Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Alissa Finerman
The Harvard Business School Alumni Association of Southern California and the Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of Southern California invites all members and non-members of The Wharton Club of Southern California to join them for this discussion.
Network Effect Businesses: How to Evaluate Them and Build Them Well Tue 3/29 5-6pm PDT
Today, almost everyone knows that network effects, when present, can be a great source of defensibility and competitive advantage (e.g. Airbnb, Alibaba, Amazon, Apple’s iPhone, Facebook, Google, etc.). However, most managers, investors, and entrepreneurs fail to recognize the huge variances in terms of how strong and meaningful the network effects are. Ultimately, this makes it hard to determine whether or not a defensible competitive position has been achieved and maintained.
In this session, drawing on experience as angel investors in over 200 startups (and advisors to many of them), Professor Andrei Hagiu and Professor Julian Wright will provide a brief overview of the key criteria that should be used for evaluating businesses with network effects. They will also discuss some of the key design tactics that should be used to enhance those network effects.
Their online course discusses these and other aspects of network effects businesses in greater depth.
EVENT DETAILS:
Date: Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Time: 5:00 - 6:00 PM PT
Location: Virtual Event (Zoom details sent after RSVP)
Cost: WhartonSoCal Paid Members, FREE; WhartonSoCal Non-Member alumni, $10; All other alumni $20
Host Clubs: HBSASC and HBS Alumni Angels of Southern California
SPEAKER DETAILS:
Professor Andrei Hagiu and Professor Julian Wright are leading experts on platform businesses and network effects, on which they have done the research, consulting, and investment work for over twenty years. Together, they have published dozens of professional economics articles, 9 Harvard Business Review articles (i.e: https://hbr.org/2020/01/when-data-creates-competitive-advantage), and a Substack newsletter, all focused on various aspects of platform strategy. They consult for Fortune 500 companies and are active angel investors in platform businesses, having invested in hundreds of startups and provided advice to many.
Professor Andrei Hagiu
Andrei Hagiu has taught MBA and executive education courses on platform strategy at Harvard Business School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School, and Boston University for over 15 years. He has also consulted with ADP, Equifax, Hearst, and Intuit.
Professor Julian Wright
Julian Wright has taught executive courses on platform strategy and on winning with data at the National University of Signapore. He has consulted for Facebook, MasterCard, and Visa, as well as competition authorities and regulators interested in digital platforms.
Sponsoring Clubs:
