Marketplace Memo #11
Airbnb Launches Services, Doordash $1.2B SevenRooms Acquisition, Instacart and Tinder CEOs Step Down, Uber Partners with OpenTable and Turo, Wander Raises $50M, Mary Meeker AI Report and Much More!
Hi, it’s Colin! Welcome to the 30 new subscribers who have joined Take Rate since the last Marketplace Memo. I am excited to have you join the 3,500+ marketplace founders, operators, and investors who subscribe. Join the fun! 👇
👋 Welcome to the 11th edition of the Marketplace Memo. My goal is to share curated news, content, and stories related to marketplaces, along with a splash of my own color. Please enjoy and share with others!
This post was spoken into existence with…
Wispr Flow - Think it, Speak it, Send it.
Effortless voice dictation in every application: 3x faster than typing, AI commands, and auto-edits. I use this product all the time. Get one month of Wispr Flow Pro free once you reach 2,000 words.
AI Will Steal My Job Vibe:
The marketplace world is going AI-first, and if you're burying your head in the sand, you're not doing yourself any favors. This isn't just about adding a chatbot to your customer service to reduce headcount. We are talking about fundamental changes to how marketplaces operate, compete, and create value.
The transformation is playing out in real-time across major platforms. Fiverr CEO Micha Kaufman just sent a brutal memo to employees: "AI is coming for your jobs. It's coming for my job too." His advice? Master AI tools or get replaced by someone who will. "Those who will not wake up and understand the new reality fast are, unfortunately, doomed." Pretty stark words from someone running a platform built on human freelancers, though Kaufman insists these tools are meant to empower creators, not replace them.
Meanwhile, Duolingo went full "AI-first," announcing they'll "gradually stop using contractors to do work that AI can handle." The results speak for themselves, as they doubled their course offerings to 148 new AI-created courses in under a year, a task that used to take a decade. The backlash was swift, forcing CEO Luis von Ahn to walk back some comments and clarify they're still hiring, but the underlying message was crystal clear: AI is reshaping how content gets created at scale.
The reality is that this isn't about whether AI will reshape marketplaces, it's about whether you'll lead that transformation or watch competitors do it first. The companies pretending this isn't happening are actively choosing to become irrelevant in a world where AI-native marketplaces will eat their lunch.
The Highlight
Airbnb is launching services across 10 categories in 260 cities globally, marking one of the most significant marketplace expansions since the platform's founding. The company plans to invest $200 million to $250 million in this new business.
In Marketplace Memo #6, I speculated that Airbnb might expand into traditional travel categories, such as flights and rental cars, to become a full-on OTA. Instead, they went the services route, which is arguably much harder. Dan Hockenmaier, CSO at Faire, thinks this will be difficult because "The primary way you build a giant consumer app is by building a habit. Building a habit is very hard unless your customers have a frequent use case."
It will be interesting to see how this one plays out, as service demand is inherently infrequent, and high-quality supply is typically already in high demand. I also think that the problem is less acute than the original one Airbnb solved. However, I also believe Airbnb might have the scale to make this work, and I know they have some great people working on it. Time will tell.
