Author Date

2026-03-15

Degree Name

Department

Management

College

Marriott School of Management

Defense Date

2026-03-09

Publication Date

2026-03-15

First Faculty Advisor

Jeff Dyer

First Faculty Reader

David J. Bryce

Honors Coordinator

Mark H. Hansen

Keywords

Platform strategy, Network effects, Multi-sided markets, Platform ecosystems, Big Tech, Innovation platforms

Abstract

This thesis examines how large digital platform firms evolve by adding new platform types over time. Using the four-type framework developed by Bryce, Dyer, and Van Alstyne—transaction, connection, innovation, and collaboration—I trace the platform histories of seven firms: Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Tencent, and Alibaba. For each firm, I classify every qualifying platform event as a base platform, a stacking move (a new interaction that draws on an existing platform's users or architecture), or a standalone platform (a new platform that operates independently). Across seventy-plus events, four findings emerge:

Firms stack new platform types in predictable sequences shaped by their starting position: connection-first firms stack innovation before transaction, transaction-first firms deepen commerce before stacking outward, and innovation-first firms add connection before transaction.
The most common stacking combination is innovation onto innovation, reflecting the modularity that makes innovation platforms easy to extend.
Firms cluster around similar moves at the same time—cloud infrastructure (2006–2009), mobile ecosystems (2007–2011), open-source AI (2023), and agentic AI (2024–2026)—driven by shifts in the macro technological environment rather than internal sequencing logic.
Early stacking moves focus on scaling participation, while later stacking moves focus on governing how value flows through the ecosystem. No dominant shift (where an existing platform fundamentally changes its type) was observed. The findings suggest that platform evolution depends on adding platforms with synergistic capabilities and tightening governance rather than transforming existing platforms.