Tonight, I stumbled across a nice example of a technology creator trying to bypass the network orchestrator, be it on micro level. 

Since my wife wasn’t home tonight (don’t worry, I do prepare most meals over here) I ordered food at thuisbezorgd.nl (or takeaway.com if you’re not living in the Netherlands). Upon delivering my sushi, the lady ‘kindly’ pushed me to order via their own website, rather than through thuisbezorgd.nl. “So you will save money, and we will be able to make some profit too”. 

Now one could debate whether that sushi was too cheap, but more interestingly is it to look at how far a network orchestrator can go. What is allowed when all vendors have 4,5 star ratings and price pretty much becomes you’re only differentiator? How high can transaction costs be if the network orchestrator is the market leader? What does this mean for multi-channel marketing? What are the benefits and drawbacks of bypassing the hand that feeds you? 

More in general, it just makes me more curious what the long term life expectancy of the Network Orchestrator business model will be. The only thing that is constant is change is what the old Heraclitus said. And so it will be. So what’s next when it comes to business models? What is the evolution that comes beyond the network orchestrator? And will that be an even more profitable business model? 

Gotta go now. Sushi’s calling. 

Categories: Life