OpenAI embraces the 'platform paradox' by selling API access to startups that compete directly with its own apps like ChatGPT. The strategy is to foster a broad ecosystem, believing that enabling competitors is necessary to avoid losing the platform race entirely.

Despite a wave of new AI-powered browsers from companies like OpenAI, nearly all are built on Google's Chromium engine. This stifles deep innovation and competition at the web's foundational layer, creating a monoculture with an illusion of choice.

Massively out-resourced by Microsoft, Netscape couldn't win a traditional corporate battle. They changed the game by open-sourcing their browser, creating Mozilla. This was a strategic move to enlist thousands of developers worldwide to help them compete, transforming a corporate fight into a community mission.

A project backed by a single company is viewed with suspicion. A project co-sponsored by multiple companies, even rivals, is immediately seen as a potential standard, making it a much safer bet for the community to adopt and contribute to.

A true platform company prioritizes developer choice over favoring its own products. Nadella emphasizes that failing to support all tools, including competitors, will cause developers to leave the platform. This mindset is key to long-term platform dominance and preventing churn.

Mozilla Corporation, a for-profit entity, is wholly owned by the non-profit Mozilla Foundation. This structure allows the organization to generate revenue and compete commercially like its trillion-dollar rivals, while ensuring all activities ultimately serve the foundation's mission of an open internet, free from the constraints of a pure non-profit.

In an unusual strategy, OpenAI provides its latest models to direct competitors. The company believes that a more competitive market accelerates learning and pushes them to improve faster. This long-term view prioritizes the overall distribution of intelligence over short-term competitive moats.

Facing intense competition post-COVID, Zoom's strategy is to ensure its platform is open and integrates with competitors like Google and Microsoft. This acknowledges that enterprise customers don't want to be locked into a single vendor's suite, making openness a competitive advantage.

If you're a foundational platform, you will inevitably compete with customers building on top of you. Address this transparently by informing them of your product roadmap. A large market allows for 'coopetition' where you can partner, compete, and sell to each other simultaneously in a healthy ecosystem.