The Platform Innovation Kit is based on the latest research and best practices from building and scaling successful platform & ecosystem ventures around the world.
It helps corporates, startups & joint initiatives to ideate, prototype, launch and scale network based business models. It covers all 3 major lifestages of a platform: Ideation, Prototyping/Launch and Growth.
It consists of 3 major components:
Innovation-Plan – a step-by-step plan guiding you from ideation to growth
Set of Canvases – over 12 canvases to facilitate discussions and team work
Assessment – compare yourself against 20 best practices
Additionally you can download the “Platform Innovation Kit App” (iOS only) to get access to a digital assistant supporting you to apply the canvases. Or you download our comprehensive Guides to learn the methodology in detail.
We designed the tool under the Creative Commons license, so that you can download and use it for free.
What we see today is the rise of the platform economy – a shift from linear value chains to value creation networks.
Companies have to move away from the thinking of „my“ product or „my“ service. In a platform world you become the orchestrator of multiple parties. Your job is no longer to develop new products, your job is to facilitate the transaction between the participants.
The standard business model canvas is a perfect tool for linear businesses – we love it too. But using it to design multisided businesses can end up in a mess. That‘s where the PIK will help. Exclusively designed for platforms where you have to manage multiple value propositions.
The “Environment Scan” helps you to discover and analyze important trends impacting your business, sector or broader ecosystems. Includes key technology trends, market trends, industry forces and macroeconomic forces.
The “Value Chain Scan” supports you to understand relevant value chain actors and discover major inefficiencies as a great source for platformization. It also helps to understand money flows.
To support ideation of a portfolio of platform opportunities, the “Platform Opportunity Canvas” facilitates to capture your ideas quickly. It is a stripped-down version of the platform business model canvas.
The “Stakeholder Persona Canvas” helps you to perform a deep-dive into the pains / gains of your stakeholders. Also a great tool to use in validation interviews to test your assumptions.
The “Problem-Platform-Fit Canvas” is a matrix to match your platform offerings to the different stakeholders / users of your platforms. Helps you to better understand the diversity of the segments and the markets (long tail vs. niche).
In a world of digitalization, platforms becoming the new standard for business models. We upgraded to original Business Model Canvas (by Alexander Osterwalder) to the platform world. Using the “Platform Business Model Canvas” allows you to map your platform business incl. new components like multiple customer segments, network effects, multiple revenue streams, etc.
The PBMC serves as Dashboard for your validation journey – you can check / highlight those areas with the most critical assumptions and track progress of your validation tests.
The Platform Value Canvas define the value network of stakeholders of your platform. It helps to validate the value proposition and if it provides enough benefit for each stakeholder segment to join and interact with the platform.
The Platform Services Canvas helps you to define appropriate services you as the platform owner have to provide to facilitate onboarding, match making, transaction and engagement between the stakeholders.
No platform without IT. The Platform Architecture Canvas helps you to define the major components from interfaces (e.g. Apps, website, sensors) to connectivity to the backbone. This is important to understand the major infrastructure.
The Monetization Canvas defines a solid business case for your platform business by looking in detail to your revenue streams and your cost structure. It also helps you to test multiple monetization strategies.
The Stakeholder Relationship Canvas defines helps you to discover relationships between the different stakeholders and what kind of network effects could be leveraged.
The purpose of the Platform Strategy Canvas is to define your go-to-market and resource strategies incl. how you solve the chicken-egg-problem and how you deal with investors.
The Minimal Viable Canvas (simple) helps you to define the core starting features of your platform, based on the riskiest assumptions regarding desirability, viability and feasibility.
The Minimal Viable Canvas (advanced) additionally considers existing assets (maybe you as a corporate have) and key resources. It provides a perfect tool to align on what needs to be tested & developed first.
The Platform Evolution Canvas is a strategy tool and helps you to define the phases of balanced growth of your customer segments (producers & consumers). It helps to visualize how you solve chicken-egg problem but also critical mass.
The Network Effects Canvas helps you to discover same-side and cross-side network effects, their importance / relevance for your platform and how you can stimulate them. An essential source for exponential growth.
With the User Behaviour Canvas you can explore and define appropriate rules and governance elements to foster good behaviour or punish bad behaviour of the users.
The “USP Canvas” helps you to better understand how your platform compares to alternatives / competitive platforms and to define the right positioning strategies to win.
Download the User-Guide + the Canvases for free and start building the future today.Canvases are high-resolution and optimized for A0 printing.
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