13388: Where Will the Next Wave of Multi-Sided Platform Companies Emerge?

Tuesday, July 29, 2025

12:00 - 13:30 CEST (GMT+2)

Location: Bella Center: Hall B- B3-m7

Session Type: Symposium (panel)
Orientation: Practice,International,Research
Shareable link: https://cdmcd.co/PnYLXG

Participant(s)

TL

Ted Ladd

Hult International Business School, United States
EA

Elizabeth J. Altman

U. of Massachusetts Lowell, United States
TB

Tommaso Buganza

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AG

Annabelle Gawer

U. of Surrey, United Kingdom
GG

Grace Gu

USC Marshall School of Business, University Of Southern California, United States
DT

Daniel Trabucchi

Politecnico di Milano School of Management, Italy
MV

Marshall Van Alstyne

Boston U., United States

Multi-sided platform marketplaces connect at least two groups of customers together, enabling complex value creation and capture systems. Over the last decade, they have dominated entire industries, attracting billions of users and dollars of capital. Interestingly, most of the world’s most successful platforms (based on market capitalization) were founded primarily in North America and secondarily in Asia, with only a few founded in Europe and almost none elsewhere. Moreover, business-to-consumer platforms have grown faster than business-to-business platforms. And platforms have had more success per capita in cities than rural locations. This symposium assembles some of the world’s platform experts to describe their explanations and predictions for the locations, industries, and business models that will fuel the next wave of successful platforms. The session will conclude with a discussion among the panelists and audience for a research agenda to guide future efforts in this evolving field.