Mesh Network Transition
Use when your current partnership model creates single points of failure, when you want to increase ecosystem resilience, or when hub-and-spoke is limiting total value creation.
A month-by-month plan for transitioning from hub-and-spoke partnership models (everything flows through you) to mesh networks (partners connect peer-to-peer), creating resilience and often increasing total ecosystem value.
When to Use Mesh Network Transition
Use when your current partnership model creates single points of failure, when you want to increase ecosystem resilience, or when hub-and-spoke is limiting total value creation. Particularly relevant for platform businesses and ecosystem orchestrators.
How to Apply
Month 1: Audit Current Dependencies
Map all value flows and identify single points of failure.
Questions to Ask
- Who provides what to whom?
- Where are single points of failure?
- Where would peer-to-peer connections create value?
Outputs
- Visual map of hub-and-spoke structure
- Opportunity identification
Month 2: Enable First Peer Connection
Facilitate 2-3 partners connecting directly.
Questions to Ask
- Which partners could benefit from direct connection?
- What incentive can you provide to experiment?
Outputs
- First successful peer-to-peer transaction
Month 3: Monitor and Measure
Track value creation from peer connections vs. hub-mediated.
Questions to Ask
- Did total ecosystem value increase?
- Did your revenue decrease (bad) or shift to different services (good)?
Outputs
- Data showing mesh impact on total value
Month 4: Expand to 5-7 Partnerships
Enable more peer connections, create discovery infrastructure.
Questions to Ask
- Based on learnings, which additional connections to enable?
- What shared standards reduce friction?
Outputs
- 5-7 active peer-to-peer relationships
Month 5: Reduce Hub Dependency by 50%
Shift role from intermediary to infrastructure provider.
Questions to Ask
- Which use cases work better peer-to-peer?
- What new revenue model captures value from infrastructure?
Outputs
- Half of transactions peer-to-peer, revenue maintained
Month 6: Full Mesh with Distributed Control
Partners transact independently, you provide infrastructure services.
Questions to Ask
- Can partners discover and transact independently?
- What % of partners could you lose without ecosystem collapse?
Outputs
- Self-sustaining mesh, platform as infrastructure not bottleneck