Vampire Attacks: How Marketplaces Overcome the Chicken-and-Egg Problem
The chicken or the egg growth strategy that helped launch marketplaces like Airbnb, Uber, and Thumbtack by pulling users from established platforms like Craigslist and Indeed.
Hi, it’s Colin! Welcome to Take Rate. I am excited to have you join the 3,600+ marketplace founders, operators, and investors who subscribe. Join the fun!
Beware of Vampires
It seemed like no one saw DeepSeek coming. One day, OpenAI dominated the AI landscape with GPT-4 and ChatGPT. The next day, a relatively unknown Chinese startup released a model that matched GPT-4's performance while costing a fraction of the price to run. Within hours, millions of users were switching to the cheaper alternative.
How did a newcomer with no brand recognition suddenly steal market share from the most valuable AI company in the world? They executed a classic vampire attack. Instead of building from scratch, DeepSeek drew on OpenAI's creation and allegedly trained their model using ChatGPT's outputs, essentially draining billions of dollars worth of R&D investment, then open-sourcing the result at a dramatically lower cost.
Pure digital vampirism. 🧛
This explosive growth isn't just an AI story. It's the same vampire attack playbook that helped launch Airbnb, Uber, and other billion-dollar marketplaces.
Would You Like a Chicken or an Egg?
Every marketplace founder faces the same existential question at launch: "How do I get my first users when neither side will join without the other?" It's the classic chicken-and-egg problem that has killed countless marketplace startups.
The traditional advice?
Focus on one side first (usually the supply side), subsidize early users, and gradually build liquidity in one geographic area before expanding. - Every person citing the Uber playbook
But what if I told you there's a more aggressive approach that has launched some of the world's most successful marketplaces?
Enter the Vampire Attack: a growth strategy where a new marketplace deliberately siphons users (supply, demand, or both) from an established platform. After all, one platform's disintermediation risk is another platform's acquisition strategy.
Sound predatory? Maybe. Sometimes platforms want others to rely on them, as it enhances their network effect. Google, in particular, wanted users and companies to become dependent on them to empower their network effect (and sell ads). This symbiotic value exchange is just one type of vampire attack, but it also has downside risk for the vampire who becomes dependent on the host. At any time, the platform can cut you off, and that is what we call “platform risk”.
The overall vampire strategy is extraordinarily effective when executed well as a bootstrapping strategy. It's important to note that vampire attacks typically serve as initial growth accelerants rather than sustainable long-term growth strategies. They help you overcome the cold-start problem, but you'll eventually need to develop independent and durable acquisition channels.
The most important concept underlying the vampire attack is that being early to platform shifts is a critical growth lever.
Throughout tech history, companies that recognized emerging platforms and moved quickly to leverage them have gained tremendous advantages. From Zynga capitalizing on Facebook's social graph to countless apps utilizing Twitter's API in its early days, these platform opportunities create windows for rapid growth that eventually close.
Brian Balfour has just written a thought-provoking piece on the distinction between technology shifts and distribution shifts, which effectively describes this phenomenon. As a company, you want to be among the first to the platform shift when the gates open and before the platform captures the economic surplus. Vampire Attacks represent the ability to capture that economic surplus on platforms that haven't fully closed (or can't fully close).
Today, the rise of AI platforms like OpenAI represents another massive opportunity for forward-thinking marketplace entrepreneurs. It's telling that among OpenAI's initial Operator partners were Uber, Airbnb, and Thumbtack, three marketplaces that themselves employed vampire attacks to achieve their initial scale. These marketplace veterans recognize the power of being first to leverage new platform opportunities.
The Vampire Playbook
At its core, a vampire attack involves identifying where your potential users already congregate and then creating mechanisms to attract them to your platform, sometimes by leveraging the platform's existing infrastructure.
Platform Architecture Vulnerabilities: The most vulnerable targets fall into two categories:
Horizontal platforms, such as Craigslist, are vulnerable to vertical attacks. When you try to serve everyone, you serve no one exceptionally well. Each category within a horizontal platform represents a potential vampire opportunity for a focused vertical player that can deliver a 10x better experience or segment out the highest-frequency use cases.
