For startups selecting a platform, a decision looms: Develop or purchase? by RJ Shara | Apr 15, 2021 | Startups | 0 comments TX Zhuo Contributor Share on Twitter TX Zhuo is the handling partner of Fika Ventures, focusing on fintech, business software application and market opportunities. </div> <div class="contributor-byline__more-articles"> <span class="more-articles-title">More posts by this factor</span> </p> <ul class="more-articles-list"> <li><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/30/strike-first-strike-hard-no-mercy-how-emerging-managers-can-win/">Strike initially, strike hard, no mercy: How emerging managers can win</a></li> <li><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/03/a-covid-19-resilience-test-for-b2b-companies/">A COVID-19 resilience test for B2B companies</a></li> </ul></div> </p></div> <div class="article__contributor-byline"> <div class="contributor-byline__contributor"> <div class="byline__author"> <span class="byline__author-name">Colton Speed</span> <span class="byline__author-title">Factor</span> </div> </p></div> <div class="contributor-byline__bio"> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/coltonpace/">Colton Rate</a> is an investor at Fika Ventures. He previously held functions investing at Vulcan Capital and Madrona Endeavor Labs. </div> <div class="contributor-byline__more-articles"> <span class="more-articles-title">More posts by this contributor</span> </p> <ul class="more-articles-list"> <li><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/03/this-is-a-good-time-to-start-a-proptech-company/">This is a great time to start a proptech business</a></li> <li><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/03/a-covid-19-resilience-test-for-b2b-companies/">A COVID-19 strength test for B2B companies</a></li> </ul></div> </p></div> </div> <p id="speakable-summary">Everybody cautions you not to construct on top of somebody else’s platform.</p> <p>When I first began in VC more than ten years earlier, I was informed never ever to buy a company structure on top of another company’s platform. Dependence on a platform makes you susceptible to failure and caps the return on your investment since you have no control over API gain access to, rates changes and end-customer data, to name a few legitimate concerns.</p> <p>I am sure a lot of you recall Facebook shutting down its API gain access to back in 2015, or the uproar Apple triggered when it decided to alter the commission it was charging app designers in 2020.</p> <p>In other words, creators can no longer avoid the decision around platform reliance.</p> <p>Salesforce in numerous methods paved the way for big enterprise platform business, being the very first dedicated SaaS business to surpass $10 billion in annual income supported by its open application development marketplace. Salesforce’s success has actually triggered dominant platforms in other verticals, and for creators starting companies, there is no preventing that platform choice nowadays.</p> <p>Some points to think about:</p> <ul> <li>Over 4,000 fintech companies, including a number of unicorns, have <a href="https://www.fintechfutures.com/2021/01/plaid-raising-at-15bn-as-employees-pitched-1200-per-share/">developed</a> their platforms on top of Plaid.</li> <li>Employers might grumble about the expense, but <a href="https://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/articles/2017-05-05/how-headhunters-use-linkedin-to-find-talented-candidates">95%</a> still make use of LinkedIn.</li> <li>More than 20,000 business trust <a href="https://segment.com/">Section</a> to be their system of record for client information.</li> <li><a href="https://www.shopify.com/">Shopify</a> powers over 1 million services around the world.</li> <li><a href="https://www.epic.com/">Legendary</a> has the medical records of <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/epic/why_epic/">nearly 50%</a> of the U.S. population.</li> </ul> <p>What does this mean for creators who choose to construct on top of another platform?</p> <h2>Boost speed to market</h2> <p><a href="https://www.postscript.io/">PostScript</a>, an SMS/MMS marketing platform for commerce brands, developed its platform on Shopify, offering it immediate access to over 1 million brands and a direct consumer acquisition funnel. That has actually allowed PostScript to catch 3,500 of its own consumers and successfully close a <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/03/03/postscript-raises-35m-to-give-shopify-stores-sms-superpowers/">$35 million Series B</a> in March 2021.</p> <h2>Ability to concentrate on core performance</h2> <p><a href="https://www.varomoney.com/">Varo</a>, one of the fastest-growing neobanks, started in 2015 with the principle that a bank could put customers’ interests first and be profitable. In order to deliver on its mission, it required to comprehend where its clients were spending their money. By partnering with Plaid, Varo <a href="https://plaid.com/documents/varo-case-study.pdf">allowed</a> more than 176,000 of its users to link their Varo account to outdoors apps and services, permitting Varo to concentrate on its core mission to supply more relevant monetary products and services.</p> <h2>Gain trustworthiness by association</p> <div class="extra-crunch-offer-container"></div> <p><img decoding="async" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techcrunch/startups/~4/O_EVtNtY4O8" height="1" width="1" alt="" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techcrunch/startups/~4/O_EVtNtY4O8" height="1" width="1" /> Article curated by <a href="https://rjshara.biz">RJ Shara</a> from <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/startups/~3/O_EVtNtY4O8/">Source</a>. RJ Shara is a Bay Area Radio Host (Radio Jockey) who talks about the startup ecosystem – entrepreneurs, investments, policies and more on her show The Silicon Dreams. 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