Another quarter has flown by and we’re quickly moving into spring. Q1 was a busy time for our firm and portfolio companies, and here’s a brief recap of some of the various news clippings, fundraising announcements, and other happenings across the V1 community. As we’ve said before, we’re just writing…
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,…
At Version One, we love marketplaces and platforms. Over 50% of our portfolio companies fall into this category including our recent investments in Headout (a mobile-first marketplace for last-minute travel experiences) and VarageSale (a mobile-first community-driven Craigslist). We’re often asked what we look for in a marketplace. While there are…
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…
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.…