Like-for-like platforms: Direct competitors with similar business models are susceptible to pure incentive and poaching attacks. If your value proposition is essentially identical to that of an incumbent, token rewards, better economics, or superior user experience can quickly win over users.
“One should expect only a handful of the dozens of services hoping to disrupt Craigslist or eBay or Amazon to survive, because of fantastic user experience or a high frequency of use.” - Casey Winters, The Contradictory Nature of Mobile Unbundling and the Emergence of Niche Marketplaces
The “attack” typically follows one of these patterns:
Symbiotic Mode: Build integrations that leverage another platform's reach while adding value to both ecosystems
Incentive Mode: Offer financial rewards to users who switch platforms
Poaching Mode: Directly recruit the other platform's users
Enhancement Mode: Create tools that make another platform better, then redirect the flow
When successful, a vampire attack can compress years of slow, painful growth into months of explosive scaling by jumpstarting network effects with pre-existing users. Let's examine some of the most effective vampire attacks in marketplace history, what made them successful, and what we can learn from them.
Note: I have done my best to write these examples based on the available facts and source materials. Any errors of storytelling are my own, but let’s also not let the facts get in the way of a good story with a lesson. 😊
Craigslist: The Ultimate Victim
If the internet had a blood bank, it would be Craigslist. The minimalist classified site has inadvertently "donated" its user base to launch numerous billion-dollar marketplaces. Its simple design, massive user base, and limited innovation made it the perfect target.
Airbnb's Classic Attack
Vampire Attack Type: Enhancement + Poaching Mode
When Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk were trying to scale Airbnb in 2009-2010, they faced the classic marketplace dilemma: travelers wouldn't use a site with few listings, and hosts wouldn't list on a site where travelers weren't looking.
But they noticed something: people were already listing their spaces on Craigslist's sublets section, which had massive traffic but a terrible user experience.
Their solution? A now-legendary growth hack that essentially siphoned both supply and demand from Craigslist:
They built an integration that allows Airbnb hosts to automatically cross-post their listings to Craigslist, including a link back to Airbnb.
They deployed supply-side outreach, directly emailing people who posted housing on Craigslist, inviting them to list on Airbnb instead.
The results were spectacular. Hosts loved the additional exposure from Craigslist's massive audience, while travelers who found these listings on Craigslist were drawn to Airbnb's superior experience (better photos, secure payments, reviews).
The hack was technically against Craigslist's terms of service, but it achieved exactly what Airbnb needed: it bootstrapped a two-sided marketplace by leveraging someone else's liquidity. By the time Craigslist shut down the integration, Airbnb had already extracted significant value.
Thumbtack's Service Provider Play
Vampire Attack Type: Enhancement Mode
Thumbtack, now worth billions, faced a similar challenge: how to build a marketplace for local service professionals across multiple categories and locations.
One of their approaches? Create a tool that enables service providers (such as plumbers, HVAC repair technicians, and handymen) to create a listing on Thumbtack easily and then automatically post it to Craigslist with a single click.
“What we built was a very easy tool for them to create a Thumbtack profile, and then with one click republish that onto Craigslist, importing all the pictures and reviews and metadata with a great sort of HTML layout, which they weren’t either interested or capable of doing themselves and was instantly valuable to them.” - Marco Zappacosta, CEO/Founder of Thumbtack
The Craigslist integration provided service providers with immediate value (easier Craigslist posting) while simultaneously expanding Thumbtack's service catalog. As providers began receiving leads through Thumbtack, they became less reliant on Craigslist and more invested in the new platform.
ApartmentList's Rental Play
Vampire Attack Type: Enhancement Mode + Poaching Mode
ApartmentList executed a similar strategy in the apartment rental space, creating tools for property managers and landlords to easily cross-post their listings from ApartmentList to Craigslist. Instant success like Airbnb and Thumbtack, right?
