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# Inc. Article #1: On Platforms
- URL: https://www.philsimon.com/inc-article-1-on-platforms/
- Published: 2012-03-19T16:30:44.000Z
- Updated: 2025-07-04T22:30:42.000Z
- Description: On innovation, platforms, and the future of business.
- Author: Phil Simon
- Tags: Platforms, Trends, Inc., The Age of the Platform

My first *Inc. Magazine* guest post is live on the benefits of building platforms. Here's an excerpt:

These days, you can’t go five minutes without hearing someone talk about *platforms*. The term is almost a buzzword. As I explain in [*The Age of the Platform: How Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google Have Redefined Business*](https://www.philsimon.com/books/the-age-of-the-platform/), a platform is merely a structure made up of “planks,” or integrated features. For instance, Google in 1998 wasn’t a platform; it was a really neat search engine. By adding planks such as Gmail, Maps, Docs, Voice, YouTube, and countless others, it became a true platform.

Click [here](https://www.inc.com/phil-simon/why-your-company-should-build-platform.html?ref=philsimon.com) to read the whole thing.