How I Think

Every product decision sits on one side of a line: are you building an application, or are you building a platform? It sounds like a technical question, but the stakes are strategic, and getting it wrong is expensive.

Applications solve a defined problem for a defined user. They can be tight, fast, and useful. From zero to one, the application approach wins. You ship, you learn, you iterate.

Platforms are different. A platform is a foundation that lets others build - internal teams, external developers, partners, and now AI agents. The goal is to create the conditions where many problems get solved, faster and at scale.

The scaling curves look completely different too. Applications scale by adding people and code. Platforms scale by adding use cases and builders. Once the foundation is solid, the platform compounds. The application just stalls.

I've seen the same trap play out at every company I've worked for: Salesforce, Medallia, Seismic, ZoomInfo. Teams that believe in platform thinking still fall back into application habits the moment delivery pressure hits. Shipping the next feature feels safer than investing in APIs, schemas, metadata, and events. But every shortcut you take below the surface is a tax you pay later, with interest.