News
"Instacart gives rosy outlook after best order growth since 2022" - Instacart reported 14% order growth to 83.2M in Q1 2025, its strongest performance in ten quarters, while revenue grew 8% despite a 4% decline in average order value. The delivery company is focused on customer engagement by lowering the minimum delivery amount for free delivery from $35 to $10, as well as offering restaurant delivery via an Uber Eats partnership. Bloomberg
"Leadership Update: A Letter from Fidji Simo" - Instacart CEO Fidji Simo announced she will leave the grocery delivery marketplace in the coming months to become CEO of OpenAI Applications, with Chief Business Officer Chris Rogers named as her successor effective August 15. Rogers brings 20+ years of experience, including 11 years at Apple as Managing Director for Canada and deep grocery retail relationships from his P&G background, representing continuity in marketplace operations while highlighting how AI leadership roles are attracting top platform executives. LinkedIn
"DoorDash buys SevenRooms for $1.2 billion in restaurant tech bet" - DoorDash acquired hospitality tech company SevenRooms for $1.2B to add reservation and customer management tools to its merchant platform, extending beyond delivery into full-service restaurant operations. This signals the delivery giant's evolution into a comprehensive restaurant commerce platform, competing directly with traditional POS and CRM providers. Bloomberg
"Uber to launch restaurant reservations with OpenTable" - Uber Eats will introduce a "Dine Out" feature in September, enabling customers to book restaurant reservations through OpenTable integration, with Uber One members receiving priority access to popular venues. The partnership creates a direct competitive response to DoorDash's acquisition of SevenRooms. Bloomberg
"DoorDash widened its gap vs Uber Eats last quarter" - DoorDash continues to outpace Uber Eats in quarterly growth metrics, maintaining its position as the dominant US food delivery marketplace. The performance gap suggests that network effects and merchant relationships are becoming increasingly defensible moats in the delivery sector. Restaurant Business Online
"Big week for drone delivery at DoorDash" - DoorDash continues expanding its autonomous delivery initiatives with new drone partnerships and pilot programs. The push into autonomous fulfillment represents a critical infrastructure investment as delivery platforms can reduce per-order economics and delivery speed. LinkedIn
"Turo is now available on Uber Rent" - Turo's peer-to-peer car sharing marketplace is now integrated with Uber Rent in the US, allowing Uber customers to discover and book from over 1,600 vehicle makes and models directly through the Uber app. Turo
"Amazon's Grubhub deal is delivering big results" - Prime members have saved over $1 billion in waived subscription fees through the ongoing Grubhub+ partnership, with 60% of orders coming from suburban markets outside major cities. Amazon's bundling strategy is proving effective at driving engagement beyond urban cores while strengthening the Prime value proposition. Fast Company
"Vinted delivers strong, profitable growth while investing in Vinted Go and Vinted Pay" - Vinted posted 36% revenue growth to €813.4M in 2024 with net profit jumping 330% to €76.7M, while expanding into new categories like electronics and launching investment arm Vinted Ventures. The secondhand marketplace is proving that category expansion and vertical integration are the hallmarks of great marketplaces. Vinted
"Tinder CEO Faye Iosotaluno to step down in July" - Tinder CEO Faye Iosotaluno will step down in July after less than two years leading the dating app, with Match Group CEO Spencer Rascoff stepping in to lead the team. Her departure comes as the dating app faces challenges attracting users, with Match Group reporting a 5% fall in paying users and announcing a 13% workforce reduction. Apparently, “No Tinder CEO has been in the role for more than two years after co-founder Sean Rad left in 2016.” LinkedIn
"HomeGrind App launched for home baristas" - New marketplace app HomeGrind allows home baristas to set up coffee services and already has 650 baristas signed up! I love that this was vibe-coded and the idea behind it. LinkedIn
Fundraising
CNaught raises $4.5M Seed led by Bow Capital - CNaught operates a marketplace that simplifies carbon credit purchasing for businesses by curating science-backed portfolios and offering a first-of-its-kind guarantee to replace credits if they're canceled or suspended. Participants include FJ Labs, Silence VC, Karman Ventures, and Marketplace Capital. TechCrunch
Doji raises $14M Seed led by Thrive Capital - Doji operates an AI-powered marketplace that creates personalized avatars for virtual try-ons, making apparel shopping both fun and social by serving users different looks that may inspire clothing purchases. Seven Seven Six participated in the round. TechCrunch
Fleequid raises €3M Seed led by DFF Ventures - Fleequid built the first online marketplace for buying and selling used buses in Europe, addressing a fragmented €14B industry where over 100,000 buses change hands annually. Participants include Silence VC, FJ Labs, and angel investor Jack Greco (Co-founder of ACV Auctions). EU-Startups
Palmstreet raises $25M (Seed and Series A) from a16z, Craft Ventures, and Headline - Palmstreet operates a live shopping marketplace that connects creators and collectors across categories like handmade crafts, crystals, and plants, with community sales growing 5X over the past 12 months. Palmstreet Blog
