Essay
Why developers are leaving the Facebook platform
Andrew Chen · andrewchen.com Free Intermediate
Chen watched a whole generation of startups build on Facebook's platform and then get squeezed as the platform protected itself. He explains why a platform is structurally motivated to keep any app from getting too big, and how free distribution quietly turns expensive. It is a clear, first hand account of the exact trap you are describing.
- Platforms will not let you become more valuable than they are.
- Cheap early distribution gets crowded and costly over time.
- Treat platform reach as rented, never owned.
