Still trying to build a billion-dollar business all by yourself?
What if thousands of entrepreneurs could help you build a moat nobody can cross?
Enter the ecosystem strategy – where every new app multiplies your platform’s value.
Just ask Shopify, who turned 8,000+ developers into a $6.7B revenue powerhouse without writing a single line of their code.
Let’s dive into how to build your own thriving platform economy. 👇
🧠 What is the Ecosystem Growth Strategy?
The ecosystem strategy is about transforming your product into a platform where other businesses build and sell their apps – creating value for everyone involved.
Think of it like building your own mini app store:
Instead of developing every feature yourself, you create a marketplace where developers can sell their solutions directly to your users.
Each new app makes your platform more valuable, attracting both more users and developers.
Simple, strategic, and designed to create network effects that grow stronger with every new app added to your ecosystem.
The key?
When developers win, you win – and your platform becomes impossible to replicate.
💼 Why Does the Ecosystem Growth Strategy Work?
The ecosystem strategy works because it creates powerful network effects that accelerate growth from multiple directions at once.
First, it solves the classic chicken-and-egg problem of growth:
More apps attract more users, which attracts more developers, who build more apps – creating a self-reinforcing cycle that gets stronger over time.
Second, it transforms your cost center into a profit engine.
Instead of spending millions building features, developers invest their own resources to build on your platform.
You take a revenue share while they handle development, support, and marketing.
But here’s what makes it truly powerful:
Each successful app proves the opportunity to other developers.
When they see companies making real money on your platform, it creates a gold rush effect – turning your ecosystem into a magnet for entrepreneurial talent.
It’s pure platform economics at work – where more participants create more value for everyone.
🦄 How Shopify & Odoo Mastered Ecosystem Growth
🛍️ Shopify
When Shopify launched their app store in 2009, they made a strategic choice:
They kept their core simple and let developers build everything else.
The numbers tell the story.
With over 8,000 apps in their marketplace today, 87% of merchants use apps from their store.
Developers earned $1.7B from the app store in 2022 alone, while Shopify takes a straightforward 20% cut.
The average merchant now uses 6 paid apps, creating a massive revenue stream while developers do the heavy lifting.
🌱 Odoo
This Belgian startup took a different path to ecosystem growth.
Instead of targeting consumers, they focused on business software integrations.
With 39,000+ developers now in their ecosystem, they’ve built a powerful platform with 30,000+ custom apps.
Rather than competing with giants like SAP, they let developers build industry-specific solutions.
Partners handle 80% of implementations, earning 90% of app revenue share.
This turned their base ERP into a flexible platform that serves everything from agriculture to aerospace.
💡 How to Use the Ecosystem Growth Strategy for Your Biz
Step 1: Start With a Strong Core
Keep your main product focused but extensible.
Don’t try to be everything to everyone.
Build rock-solid APIs and developer tools that make it easy to plug into your platform.
Step 2: Design Your Ecosystem Economics
Choose a revenue share that attracts quality developers (70-80% to them is standard).
Create multiple revenue streams – app sales, listing fees, certification programs.
But remember: developers need to see clear profit potential.
Step 3: Seed Early Growth
Launch with 20-30 high-quality apps, not an empty marketplace.
Partner with agencies and developers already in your space.
Consider funding initial development through grants or revenue guarantees.
Step 4: Build Trust & Quality
Create clear guidelines and review processes.
Bad apps can kill trust fast.
Add verification badges, user reviews, and analytics dashboards.
Give developers the data they need to build what users want.
The Key to Success:
Make your platform the easiest place for developers to build and monetize.
Top developers have choices – give them reasons to choose your platform over others.
Remember:
An ecosystem isn’t just a feature – it’s a complete shift in how you think about growth.
Your job isn’t to build everything; it’s to create the conditions where others can build success on top of yours.
♻️ The Ecosystem Growth Loop Explained
Here’s how a powerful platform ecosystem creates unstoppable momentum:
Input: Developers discover your platform and start building apps
Activation: Early apps solve real user problems, creating success stories that attract more developers
Action: Users discover these apps and integrate them into their workflows, making your platform more valuable
Output: Success stories and growing user base attracts even more developers with better apps
And the cycle accelerates:
More quality apps = more user success = more platform value = more developers = even better apps
This is why ecosystem players like Shopify and Salesforce become so hard to compete with.
Each turn of the loop adds another layer of defense around your business.
Found value in this ecosystem strategy breakdown?
Share it with other founders ready to stop building everything themselves.
Sometimes the path to massive scale isn’t building more – it’s empowering others to build for you.
Let your ecosystem do the heavy lifting! 🏗️
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