The evolution of the online marketplace: six big changes since Ebay
It has been twenty years since Ebay arrived on the scene and showed what happens when you bring people together over the Internet to do commerce. Since then, there has been tremendous innovation within online marketplaces. Startups have honed in on every vertical imaginable, branched out from product to services, and tested out new paths […]
How can a marketplace start-up disrupt the incumbent?
Last week, my post on “Marketplace dynamics: buyer mindshare is key to building a moat” generated good discussion about the best strategies to disrupt existing marketplaces and get past the incumbent’s moat. It’s certainly an important topic to any founder or entrepreneur looking to break into an existing market. The discussion was sparked by Jonas’ […]
Introducing one of Version One’s earlier investments: VarageSale
Online marketplaces have made it easier than ever for people to buy and sell things. But the human element has been missing with the anonymity of Craigslist and eBay. That’s why I’m happy to announce an investment we did two years ago when we participated in the seed round of VarageSale. At the time, they chose […]
Who Will Win the Fast Growing Online-to-Offline Sector?
Linking local commerce to the Web has emerged as one of the fastest growing sectors in today’s Web economy. Each day we see a new startup in the online-to offline space, with each player wanting to change how consumers find and pay for services, and tap into the trillions of dollars spent in the local, […]