Hi David,
This is a business question for you.
Some people whose businesses I like built platforms on which others can do work. Here are three examples:
Do you think intending to create a platform is a wise idea on which to start a business? Or, is creating a platform something you stumble into as a side effect of making something else (like Valve creating Steam, you creating Rails to build Basecamp)?
I noticed Evernote tried, but failed to intentionally shift their product to be a big platform for developers. Maybe this is because the move came from Evernote, instead of customers requesting it.
Thanks. I appreciate your writing.