I was having a jam session today with Steve Kane and Keith Bostic (just before the storm), and we got to talking about platforms.

I think most platforms have evolved from a successful app, where someone woke up and said, “wow, let’s generalize this and build some APIs.”  Can you think of a successful platform that didn’t come about this way?

Platform plays are seductive:  “hey, instead of fighting the war, let’s just sell the bullets!”.   The problem is platforms take all of the risks of a startup, and double them.  You have to not only build a successful platform, but you have to convince folks to build (or build yourself) successful apps.  You may enjoy some artificial success at first, but unless you have app builders enjoying sustainable success, your platform won’t enjoy sustainable success.

When I hear someone pitching a platform, I usually try to convince them to build a successful app first.  A platform play is an opportunity you earn the right to have.