# Platform Strategy **Domain:** Technology / Enterprise **Doc Type:** Concept Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition **Platform Strategy** is the disciplined choice and use of digital platforms according to their economics, audience composition, control structure, and role within a larger portfolio. ## Mechanism and Practice Platforms concentrate different forms of attention and monetize them differently. A resilient strategy learns across networks, avoids captivity to one interface, and preserves direct assets that can survive a platform shift. ## Relationships - **Related concepts:** [[wiki/Platform Ownership|Platform Ownership]] · [[wiki/Capital Ownership|Capital Ownership]] · [[wiki/Social Capital|Social Capital]] ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > “Experience compounds across platforms. A team that has grown large audiences on one network understands how to grow on the next. Cross-platform presence also keeps social capital from becoming captive to a single interface.” > **— Bryant McGill**, *Building Social Capital for Social Good - Livestream (Mar 2016)* [[reminders/Social Capital/Cross-Platform Experience Compounds by Bryant McGill|Cross-Platform Experience Compounds by Bryant McGill]] > “Every social network makes money in its own way. Some monetize directly through advertising and others indirectly through attention, influence, and partnerships. Understanding each platform's economy helps a creator choose where to invest effort.” > **— Bryant McGill**, *Reusing Creative Work Across Changing Platforms - Livestream (Mar 2016)* [[reminders/Capital Ownership/Understand Every Platform's Economy by Bryant McGill|Understand Every Platform's Economy by Bryant McGill]] > “Choose foundations for the next five years. Replatforming means weighing modern frameworks, future platform changes, staffing limits, and what will make the system hard to copy. Thinking in abstract terms about where technology is heading prevents painful rebuilds.” > **— Bryant McGill**, *Building a Community Platform for Durable Creative Work - Livestream (Aug 2016)* [[reminders/Innovation/Choose Foundations for the Next Five Years by Bryant McGill|Choose Foundations for the Next Five Years by Bryant McGill]] > “New platforms deserve a serious look even when their origins seem frivolous. Snapchat began with a reputation for playful and private messaging, then grew into a tool used by major news outlets and brands. Judging a platform by where it is heading reveals more than judging it by where it started.” > **— Bryant McGill**, *Reusing Creative Work Across Changing Platforms - Livestream (Mar 2016)* [[reminders/Innovation/Judge Platforms by Where They Are Heading by Bryant McGill|Judge Platforms by Where They Are Heading by Bryant McGill]]