A business model is a crucial part of the life of any business. In fact, although there are many ways of monetizing. A business model isn’t only about monetization. Instead, that is more about the overall value unlocked by the business and how it affects several stakeholders. In fact, if we look at most of the companies that have been wildly successful in the last decades (Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Facebook), those companies were able to involve several players before being able to scale up.
For instance, Google before becoming wildly profitable it spent some time tinkering with several monetizations strategy before coming up with its advertising networks which involved three main players as explained here.
Quora and the content value matrix
Quora recently started to monetize the platform by testing an advertising program that allows publisher and businesses to add their product or service to the Quora’s feed with a text ad. The company has been very successful in building a trusted platform where users post any question, asked by committed non-professional writers. Besides, on Quora often famous writers and authors host Q&A sessions that make the platform even more engaging.
Wolfram Alpha: the smartest engine around (so far)
Wolfram Alpha is the search engine created by a former physicist turned a successful entrepreneur: Stephen Wolfram. Today, Wolfram Alpha, a computational engine is the smartest engine around. Its business model is based on subscriptions, APIs, and applications. As Google is getting smarter and smarter from the computational standpoint, one might wonder whether Wolfram Alpha will lose competitiveness over time. And by the way, if you thought you didn’t know Wolfram Alpha, most probably you’re wrong. In fact, Wolfram Alpha powers some queries of the iPhone’s voice assistant, Siri.
Airbnb: disrupt modern hospitality to go back to old days
When Airbnb came in the hospitality industry a few years back. Few players realized how disruptive it was until it was too late for stopping its growth. Today Airbnb is one of the wildest tech success of the last decade, based on a simple business model, which relies on the trust between guests and hosts. Also, over the year as quality pictures have become an essential aspect for Airbnb growth, the company started to work regularly with freelance that would take photos of hosts’ accommodations for free so that the listing could be more appealing for guests.
DuckDuckGo: where Google loses DuckDuckGo wins
DuckDuckGo is a search engine that doesn’t track its users. In short, it gathers the data that might be useful to offer a localized search, but it throws it away on the fly. Thus, if Google mainly monetizes thanks to the information, it gathered from users. DuckDuckGo does the opposite. It allows its users to rely on a private navigation experience; while it monetizes mainly through localized keywords and affiliate earnings.
LinkedIn: the multi-sided platform where hunters and hunted grow together
LinkedIn is the most significant professional network on earth and also one of the most engaging social networks as of the time of this writing. The value of the platform comes from its multi-sided customer focus. In fact, LinkedIn, on the one hand, offers services to HR professionals that allow them to find the right fit for the open positions. At the same time, LinkedIn offers its users a learning platform useful to bridge the gap with the professional world. Thus, making the platform more valuable for those HR professionals.
More business models?
Tell us in the comments below which business models you’re curious to hear about!
The post Five Tech Startups Business Models Explained appeared first on FourWeekMBA.
