One of the central topics that interests this blog is what factors create opportunities for disruptive marketplaces. This blog post from a few months ago by David Haber of Spark Capital is a nice contribution to that thinking in listing some of these factors. I quote:
As I look at this list as well as all marketplace companies that we get pitched at Spark, I keep coming back to a few salient points which I believe dictate the potential value of these companies:
- Size of the Market – Don’t be fooled by the incumbent market, think about the one that may be created or unlocked. While the initial focus might be small, what does the potentially broader market look like for this company (i.e. from couchsurfing to travel lodging industry in its entirety)?
- Excess Capacity– Some call it an asymptotic market, but it’s simply the fact that a good portion of a given industry is sitting idle or under-monetized. Why is that? Can it be changed by a new business?
- Friction / Opacity– Are there middlemen in this market that shouldn’t exist? The larger or more considered the transaction, the more likely there are intermediaries (i.e. buying a bike vs. buying a company). Intermediaries benefit from (and often perpetuate) opaque markets. They withhold information in order to make margin. Value is created when these intermediaries can be dis-intermediated.
- Fragmentation – Is this market highly fragmented, or are there a few dominant players? There isn’t much opportunity in a market where there is concentration on one side or the other.
- Customer Experience – Whether you become the transaction processor that eliminates an awkward in-person cash transaction or simply provide a more compelling user interface to a staid business (i.e. like Uber has done with the livery business), a better customer experience can be the differentiating factor for your success (and one that keeps transactions within your platform).