Follow Boris: https://twitter.com/bwertz
About Boris:
Boris is founding partner of Version One and one of the top tech early-stage investors in North America. Born in Germany and based in Vancouver, Boris takes a wide-angle view to find great companies all across North America: from New York and Toronto to Seattle and LA. He is a former board partner with Andreessen Horowitz and is well-respected for his uncanny ability to find the next generation of leaders.
Today, he is focused on crypto/web 3, climate/energy, marketplaces and SaaS, looking for the best teams who solve big problems in a unique way. As an investor and former entrepreneur, Boris knows when to push and when to ease off, while always remembering that he is an advisor, not a player.
Before becoming an investor, Boris built an online marketplace for used and out-of-print books in 1999, selling the business to AbeBooks.com where he became COO and led a team of 60 people. After AbeBooks.com was sold to Amazon, he moved into investing, first as an angel and now with Version One.
In this episode, we talk about how to build marketplaces!
(00:00) Intro + https://doola.com/exerton
(02:04) Who is Boris? 🤔
(03:54) The Amazon acquisition story 👀
(05:34) Why did Amazon acquire a company even after a financial crisis? 🏦
(06:33) Thinking long term in times of crisis 💥
(08:02) Why are marketplaces the true long term game?
(09:17) How to identify and get your marketplace flywheel going?
(12:14) Niching down vs generalizing in your marketplace
(15:20) Different marketplace business models
(18:52) How should marketplace do extensions?
(20:32) What makes great execution for marketplaces?
(22:25) Being urgent while not breaking things
(26:51) Does the founder choose the approach?
(27:56) How can marketplace approaches be changed?
(30:09) How can marketplaces provide consistent service the buyers and the sellers
(34:37) The solution to the chicken and egg problem
(36:18) My Ratio Theory for marketplaces ( I am glad I ran it through Boris)
(40:37) Satisfying all the sellers using your marketplace
(41:58) Managing sellers and buyers as the marketplace grows
(45:53) How to create the best revenue model for a marketplace?
(50:00) Should marketplaces charge the sellers?
Enjoy!