Not quite…
"We only tried that for a week or two and it wasn't scalable enough to drive meaningful lead volume. We did scrape Craigslist and displayed their listings with a fancier UI. So we stole users in Craigslist-dominant markets like SF, LA, NY, and Chicago by using their listings to help with our SEO." - Chris Herndon, Co-founder of ApartmentList
The strategy was simple: take Craigslist's rental inventory, present it with a superior user experience, then use SEO to intercept users searching for apartments in major metropolitan markets. Unfortunately, the golden age of SEO has come to an end, and strategies like this are becoming increasingly ineffective.
Other notable platforms that have successfully unbundled Craigslist include TaskRabbit (gig labor), StubHub (event tickets), and dozens of other vertical plays. Poor Craigslist became the unwitting victim of so many successful marketplace attacks that "unbundling Craigslist" has become a recognized playbook in Silicon Valley.
Outdoorsy’s Classifieds Strategy
Vampire Attack Type: Enhancement Mode
At Outdoorsy, I experienced firsthand how pattern recognition of these previous vampire attacks informed the growth strategy. When scaling Outdoorsy (a marketplace for RV rentals), we faced the same cold-start problem.
Initially, the company attempted the Craigslist outreach approach, but it didn't yield the desired results to scale. The company pivoted to building SaaS software for RV owners and formed partnerships with campground networks, such as KOA, to build supply.
One breakthrough came when Facebook Marketplace launched. Having studied the Craigslist vampire attacks, I immediately recognized the opportunity pattern:
We began manually posting RVs for rent in the "for sale" category (since there was no rental category yet).
The game-changer: We discovered that we could leverage dealership inventory management software with bulk listing capabilities on Facebook. We signed up with one of these platforms and posted thousands of RV listings.
The strategy worked beautifully until Facebook caught on to what was happening. But by then, we'd already captured enough supply and demand to generate momentum.
Other Vampire Success Stories
The Willing Host: Google
Vampire Attack Type: Symbiotic Mode
Before diving into specific marketplace attacks, it's worth acknowledging that nearly every successful digital platform has executed some form of vampire attack on Google. The search giant's massive reach and SEO-driven traffic have made it the ultimate target for user acquisition.
Companies like Pinterest, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and countless marketplace startups have built entire growth strategies around creating content that ranks in Google search results, then redirecting that traffic to their platforms. Pinterest mastered this by creating boards that rank for visual search terms, Yelp dominates local business searches, and travel marketplaces like Booking.com spend billions on Google Ads to intercept users searching for hotels.
The beauty of this approach is that Google facilitates these vampire attacks through its business model, as it profits from companies buying ads to steal their organic traffic, and it benefits from high-quality content that keeps users within the Google ecosystem. It's a rare case where the host platform actively enables the vampires because it serves their interests as well.
Platform Risk Alert: Google's shift toward AI-powered search is creating new vulnerabilities for companies that have built their growth strategies around traditional SEO. As Google increasingly answers questions directly through AI overviews rather than directing users to external sites, the organic traffic that many platforms have depended on for user acquisition is beginning to dry up. Companies that spent years vampiring Google's search traffic may now find themselves cut off from their primary growth channel.
The Shark and the Remora: eBay and PayPal
Vampire Attack Type: Symbiotic Mode
Before eBay acquired PayPal, the payment service executed a brilliant vampire attack on eBay's marketplace.
Unlike most examples, PayPal didn't "attack" eBay by competing directly; instead, it created a symbiotic relationship within eBay's ecosystem. Sellers independently began listing PayPal as a preferred method due to its speed and reliability. PayPal capitalized on this by offering cash referral bonuses, creating seller tools, and becoming ubiquitous in eBay listings, despite eBay promoting its payment tool, Billpoint. By the time of its acquisition for $1.5 billion in 2002, PayPal had become the default payment method on eBay, with the majority of auctions accepting it as the preferred payment method.
The key insight: sometimes you can approach a platform in a friendly manner by enhancing it rather than completely replacing it, creating value for both ecosystems while still diverting transaction flow to your platform.
