefine
travelers’ accommodation? How about enabling anyone
with a spare room and mattress to run their own BnB?
10. Example Again (Twitter)
NEWS PROBLEM
Problem: I need to know about what’s happening around
the world
● The ‘stuff’ approach (NY Times): Hire more journalists, get
more news
● The ‘optimization’ approach (Google News): Rank news
stories and serve readers with the matches closest to what
they’re looking for.
● The ‘platform’ approach (Twitter): Redefine the journalist.
Everyone can create and distribute news now.
