Book Review: catalyst code
August 5th, 2007 by 
stuart
I have been reading alot of books recently (both business and technology books), as I begin to refocus Irie Tools on web development. My review of one these books is below.
- Catalyst Code: The Strategies Behind the World’s Most Dynamic Companies
- Authors: David S.Evans & Richard Schmalensee
- Publisher: Harvard Business School Press (May 9, 2007)
- Pages: 228
This book describes what it calls ‘two-sided businesses‘, which to quote from the front jacket ‘… generate value by creating simultaneous and mutually beneficial relationships between the different groups of customers they serve’. The book opens with the example of Diners Club which creates value for the following two groups of customers:
- Restaurants
- Diners.
In this case, Diners Club allows diners to eat at many restaurants on credit without having to establish a credit relationship with each individual restaurant (assuming the restaurants are willing to offer them credit). The diners benefit from the credit they receive, and the restaurants benefit by getting more diners who spend more and by avoiding the hassle and expense of managing credit relationships with individual diners.
The book is easy to read (no jargon) and provides numerous and familiar examples. It may not astonish you with any earth-shattering insights, but it will make you look at ‘two-sided businesses‘ in a new way.
This book is a must-have if you are involved with or competing against ‘two-sided businesses‘, and will probably be useful to anyone involved with business generally.
