Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review Digital Articles

Why Build in Web3

By: Jad Esber and Scott Duke Kominers
  • Format:Electronic
ShareBar

Abstract

A major change is coming to the internet. While today’s dominant platforms have guarded their troves of user data and maintained an advantage through network effects, new companies—working in what they're calling a “Web3” model—are proposing a new value proposition to users. In Web3, instead of platforms having full control of the underlying data, users own whatever content they have created (such as posts or videos), as well as digital objects they have purchased, and these digital assets are typically portable. This new paradigm has a few important advantages: it's easier for new companies to compete with established ones if they offer better user experience; the system is less zero-sum, because user lock-in isn’t the primary goal; and it can be easier to win users' trust, as key operations can be encoded on the blockchain in “smart contracts” that are auditable and immutable. All of this means that it can be much easier to launch a product in Web3.

Keywords

Blockchain; User Experience; Digital Platforms; Network Effects; Internet and the Web; Competition; Web Services Industry

Citation

Esber, Jad, and Scott Duke Kominers. "Why Build in Web3." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (May 16, 2022).
  • Read Now

About The Author

Scott Duke Kominers

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • January 12, 2023
    • a16zcrypto.com

    Progressive Decentralization: A High-level Framework

    By: Jad Esber and Scott Duke Kominers
    • December 7, 2022
    • Harvard Business Review Digital Articles

    Why Decentralized Crypto Platforms Are Weathering the Crash

    By: Shai Bernstein and Scott Duke Kominers
    • Winter 2022
    • Oxford Review of Economic Policy

    Distributing a Billion Vaccines: COVAX Successes, Challenges, and Opportunities

    By: Eric Budish, Hannah Kettler, Scott Duke Kominers, Erik Osland, Canice Prendergast and Andrew A. Torkelson
More from the Authors
  • Progressive Decentralization: A High-level Framework By: Jad Esber and Scott Duke Kominers
  • Why Decentralized Crypto Platforms Are Weathering the Crash By: Shai Bernstein and Scott Duke Kominers
  • Distributing a Billion Vaccines: COVAX Successes, Challenges, and Opportunities By: Eric Budish, Hannah Kettler, Scott Duke Kominers, Erik Osland, Canice Prendergast and Andrew A. Torkelson
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College