The X-Economy
Book

The X-Economy

Profiting from Instant Commerce

Thomas M. Koulopoulos and Nathaniel Palmer
Thomson Texere, 2001
Buy book or audiobook

Read or listen offline

Amazon Kindle
auto-generated audio
  • 0.5×
  • 0.75×
  • 1×
  • 1.25×
  • 1.5×
  • 1.75×
1×
auto-generated audio

Editorial Rating

7

Recommendation

With the fervor of evangelists, over-caffeniated cheerleaders, or breathy Amway sales mavens, Koulopoulos and Palmer introduce us to the X-economy, the business-to-business online marketplace emerging today, and according to the authors, certain to take over this and other galaxies tomorrow. The nuts and bolts of this book could’ve been easily presented in a magazine article instead, leaving the book-length presentation feeling a bit padded. Nevertheless, getAbstract.com recommends this book to anyone curious about what comes after the New Economy.

Summary

Communities of Trade

The X-economy is short for the exchange economy, a demand-driven network of real-time global exchanges that instantly brings together all of the resources needed to form a value chain. Simply put, the X-economy is the collection of online exchanges that will dominate markets and economies. These global exchanges already provide unprecedented flexibility, collaboration and speed. Communities of trade will form, and through them, all commerce will flow.

Technology has always shaped and driven community, commerce, and connections. All three converge in the X-economy. Unlike e-commerce, the consumer side of selling online, the X-economy is all about business-to-business transactions. The X-economy is:

1) Driven by the demand chain, not the supply chain. 2) A community, not a market. 3) Built on trust, not transactions. 4) Personalized. 5) Instantaneous.

Time-to-community is the time required to build a community of similar social and/or commercial interests. It’s been steadily decreasing throughout history, often with profound implications, as technologies like the printed book, radio, telephone, television, cable, and the World Wide Web...

About the Authors

Thomas Koulopoulos  is president and founder of the Delphi Group, a top-10, Boston-based advisory services firm for the Global 2000. He is the author of six books, a syndicated columnist, and a lecturer at the Boston College’s Wallace Carroll Graduate School of Management. He has been named one of the industry’s most influential consultants by Information Week magazine. Nathaniel Palmer  is a principal and chief analyst at Delphi Group. A frequent lecturer on the X-economy and the business of technology, he counsels many of the industry’s leading software vendors and online service providers worldwide.

Comment on this summary or Start Discussion