Marshall Van Alstyne

Marshall W. Van Alstyne (born March 28, 1962) is the Allen and Kelly Questrom Professor in IS^[1] at Boston University and a research associate at the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy.^[2] He co-developed the theory of two-sided markets with Geoffrey G Parker.^[3] His work focuses on the economics of information. This includes a sustained interest in information markets and in how information and technology affect productivity with an emphasis on “platforms” as an extension of the work on two-sided markets.

Marshall W. Van Alstyne
Van Alstyne in 2011
Born	1962 (age 62–63)
Citizenship	American
Alma mater	Yale MIT
Known for	Two-sided markets Platform economics Cyberbalkanization Business-to-business platforms
Scientific career
Fields	Information Systems Economics
Institutions	Boston University MIT Sloan School of Management

Early life and education

Marshall Van Alstyne was born in Columbus, Ohio. He received a B.A. in Computer Science from Yale University in 1984. He then moved to Software Systems Developer role at Martin Marietta Data Systems in Colorado and later Associate Staff at MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Massachusetts, before starting his M.S. and Doctorate programs. He obtained his MS in management in 1991 and Ph.D. in Information Systems and Economics in 1998, both at the MIT Sloan School of Management.^[3]

Career

Alstyne is a professor at Boston University, a research associate at the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, and a visiting scholar at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center. Marshall co-organizes and co-chairs the annual Boston University Platform Symposium, the premier conference on platform research,^[3] and the MIT Platform Strategy Summit, an executive meeting on platform-centered economics and management.

After finishing his PhD, he joined the University of Michigan,^[4] before moving to Boston University in 2004.

Publications

He is the co-author of Platform Revolution: How Networked Markets Are Transforming the Economy and How to Make Them Work for You.^[5] The book describes the information technologies, standards, and rules that make up platforms, and are used and developed by the biggest and most innovative global companies.^[6] Forbes included it among 16 must-read business books for 2016, describing it as "a practical guide to the new business model that is transforming the way we work and live."^[7]

Awards

• Herbert Simon Award (2021) – Practical research impact^[8]
• Thinkers 50 (2021) – Award shared with Geoff Parker^[9]
• INFORMS Practical Impact Award (2020) – For research with real world impact ^[10]
• Thinkers 50 Digital Thinking Award(2019) – Ranked #36 among management scholars globally^[9]
• National Science Foundation Faculty Career Award (1999)^[11]

Personal

He is the son of constitutional law scholar William Van Alstyne.^[12]

An early life foray into film found him cast in the movie Cocktail but turned it down for academic pursuits. The part was then given to emerging actor Tom Cruise.