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Navigating the New Matchmaker Economy Singapore Luncheon

 |  April 12, 2016

Navigating the New Matchmaker Economy

April 26
12:30-2:00pm
Raffles Hotel
1 Beach Rd, Singapore

Keynote Speaker

David S. Evans
Co-Author of
Matchmakers: The New Economics of Multisided Platforms
Harvard Business Review Press, May 2016

PANEL ON BUSINESS AND POLICY ISSUES

William Kelly
Uber
Mr. Tolan Steele
Visa


Donny Soh
Qlipp


Daniel O´Connor
CCIA
John Fingleton
Fingleton Associates


Judge Douglas Ginsburg
US Court of Appeals

Many of the most dynamic public companies, from Alibaba to Facebook to Visa, and the most valuable start-ups, such as Airbnb and Uber, are matchmakers that connect one group of customers with another group of customers. Economists call matchmakers multisided platforms because they provide physical or virtual platforms for multiple groups to get together. Dating sites connect people with potential matches, for example, and ride-sharing apps do the same for drivers and riders.

Although matchmakers have been around for millennia, they’re becoming more and more popular—and profitable—due to dramatic advances in technology, and a lot of companies that have managed to crack the code of this business model have become today’s power brokers.  Three of the five largest firms by market cap are matchmakers as are 7 of the 10 largest unicorns, which are startup companies valued at over a billion dollars.

Following Dr. Evans’s presentation Dr. Evans will then moderate a panel of executives from Uber and Visa, a leading Singapore startup, and the Computer and Communications Industry Association. They will be joined by two of the foremost antitrust and regulatory experts in the world.

Dr. Evans is the co-author, with Professor Richard Schmalensee, of Matchmakers: The New Economics of Multisided Platforms. According to Dan Schulman, CEO of PayPal
Matchmakers is an insider’s look at one of the critical business models of our era—one that only looks easy because the drivers around successful multi- and two-sided networks are anything but self-evident. It’s an entertaining read, yet filled with the insights essential for anyone interested in starting or scaling these complex yet powerful businesses.
Space is limited. Tickets include lunch and an autographed copy of Matchmakers: The New Economics of Multisided Platforms.