Helping businesses connect with their customers is what Intercom has been doing since its inception, but it also believes that building better connections between businesses can help everyone succeed. Over the past few years, Intercom has given a lot of thought to the ingredients of a successful app ecosystem and how to build fruitful partnerships. The company recently launched its App Partner and Service Partner programs, which unlock new sales, marketing, and technical opportunities for companies it collaborates with. Building a successful platform is about more than just providing APIs or an app store; it's about building resilience and value through mutually beneficial relationships. This requires understanding the challenges of developing a platform, including mistakes that can derail efforts to foster a healthy platform. Intercom has also learned from its own experiences in creating a health check for apps on its App Store and has gained insights from other successful platforms like Salesforce. The company believes that cities can teach us about building platforms by facilitating increased connectivity and creating value through interactions between people. By focusing on making it easier to create value through increased connectivity, platforms can drive growth and success.