Uber vs. Lyft
Vampire Attack Type: Poaching and Incentive Mode
The ridesharing wars provide a more direct and controversial example. In 2014, Uber launched "Operation SLOG" (Supplying Long-term Operations Growth) to poach drivers from Lyft.
Uber hired contractors who would:
Create rider accounts on Lyft.
Order rides, then spend the trip pitching Lyft drivers on switching to Uber.
Give the driver a low rating to avoid being matched again (allowing them to target more drivers).
The campaign was remarkably systematic. Uber built dedicated teams in major cities with specific targets for driver recruitment. They offered substantial bonuses (often $500 or more) for drivers who switched, and created detailed playbooks outlining how their contractors should approach Lyft drivers. Lyft estimated that, between late 2013 and 2014, Uber's team made over 5,560 fake ride requests and successfully converted thousands of Lyft drivers to either switch entirely or drive for both platforms.
"At the time, Uber had so much money at their disposal, they could focus on aggressive incentive mode tactics. The new driver sign-up bonuses were so compelling—I don't think it took much to convince a Lyft driver to sign up for Uber since they were getting a $500 bonus. As we always coach drivers, it's in their best interest to have both Uber and Lyft since you get more ride requests and a backup option." - Harry Campbell, The Rideshare Guy
The tactics were aggressive, but they worked: Uber secured more drivers in key markets at a crucial time, reinforcing its supply advantage and helping it dominate the U.S. market. By weakening Lyft's driver supply, Uber was able to offer faster pickups and better coverage, which attracted more riders, creating a virtuous cycle that cemented its lead.
The Vampire Becomes the Victim: Didi vs. Uber in China
Vampire Attack Type: Incentive Mode + Symbiotic Mode
Ironically, Uber would soon experience its “vampire attack” playbook turned against it in China by Didi Chuxing. Didi's strategy was Uber's playbook on steroids, and Didi employed massive financial incentives to lure Uber drivers onto its platform.
Armed with billions in funding from Alibaba, Tencent, SoftBank, and even Apple, Didi engaged in an all-out subsidy war. Both companies were burning billions annually, but Didi's deeper war chest allowed them to outlast Uber's resources and pull ahead. By mid-2016, Didi had captured 87% of China's ride-hailing market and was completing approximately 11 million rides per day. Uber, burning cash with a minority market share, ultimately surrendered in August 2016; they sold their China operations to Didi in exchange for an equity stake.
However, what might be more interesting is how Didi employed a symbiotic mode of attack to grow while excluding Uber from the market. Didi leveraged its investors’ platforms by embedding their services directly into WeChat and Alipay, which are apps that hundreds of millions of Chinese users access daily. When Tencent's WeChat blocked Uber's accounts, it essentially cut off Uber's access to China's dominant messaging platform. Didi rode on domestic platforms while Uber remained isolated.
Twitter's API: The Social Springboard
Vampire Attack Type: Symbiotic Mode
In its early days, Twitter's open API created an entire ecosystem of third-party apps and services that dramatically expanded the platform's reach and utility. Companies like TweetDeck, Hootsuite, and Buffer built their initial user bases on Twitter's platform.
While not a traditional marketplace vampire attack, these companies leveraged Twitter's network to bootstrap their user bases. TweetDeck became so central to the Twitter experience that Twitter eventually acquired it for over $40 million. Hootsuite grew into a social media management platform valued at over $1 billion, mainly by starting as a better interface for Twitter.
Platform Defense Alert: Twitter (now X) eventually restricted and killed much of its open API access, devastating many third-party clients and tools that had built businesses on its platform. This serves as a stark reminder of the platform risk inherent in vampire strategies that rely on continued API access.
This example offers an essential lesson for existing marketplaces: sometimes, allowing others to "vampire" your platform through an API can strengthen your network effects. By becoming a platform that others build upon, you can expand your reach and utility far beyond what you could create on your own.
