Nilofer Merchant

Software platforms as a business tool: How we got here, and where we’re going

Intuit and Stanford recently asked me to give talks on computer platforms and what makes them successful. (By platforms I mean software with APIs that third party developers can write apps on top of; Windows and Macintosh are both platforms,…


Harvard Business Publishing: Umair Haque - What Apple Knows That Facebook Doesn’t

Too often, we don’t recognize the power of platforms - even in Silicon Valley. Nilofer Merchant, Rubicon’s CEO, writes frequently on the topic and ties it together with strategy. The piece below by Umair Haque, draws an interesting difference between…


Nilofer Merchant's Blog


Think-ectomy Needed

December 12, 2008

I believe consumers will end up co-driving what you produce and that will result in better products, that serve real needs. Our mindset needs to change. We need to have a think-ectomy on who is in charge.

Nilofer Merchant on December 12, 2008
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Swing Thru the Ball

October 23, 2008

What should you do? Do you stop things? Start things? Answer: yes, to both. Of course you should rethink and reevaluate but if you do that for long you put at risk the current business or effort simply because you didn't execute what you could have done.

Nilofer Merchant on October 23, 2008
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Know Yourself

September 25, 2008

What matters to you? This isn't just a touchy-feely question, it's the bedrock that describes who you are. What is deeply felt and has meaning for you will ultimately inspire you to do your best work. It took me years...

Nilofer Merchant on September 25, 2008
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Lessons Learned

September 22, 2008

I constantly remind myself to learn. No matter what the experience, how tough or how painful, if I've learned something from it, I can live with it. Pay attention to what you're learning. Work to incorporate those lessons into the...

Nilofer Merchant on September 22, 2008
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Difficulty is a Great Teacher

September 18, 2008

What I thought was torture when I worked at Apple - working with 23 different managers in seven years - I now see as an experience that refined by ability to work with many different kinds of leaders. It was...

Nilofer Merchant on September 18, 2008
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Scobleizer Gets it Right

September 15, 2008

That is why MSFT is going to have a tough time competing with Google...MSFT is a beautiful piece of software...too bad it isn't a harbinger of a beautiful business model for the future.

Nilofer Merchant on September 15, 2008
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Sit Forward

September 15, 2008

How often do you go to a meeting and check-out? Do you ever tune-out people you don't agree with? Make the decision today to engage and be truly present. Instead of judging, participate. Embrace whatever you find. I call it...

Nilofer Merchant on September 15, 2008
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Make a Conscious Descision to Lead Ideas

September 11, 2008

Big contributions come about through conscious preparation and planning. That’s what strategy is about. And it requires being a leader of ideas. Be an advocate, a co-creator, a facilitator, a lobbyist for the creation, development and sponsorship of ideas that...

Nilofer Merchant on September 11, 2008
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Performance vs. Behavior

September 8, 2008

We're schooled, whether through B-school or working in organizations, in the outer trappings of success - status, money, title and so forth. How do we tie that to individual satisfaction and a feeling of success? What we likely haven't been...

Nilofer Merchant on September 8, 2008
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Employees and Strategy

August 20, 2008

For many executives, the two words above don't go together. Why? Because they think strategy is done in the C-suite. I'm here to tell you that's old thinking. Life is different now. Status is less relevant. We're in an era...

Nilofer Merchant on August 20, 2008
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