Wander raises $50M Series B led by QED Investors and Fifth Wall - Wander operates a marketplace of over 1,000 premium vacation homes that consistently delivers exceptional hospitality experiences. Or as Arfur Rock puts it: “Airbnb but for founders who sold secondaries.” Participants include Redpoint, Uncork, Starwood, Authentic, Breyer, Alumni, Hakluyt, Activant, and Soma. Wander Blog
Reads
"Reimagining How People Buy, Sell and Exchange Goods, Services and Experiences with AI" - Headline's investment thesis focuses on companies that fundamentally rethink commerce transactions, not just digitize workflows, with AI now making "tractable what used to feel impossible" in traditionally slow-moving industries. The firm sees opportunities in under-digitized sectors, such as supply chain, manufacturing, and government, where AI can automate manual processes and increase visibility. Beyond transforming old industries, AI is spawning entirely new categories from data center cooling to "agent-to-agent transactions" that could reshape how future commerce operates. Headline
"Our Source of Truth on B2B Secondhand Industrials Marketplaces" - FJ Labs investor Lauren Lee breaks down why secondhand industrial marketplaces are finally ready for digitization, highlighting that success hinges on buyer-seller price alignment and participant symmetry rather than just supply acquisition. The analysis reveals that platforms work best when suppliers view assets as already depreciated (seeking write-offs) rather than financial instruments (seeking value optimization), and when mid-market participants serve as both buyers and sellers to drive network effects. As traditional supply chains face tariff pressures and geopolitical volatility, secondhand offers a more resilient alternative but only if marketplaces can address trust issues through inspections, financing, and domain-specific workflows. Essential reading for understanding why some industrial marketplaces thrive while others struggle with liquidity. LinkedIn
"Trends – Artificial Intelligence" - Mary Meeker of Bond Capital's comprehensive 339-page AI trends report shows that "AI user and usage trending is ramping materially faster" than previous technology cycles, with ChatGPT reaching 800MM users in just 17 months while achieving 365B annual searches 5.5x faster than Google. The report shows that while AI model training costs are rising to billions of dollars, inference costs have fallen by 99.7% over the past two years, creating a paradox where "training is expensive, serving is getting cheap, and pricing power is slipping" for model providers. Great reading for understanding how AI is fundamentally reshaping business models, with the stark warning that "you're not going to lose your job to an AI, but you're going to lose your job to somebody who uses AI." Bond Capital
"Riders say they're hitting the brakes—and the growing price gap may be why" - Gridwise Analytics reveals a striking divergence in rideshare pricing strategy: Uber's average trip price rose from $19.95 to $22.83 since January 2024, while Lyft's dropped to $18.92, creating a $4 price gap that's reshaping rider behavior. Over half of riders surveyed have already reduced usage due to pricing, with 70%+ suggesting they will cut back further if costs continue climbing. This data shows how pricing strategy directly impacts marketplace liquidity a critical lesson for any platform balancing unit economics with user retention. If you have a truly better product and a network effect, you can also have pricing power. LinkedIn
"Marketplace Moats in the Age of AI" - Network effects remain important but AI is reshaping marketplace defensibility, with data network effects becoming "more important than ever" since proprietary transaction data outperforms general AI models. The analysis identifies seven AI-era moats, including workflow lock-in, atomic network density, and embedded fintech, with marketplaces focused on physical assets having advantages over purely digital ones. The SNAK team concludes that "the most promising marketplace startups won't just connect supply and demand—they'll layer intelligence, infrastructure, and trust in ways that make switching feel impossible". Snak VC
Watch or Listen
"How Booking.com tackled a data quality crisis" - Nimit Bhardwaj from Booking.com walks through his team's two-track approach to solving a high-stakes data quality issue that threatened financial systems, ultimately achieving a 12x improvement through automation and clear ownership. Great viewing for any marketplace dealing with legacy data systems and the inevitable migration chaos that follows. Mind the Product
“Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky on AI: The future is going to be more complex, not simpler” - CNBC
Scaling Clutch As A Leading Marketplace For Buying & Selling Cars With Dan Park - Everything Marketplaces
Secrets of Successful Marketplaces with Sharetribe’s CMO - The CEO and the Salesman Podcast
Marketplace Jobs
General Manager, Enterprise Operations – FlyAway (CharterUP)
Senior Manager of Marketplace Business Operations & Analytics (Peerspace)
Want to see your job listed here? Email colin@yonder.vc with the subject line “Job Posting” to be included or get your job featured!
Thanks for reading!
That is a wrap for the week! As always, please email me at colin@yonder.vc with any missed feedback or news. Hot tips are always welcome. Please don’t forget to subscribe and follow me on X and LinkedIn for other great marketplace content. If you want to book a call, you can find me on Intro.
About Me:
Colin is a marketplace geek and the General Partner of Yonder, a pre-seed marketplace fund that invests in marketplaces that create new economies. He has also been a long-time advisor to marketplaces, helping them with product growth, monetization, liquidity optimization, and strategy. Previously, he was the CPO/CRO at Outdoorsy and worked at Tripping.com, Ancestry.com, Justanswer, and the Federal Reserve.