Lately I have been spending a lot of time on Medium.com. I didn't realize how much material was on it until now.
I occasionally would look at an article or two. But now, I find myself searching for a topic within Medium itself. Based on a few topics I am aware of, I find that there are very nicely curated information there. No wonder Medium has set up a paywall for articles beyond a specific amount in a month.
What I find interesting is how so many sites crowdsource their key product. What they work on is the platform and baking in a high appeal to get the crowd there.
First time I noticed this was the FBA program by Amazon. It was attracting merchants to the platform in order to sell and make money. In the meantime, Amazon was getting all the data about what product sells, for how much and to whom. Soon after, they create their own brand selling the exact same thing calling it AmazonBasics.
Then I noticed it with StackOverflow.com. Developers and other professionals would go to the site and ask questions as well as answer questions. The entire site is based on the contribution of questions and answers by the users.
Crowdfunding sites, ebay, Craigslist, Eventbrite, Meetup, Fiverr and Upwork --- they are all platforms/middlemen that bring the crowd to the platform.
This model makes a lot of sense for businesses where the platform is large and popular enough. It isn't easy for a startup to reach their type of engagement quickly. Even the capital needed to manage and accommodate a crowd is substantial. But it is an interesting model.
I occasionally would look at an article or two. But now, I find myself searching for a topic within Medium itself. Based on a few topics I am aware of, I find that there are very nicely curated information there. No wonder Medium has set up a paywall for articles beyond a specific amount in a month.
What I find interesting is how so many sites crowdsource their key product. What they work on is the platform and baking in a high appeal to get the crowd there.
First time I noticed this was the FBA program by Amazon. It was attracting merchants to the platform in order to sell and make money. In the meantime, Amazon was getting all the data about what product sells, for how much and to whom. Soon after, they create their own brand selling the exact same thing calling it AmazonBasics.
Then I noticed it with StackOverflow.com. Developers and other professionals would go to the site and ask questions as well as answer questions. The entire site is based on the contribution of questions and answers by the users.
Crowdfunding sites, ebay, Craigslist, Eventbrite, Meetup, Fiverr and Upwork --- they are all platforms/middlemen that bring the crowd to the platform.
This model makes a lot of sense for businesses where the platform is large and popular enough. It isn't easy for a startup to reach their type of engagement quickly. Even the capital needed to manage and accommodate a crowd is substantial. But it is an interesting model.
"Marketplace" is sweet because of massive network effects. Each user added to the network improves the value of the platform and so on and so on. I tried building a marketplace for crafts/sewing folks. But it's really hard to pull off. The Chicken and Egg problem is domiciled in the Marketplace business model. Some Venture Capital Funds invests mainly in Marketplaces because when you're able to pull it off, it's always huge.
You put it well.... it is the perfect chicken and egg problem. Which is why I feel that you need a large capital to push through.