#28 – Ecosystems & platforms – a deep dive into tech (David Rosenthal & Ben Grynol)

When most companies start, they are single-threaded companies. More specifically, companies start with one product or revenue stream and evolve. Amazon is a great example of a company that has built an ecosystem. The company started as an e-commerce site for selling books, and now has a number of inter-related businesses that make up the entire Amazon ecosystem.

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Netflix is an example of a company that started as a single-threaded company and has, for the most part, remained that way since its inception.

As we build Levels, we often think about the way that our company will evolve – will it be an ecosystem for health, or will we remain focused on monitoring glucose? In this episode, David Rosenthal, (VC and Host of Acquired Podcast), dives deep into what it takes to build an ecosystem around a company.

Levels helps you see how food affects your health, empowering you with the tools needed to achieve health goals and improve healthspan. Levels Members gain access to the Levels app and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), providing real-time feedback on how diet and lifestyle choices impact your metabolic health.

Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health.

LINKS

Listen to the Acquired Podcast

Join the Acquired Slack Community

David Rosenthal on Twitter

Ben Gilbert on Twitter

(07:31) - Why you can't model the stock market
(12:35) - Why you don't want to be 23andMe
(13:29) - The importance of optionality in marketplaces
(15:34) - The evolution of eBay as an ecosystem
(25:47) - The dangers of platform risk
(36:39) - Can you start out building a platform
(46:54) - To go enterprise or focus on community
(01:05:08) - Letting emergent behavior drive platform direction

Transcripts & Show Notes