Not All Marketplaces are Created Equal: Tales of a Marketplace Founder

Too Long; Didn't Read

My company <a href="https://www.pared.com" target="_blank">Pared</a> was recently included in an essay from <a href="https://andrewchen.co/" target="_blank">Andrew Chen</a> and <a href="https://a16z.com/author/li-jin/" target="_blank">Li Jin</a> entitled <a href="https://a16z.com/2018/11/27/services-marketplaces-service-economy-evolution-whats-next/" target="_blank">What’s next for marketplace startups?</a> Recently I’ve been seeing some great pieces about network effects coming from the insightful minds over at a16z such as <a href="https://a16z.com/2018/12/13/16-metrics-network-effects/" target="_blank">16 Ways to Measure Network Effects</a> and <a href="https://a16z.com/2018/12/13/network-effects-dynamics-in-practice/" target="_blank">The Dynamics of Network Effects</a>. I always enjoy reading the analysis of smart people who are trying to synthesize and create themes about businesses like my own. <a href="https://twitter.com/JamesCurrier" target="_blank">James Currier</a> at NFX Guild does a fantastic job of this and I’ve always been a fan of his take <a href="https://www.nfx.com/post/10-years-about-market-networks" target="_blank">The Next 10 Years Will Be About “Market Networks</a>” because it hits so close to home. The challenge is synthesizing so many disparate business models into a single tidy blog post. Unfortunately, the downside of generalizing is that you miss out on the nuances and key differentiators to success of any one business or model. Andrew or James wouldn’t get many readers if they focused on very specific businesses or companies because it wouldn’t resonate with a broader audience.