Rob Walling

So the example there, though, was to say you could have lead flow in those three smaller non-Shopify apps, but not very much customer concentration because you're kind of still early, right? So these three of is there a replacement, customer concentration, and lead flow are the three factors that I think of when I try to rank order these levels of platform risk.

So the example there, though, was to say you could have lead flow in those three smaller non-Shopify apps, but not very much customer concentration because you're kind of still early, right? So these three of is there a replacement, customer concentration, and lead flow are the three factors that I think of when I try to rank order these levels of platform risk.

Okay, so now that I've defined these three factors, the contributing factors of platform risk, I want to walk through the eight levels of platform risk. And I will talk through the contributing factors and how they relate to each of them. Interesting data point, as of a week or two ago, I had seven levels of platform risk.

Okay, so now that I've defined these three factors, the contributing factors of platform risk, I want to walk through the eight levels of platform risk. And I will talk through the contributing factors and how they relate to each of them. Interesting data point, as of a week or two ago, I had seven levels of platform risk.

And the WordPress WP Engine kerfuffle basically begged the question of, let's say you are built on WordPress, what's the platform risk of that? And there's different things. WP Engine uses WordPress, and they're a web host. But what if you had a B2B SaaS company that was built on WordPress as the core? So it was kind of a no-code thing hacked together with plugins.

And the WordPress WP Engine kerfuffle basically begged the question of, let's say you are built on WordPress, what's the platform risk of that? And there's different things. WP Engine uses WordPress, and they're a web host. But what if you had a B2B SaaS company that was built on WordPress as the core? So it was kind of a no-code thing hacked together with plugins.

It's a related but a different question. And so I added that as another layer. The answer, of course, is always yes. Well, it depends on a lot on the specifics of how you rank these. All of these are valid levels. It's just, you know, comparing being built on WordPress versus being hosted on AWS.

It's a related but a different question. And so I added that as another layer. The answer, of course, is always yes. Well, it depends on a lot on the specifics of how you rank these. All of these are valid levels. It's just, you know, comparing being built on WordPress versus being hosted on AWS.

I have ordered those in a certain way and I think in different situations they could be swapped a little bit. But to me, this list is directionally correct and it takes those three factors and applies it to a bunch of different scenarios that I'll give examples of.

I have ordered those in a certain way and I think in different situations they could be swapped a little bit. But to me, this list is directionally correct and it takes those three factors and applies it to a bunch of different scenarios that I'll give examples of.

So moving from least amount of platform risk, what I consider the least amount up to the most amount of platform risk, basically, you have the most exposure and the most risk of your business being killed. And so I'm going to go one through eight, again, where one is the lowest eight is the highest, the most dangerous. Level one is almost no platform risk.

So moving from least amount of platform risk, what I consider the least amount up to the most amount of platform risk, basically, you have the most exposure and the most risk of your business being killed. And so I'm going to go one through eight, again, where one is the lowest eight is the highest, the most dangerous. Level one is almost no platform risk.

It is where you own your own server in a cage with redundant power. You run your own SMTP servers to send emails. The platform risk here is any development language you use, right? Plus your internet service. I mean, basically you are not reliant on a host. You're not reliant on anything to send email. You're not built in no code. I guess you're, oh, and you're risking

It is where you own your own server in a cage with redundant power. You run your own SMTP servers to send emails. The platform risk here is any development language you use, right? Plus your internet service. I mean, basically you are not reliant on a host. You're not reliant on anything to send email. You're not built in no code. I guess you're, oh, and you're risking

is where are you getting leads from? Do you have customer concentration in where you're getting leads from? In this case, I'm assuming there's just almost none, right? You have this great variety of leads coming from all over the place and there's no customer concentration in terms of them being reliant on an external API.

is where are you getting leads from? Do you have customer concentration in where you're getting leads from? In this case, I'm assuming there's just almost none, right? You have this great variety of leads coming from all over the place and there's no customer concentration in terms of them being reliant on an external API.

So this one's, it's so unrealistic, I just kind of want to skip by it because none of us are going to do that, right? The second level of platform risk, I think of it as you being reliant on a platform that is a relative commodity and it's easy to switch away from. Again, relatively easy. I know we could make an argument. I'm going to say SendGrid and Twilio, an SMS provider, email provider.

So this one's, it's so unrealistic, I just kind of want to skip by it because none of us are going to do that, right? The second level of platform risk, I think of it as you being reliant on a platform that is a relative commodity and it's easy to switch away from. Again, relatively easy. I know we could make an argument. I'm going to say SendGrid and Twilio, an SMS provider, email provider.

Those are commoditized assets. And they are relatively easy to switch. There's no lead flow. There's no customer concentration, right? It truly is just a replacement decision. And one might say, well, SendGrid integration will take you months to migrate away from. Usually that's not the case. Usually it's a couple weeks.

Those are commoditized assets. And they are relatively easy to switch. There's no lead flow. There's no customer concentration, right? It truly is just a replacement decision. And one might say, well, SendGrid integration will take you months to migrate away from. Usually that's not the case. Usually it's a couple weeks.