Looking at @a16z's Marketplace 100 got me wondering: what do marketplaces need to get right in order to beat non-marketplace alternatives?

Two main things:
1. Unlock an amazing new experience for customers
2. Unlock new revenue for supply

More in 🧵
a16z.com/marketplace-10…
1️⃣ Demand: Unlock an amazing new experience, in one of three ways

1. Provide much cheaper services through economies of scale: @Instacart @DoorDash @UberEats

2. Create brand new desirable supply: @BookCameo @outschool @Airbnb @Hipcamp @udemy @RoverDotCom
3. Aggregate previously disaggregated supply and make it easy to find and transact: @stockx @goatapp @thredUP @Outdoorsy @faire_wholesale @thumbtack @officialgooddog @Uber @lyft
2️⃣ Supply: Unlock meaningful new revenue opportunities, in one of three ways

1. Bring incremental revenue: @DoorDash @Instacart @thumbtack @snackpass_

2. Create brand new revenue opportunities: @Airbnb
@outschool @BookCameo @dumplingUS
3. Significantly simplify the selling process: @stockx @goatapp @toptal @officialgooddog
3️⃣ Thus, if you are building a marketplace, ask yourself:

1. Are you unlocking an amazing new experience for customers?

2. Are you unlocking meaningful new revenue opportunities for supply?

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More from @lennysan

23 Feb
This week's post is live: A collection of my favorite job postings + what you can learn from them to make your job posting more successful.

Examples include @Superhuman, @delightchathq, @MightyApp, @basecamp, @Levels, and more
lennysnewsletter.com/p/examples-of-…
1/ Founders often say that hiring is their #1 job, but it’s rare that you find a founder who spends as much time on their job postings as they do on, say, their product’s sign-up flow. This feels like a missed opportunity.
2/ Also, as a startup, you don’t have many opportunities to break through the noise. Since job postings are all generally so meh, putting extra effort into creating a remarkable job posting can be a very high ROI task.
Read 5 tweets
19 Feb
Mission → Vision → Strategy → Goals → Roadmap → Task

As taught to us by Oceans 11 👇
Mission: Rob the Bellagio, the Mirage, and the MGM Grand casinos, and get back at rival Terry Benedict.
Vision: Great wealth and revenge
Read 8 tweets
16 Feb
7 ways to increase your product's virality:
1. Nurture WOM
2. Incentivize WOM
3. Make the product better w/ friends/colleagues
4. Make the product only useful w/ friends/colleagues
5. Generate sharable content
6. Increase experiential serendipity
7. Increase engagement

Thread 🧵
But first, make sure your product is suited for virality:
✅ It's innately fun or rewarding to share (e.g. travel photos, homes for sale, incidents nearby)
✅ It's better with friends or colleagues (e.g. Snapchat, Slack)
✅ It's is remarkable — something worth remarking about
Strategy 1: Nurture organic word-of-mouth

Word-of-mouth is primarily driven by remarkable experiences (an experience worth remarking about), so start there.

Examples: Tinder, Clubhouse, Airbnb, Levels
Read 22 tweets
10 Feb
The future is going to be weird
Playing with the @WOMBO app. Here was the original. Image
One more
Read 4 tweets
9 Feb
What does it take to become a “senior” Product Manager?

In this week's newsletter, the one and only @jackiebo shares her in-depth advice.

tl;dr Focus on (1) Strategy, (2) Autonomy, and (3) Nuance.

*See thread for highlights*
lennysnewsletter.com/p/senior-produ…
1/ Strategy

A senior PM is responsible for developing and evangelizing a strategy that leads to meaningful customer and business success.

They paint a picture of an inspiring future and figure out the best path to get there.
There are three parts to a strategy: (1) vision, (2) strategic framework, and (3) roadmap. You can get started with whichever one calls to you.
Read 16 tweets
2 Feb
This week's post: All of the ways to increase your product's virality

A few highlights in the thread below 👇
lennysnewsletter.com/p/increasing-v…
1/ First, make sure you *should* be investing in virality. Virality is a natural fit for your product if:

• Your product is better with friends or colleagues (e.g. Snapchat, Slack)
• The product is innately fun or rewarding to share (e.g. travel photos, homes for sale) Image
2/ What is “virality”, anyway?

Virality is simply growth that stems from your existing users. Each user brings in on average more than one additional user (directly or indirectly) and thus creates exponential growth. Image
Read 8 tweets

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