USC Marshall School of Business

As a teenager, I was convinced that I wanted to be a software programmer. Then while interning for two summers at Microsoft, I became interested in the strategy aspect of technology. It was eye-opening for me to see the challenges Microsoft faced and the strategies it used to compete against more popular products in the market at the time, such as AOL instant messenger and Java. I was fascinated with firm strategies in this dynamic industry and decided to explore these topics in depth by pursuing a PhD in management after graduating from college.

With the help of my advisors and co-authors, I gradually focused my research agenda on platform-based markets in high-technology industries. In these markets, platforms serve as intermediaries via which two or more different parties conduct transactions. Examples of platforms include operating systems (computer users and application developers), video consoles (game players and game publishers), auction houses (buyers and sellers), sponsored search engines (users and advertisers), and content-sharing networks, such as YouTube and Wikipedia (content creators and users).

In my dissertation work, I investigated why in some platform-based markets, but not others, first movers can retain their market leadership. For example, early movers such as eBay and YouTube successfully defended their market leadership from later entrants (e.g., Yahoo auction site and Google Video). Meanwhile, in other markets, later entrants such as Google took over market leadership from early movers (e.g., Overture).

In ongoing projects, I am examining the conditions under which a firm should choose a platform-based business model. Although adopting such a business model is a natural choice for some firms, such as console providers in the video-game industry, the decision is harder for firms when introducing one party (such as advertisers) produces a negative effect on the other party. For example, newly launched music-service providers, such as Qtrax, give users free access to ad-sponsored, streaming music files, whereas industry leaders, such as Apple’s iTunes and RealNetwork's Rhapsody, are fee or subscription based. My projects analyze the competitive dynamics between a firm adopting the platform-based business model and a firm with a non-platform-based business model, and explore whether they have made the optimal business model choices.

The empirical settings I choose in my research are often influenced by my own experiences and intellectual curiosity. For example, I collect data from platforms that I use regularly, such as video game consoles, social-networking sites, Craigslist, Wikipedia, blogs, instant messengers, newspapers, and ad-sponsored free products. I also have had opportunities to integrate my research into teaching the undergraduate strategic management class. My students frequently think outside the box and offer unexpected insights, even on topics that I am actively researching. They have taught me that not being the smartest person in the class is perfectly fine, and in fact, can be an exhilarating experience: Such moments are defined when everyone, including myself, learns the most. At the end of each semester, I often wonder whether I should also pay tuition for the education I received.

My research and teaching benefit tremendously from the generous mentoring I have received from my mentor and colleagues. We meet monthly as a group to critique each other’s papers before submitting them to journals and advise each other on how to address reviewers’ concerns. My papers have improved significantly as a result of the collective input from my colleagues. They also have been very willing to share their teaching materials and tips with me, which helped me survive case-based teaching in my first year. Beyond our frequent intellectual exchanges, we spend a lot of time together outside school on such activities as trying out new restaurants, going on sightseeing day trips, and fighting the famous LA traffic.

I feel fortunate and proud to a part of such a rich intellectual and collegial community, and look forward to continuing this wonderful experience.