BOUNDARYLESS CONVERSATIONS PODCAST — EPISODE 98

#98 — Sandwich Economics: a New Era of Competition with Sangeet Paul Choudary

Published in

Stories of Platform Design

3 min readApr 16, 2024

We have a three-time returning guest on the podcast today, Sangeet Paul Choudary — certainly one of the most influential minds in the world of modern business.

Sangeet, an advisor and best-selling author, known for his work on platform economics and network effects, joins us to take us through the next era of competition in business: Sandwich Economics.

He speaks on the principles of the new phenomenon and shares insights into how organizations are now increasingly “sandwiching” markets vigorously consolidating profits and power. As this happens, Sangeet argues, it’s not always a driver of quality improvement in services and products.

Sangeet’s episodes are always packed with insights on the future, and this conversation is no different — in the closing, we even walk through AI agents, AGI, societal and ethical considerations, and much more. Tune in, this is not an episode to miss.

Podcast Notes

As our close followers and general practitioners of Platform Ecosystems know, Sangeet is not only one of the most distinguished thought leaders, renowned for his pioneering work on platform economics but also someone who can spot the intricacies of the impacts that such phenomena have on society.

He has authored two bestselling books, “Platform Scale” and “Platform Revolution,” and comes with over a decade of expertise in advising global firms and governments on crafting effective platform strategies through his organization, “Platformation Labs”. His work has also been featured on leading platforms such as Harvard Business Review, The Economist, and the World Economic Forum, to name a few.

Sangeet always has golden insights, and this episode is packed with them. He takes us through the new term he coined to describe dangerous market dynamics that key players use to “sandwich” value across multiple layers of value chains and grounds them on examples from various industries. He further challenges conventional thinking and brings fresh perspectives on the ongoing dynamism and complexity of the market.

So, if you wish to learn what’s really happening in platforms and ecosystems and how markets are evolving…Tune in!

Stream Now

You can also watch the full episode here on YouTube.

Key highlights

👉 Transition from platform-based business models to Sandwich Economics

👉 Dominating multiple layers of the value chain, transforming competition and power dynamics in digital markets through Sandwich Economics.

👉 Case studies on organizations that implemented Sandwich Economics: Reliance’s strategic maneuvers in India, and Amazon’s creation of their own value assets.

👉Difference between vertical integration and sandwich economics — and the importance of dominating horizontal layers at an industry scale for capturing profits and exerting control.

👉 Broader societal implications of shifting economic models, and the role of digital transformation in redefining value creation, capture, and distribution.

👉 The emergence of Artificial General Intelligence, and how it makes digital economics, organizational structures, and the essence of competition even more complex.

👉 Leadership methods (decentralized/ centralized) in an era of Sandwich Economics Contrary.

Topics (chapters):

00:00 Sandwich Economics: a New Era of Competition — Intro

00:58 Introducing Sangeet

02:23 All things Sandwich Economics

10:26 Why is Sandwich Economics different from Vertical Integration?

18:17 New Ways of Competing

24:08 Playbook of Sandwich Economics and how is it different from enshittification?

37:57 What are the antibodies?

45:43 Where’s this evolving to?

49:14 The emergence of AGI and the shape of markets

55:10 Value Creation vs. Value Capture

To find out more about his work:

Other references and mentions:

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Recorded on 7th March 2024.

Streaming Platforms

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Music

Music from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: https://blss.io/Podcast-Music

Transcript

Check complete notes on our Blog.

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