Today we have a very special episode for you. It’s different because we typically bring you conversations between a host and one, sometimes two guests that are 45 minutes or so in length.

Today’s episode is a deep dive into one very specific topic with two people who have very deep domain expertise in this field. And this episode is 2 hours and 45 minutes long.

The idea here is to really take the time to tackle one very specific topic and go super deep on it.

The two experts are Jonah McIntire, who has been a regular contributor to The Logistics Tribe, both as a host and a guest. And Märten Veskimäe, who’s currently a product strategist at Transporeon.

Both are super deep thinkers on this topic. They look at examples of businesses that are platforms vs. businesses that aren’t, what the defining attributes of platforms are, what areas of logistics and supply chain platforms are suitable for, what successful platforms do differently, how they compete against other platforms and much more.

Here is a LinkedIn post that Jonah has prepared that will accompany this podcast episode: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jonahmcintire_hey-linkedin-network-today-i-released-activity-6980135736381480960-grEl?

Please visit the post and contribute to the discussion. You can also let us know there, how you like the content of this episode.

We really appreciate your feedback on this.

Today's topic breakdown:

- Examples of businesses that are platforms vs. businesses that look like platforms but aren't really platforms.

- Platforms in the real world and platforms in the digital space

- The defining attributes of platforms and what makes platforms different

- In which areas of logistics and supply chain management are platforms suitable and useful

- Are forwarders platforms? Are Uber or Uber Freight actually a platform?

- Are there differences between companies with network effects and platforms?

- The role of platforms in standardization, particularly in logistics

- How do you measure and assess platform businesses vs non-platform businesses?

- The cold start problem and how platforms can get off the ground in logistics

- What successful platforms do differently. What are the critical success factors to succeed in attracting and keeping users?

- Success factors for logistics platforms to compete against other logistics platforms

- Notable platforms in logistics by segment

- Future outlook on platforms in logistics and supply chain

- Takeaways

Please visit Jonah's LinkedIn post on this episode: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jonahmcintire_hey-linkedin-network-today-i-released-activity-6980135736381480960-grEl?