The Communications Office and the Student Media Cell of IIM Bangalore bring to you the IIMB Podcast Series, a platform to discuss the latest business, economic, management, and social issues that matter. The Podcast series, now in its second year, witnesses IIM Bangalore fraternity, including but not limited to the faculty members, alumni, and students, providing their insights and perspectives on the topics and issues that surround us.

The seventeenth episode of the series, on July 11^th, will feature a conversation with Dr. R. Srinivasan, Professor in the Strategy area at IIM Bangalore, on Platform Business Models. He recently authored a book with the same title and released a MOOC on IIMBx, built on Open edX, one of the fastest-growing e-Learning platforms in the Indian subcontinent.

Platforms, as a business model, are very different from traditional businesses which operate like a pipeline, with product/services flowing in one direction, money in the other direction. A platform model in contrast, consists of infrastructure information, and a set of rules for users to engage, and together they create value. This episode features discussions around the functioning of a platform, how they grow, the various types of platforms that exist and the architectural elements of platforms. Prof. R Srinivasan also talks about the reasons for the recent growth in the number of platform businesses and the impact caused by higher penetration of Internet and smartphones. The episode touches upon how the landscape has become quite competitive, and what determines a winner in this virtual race, which begins from solving the chicken-egg problem in acquiring the first block of customers but does not end, rather becomes even more challenging, upon establishing dominance through setting standards. 

Towards the end, the episode delves into the extent to which regulations and market maturity affect success, while drawing parallels between the developing countries and the West, and opportunities that exist through overcoming traditional market inefficiencies.