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MAKING A MARKETPLACE
A CHECKLIST FOR ONLINE DISRUPTION

                         inspired by @bgurley
                     by @nireyal and @sanguit
On November 13, 2012, Bill Gurley, a partner at Benchmark Capital, posted a remarkable essay
on his blog. In it, he described the, “10 factors to consider when evaluating digital
marketplaces.” Given the tremendous value marketplaces are known to create and how hard
they are to get right, we found this essay to be a goldmine of insight. We wanted to digest
Bill’s post into a more memorable format.
The result is this brief checklist we hope will help take some of the luck out of evaluating
marketplace businesses. As Bill wrote, “It is unlikely that you will !nd a marketplace
opportunity that would score ten out of ten with respect to this list.” But according to Bill, the
odds of success improve the more of these characteristics the business exhibits.
                                                                                 - Nir and Sangeet



               Read Bill Gurley’s original post here: http://goo.gl/xoAUw
1. Does your marketplace
make a behavior dramatically
easier and more e"cient?
Alibaba
Made transactions between US importers and
Chinese manufacturers dramatically easier than the
previous methods of !nding suppliers.
2. Does your marketplace
produce more value than
current markets?
AirBnB
Allows anyone to run their own hotel. Room
owners pro!t from renting out unused rooms
while guests bene!ts from lower prices.
3. Does your marketplace
utilize a new technology to
create e"ciencies?
OpenTable
Leveraged adoption of high-speed internet access
by both restaurants and consumers to create a web-
based reservation platform.
4. Does your marketplace
consolidate a fragmented
market?
Kickstarter
Connects entrepreneurs with !nancial backers who
want to see projects succeed. Both sides of the market
are fragmented with no dominant players.
5. Does your marketplace
make it easy for suppliers to
sign-up?
Etsy
Makes it very simple to sell handcrafted goods
in minutes.
6. Does your marketplace
serve a large market?
eBay
Serves a very large market of online buyers and
sellers for just about anything.
7. Can your marketplace
bring in unserved customers and
expand the market?
oDesk
             Expanded the market for software outsourcing by
             making it simple enough for anyone to use.




Photo Credit: racheocity
8. Does your marketplace
serve a frequent need?
GrubHub
Serves a frequent need for many o"ce workers,
ordering daily food delivery.
9. Does your marketplace
control the transaction?
Uber
Is at the center of the payment #ow when it
coordinates a ride between a driver and rider.
10. Does your marketplace
leverage a network e#ect?
YouTube
Is more valuable with each new video published to
the site. The more videos posted, the more
important the site becomes to viewers.
Good luck
We wish you success making your marketplace.

          // @nireyal blogging at: nirandfar.com
       // @sanguit blogging at: platformed.info




  Read Bill Gurley’s original post here: http://goo.gl/xoAUw

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Making a Marketplace: A Checklist for Online Disruption

  • 1. MAKING A MARKETPLACE A CHECKLIST FOR ONLINE DISRUPTION inspired by @bgurley by @nireyal and @sanguit
  • 2. On November 13, 2012, Bill Gurley, a partner at Benchmark Capital, posted a remarkable essay on his blog. In it, he described the, “10 factors to consider when evaluating digital marketplaces.” Given the tremendous value marketplaces are known to create and how hard they are to get right, we found this essay to be a goldmine of insight. We wanted to digest Bill’s post into a more memorable format. The result is this brief checklist we hope will help take some of the luck out of evaluating marketplace businesses. As Bill wrote, “It is unlikely that you will !nd a marketplace opportunity that would score ten out of ten with respect to this list.” But according to Bill, the odds of success improve the more of these characteristics the business exhibits. - Nir and Sangeet Read Bill Gurley’s original post here: http://goo.gl/xoAUw
  • 3. 1. Does your marketplace make a behavior dramatically easier and more e"cient?
  • 4. Alibaba Made transactions between US importers and Chinese manufacturers dramatically easier than the previous methods of !nding suppliers.
  • 5. 2. Does your marketplace produce more value than current markets?
  • 6. AirBnB Allows anyone to run their own hotel. Room owners pro!t from renting out unused rooms while guests bene!ts from lower prices.
  • 7. 3. Does your marketplace utilize a new technology to create e"ciencies?
  • 8. OpenTable Leveraged adoption of high-speed internet access by both restaurants and consumers to create a web- based reservation platform.
  • 9. 4. Does your marketplace consolidate a fragmented market?
  • 10. Kickstarter Connects entrepreneurs with !nancial backers who want to see projects succeed. Both sides of the market are fragmented with no dominant players.
  • 11. 5. Does your marketplace make it easy for suppliers to sign-up?
  • 12. Etsy Makes it very simple to sell handcrafted goods in minutes.
  • 13. 6. Does your marketplace serve a large market?
  • 14. eBay Serves a very large market of online buyers and sellers for just about anything.
  • 15. 7. Can your marketplace bring in unserved customers and expand the market?
  • 16. oDesk Expanded the market for software outsourcing by making it simple enough for anyone to use. Photo Credit: racheocity
  • 17. 8. Does your marketplace serve a frequent need?
  • 18. GrubHub Serves a frequent need for many o"ce workers, ordering daily food delivery.
  • 19. 9. Does your marketplace control the transaction?
  • 20. Uber Is at the center of the payment #ow when it coordinates a ride between a driver and rider.
  • 21. 10. Does your marketplace leverage a network e#ect?
  • 22. YouTube Is more valuable with each new video published to the site. The more videos posted, the more important the site becomes to viewers.
  • 23. Good luck We wish you success making your marketplace. // @nireyal blogging at: nirandfar.com // @sanguit blogging at: platformed.info Read Bill Gurley’s original post here: http://goo.gl/xoAUw