TikTok's Cross-Platform Advertising Blitz
Vampire Attack Type: Symbiotic Mode
TikTok executed one of the most obvious vampire attacks in social media history by walking right through the front door. The company aggressively advertised on its direct competitors' platforms during its expansion in the U.S. The strategy was as costly as it was effective.
“We do know that armed with cash, ByteDance undertook an advertising campaign that was reported by the Wall Street Journal to be more than $1 billion dollars in 2018. That breaks down to nearly $3 million dollars in advertising daily. This included nearly $300 million on Google advertisements for TikTok in 2018.” - Margins by Ranjan Roy and Can Duruk
The approach worked brilliantly because TikTok was buying access to the exact audience they needed, young, mobile-first users already engaged with short-form content, directly from platforms that had spent years cultivating that audience. By the time competitors realized what was happening, TikTok had already established significant market presence and user habits that would be difficult to reverse.
This strategy demonstrates how newcomers can use established platforms’ advertising systems against them, turning their monetization infrastructure into a user acquisition flywheel.
Labor Marketplaces vs. Indeed
Vampire Attack Type: Symbiotic Mode
A more benign example can be found in how gig economy platforms like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and Instacart all aggressively recruit on job sites like Indeed. Unlike most vampire attacks, this is a win-win, as Indeed's business model relies on job postings.
These labor marketplaces effectively use Indeed as a supply acquisition channel, posting thousands of "driver" or "delivery partner" opportunities that direct potential workers into their recruitment funnels. With Indeed's massive reach among job seekers, these platforms can rapidly scale their workforce in new markets.
What makes this a "positive vampire attack" is that it aligns with the host platform's goals while still allowing marketplaces to bootstrap their supply side rapidly. Indeed is paid for postings, while gig economy platforms get workers, which is a symbiotic relationship rather than a parasitic one.
💡 New labor marketplaces can leverage this strategy today!
Token Attacks
Vampire Attack Type: Incentive Mode
In September 2020, SushiSwap launched and temporarily drained liquidity from Uniswap, the dominant decentralized exchange (DEX).
The attack was brilliantly simple:
Copy the entire Uniswap codebase (it was open source)
Offer SUSHI token rewards to anyone who provides liquidity to Uniswap
Promise to migrate all liquidity to SushiSwap after a set period
The strategy worked almost too well. Within weeks, over $1 billion in liquidity had moved from Uniswap to SushiSwap. The crypto community referred to it as "The Great Migration," as liquidity providers (the supply side of a DEX marketplace) abandoned the incumbent in favor of the promise of token rewards.
Fast forward to 2022, and we see history repeating itself. LooksRare, an NFT marketplace, executed a textbook attack on dominant player OpenSea.
The strategy relied on token incentives:
They airdropped LOOKS tokens to active OpenSea users (but you had to list an NFT on LooksRare to claim them)
They offered ongoing trading rewards in LOOKS tokens, essentially paying people to use their platform
Within two days of its launch, LooksRare's trading volumes surpassed those of OpenSea, although much of this was due to wash trading (users trading with themselves to farm tokens).
These attacks demonstrated that even the strongest network effects can be vulnerable when faced with the right incentive structure.
The Vampire Attack Playbook: Lessons for Founders
From these examples, several patterns emerge that marketplace founders can adapt:
1. Find the Blood Source
Identify where your potential users already gather. Is there an existing platform that meets your supply or demand needs? Look for platforms with:
Large, engaged user bases
Poor user experience or monetization
Limited innovation or adaptation
Vulnerability to technical integrations
Weak value proposition or network effect
2. Create the Value Bridge
Build mechanisms that make it easy (and rewarding) for users to switch:
Cross-posting tools that leverage the incumbent's audience
Direct migration pathways with minimal friction
Financial incentives or token rewards for switching
Features that solve pain points the incumbent ignores
3. Deliver a Superior Experience
A vampire attack gets users in the door, but you need to keep them:
Ensure your core product is genuinely better
Address the incumbent's biggest weaknesses
Create unique features that others can't easily copy
Build network effects that increase switching costs over time
4. Understand Your Network Effect is Only as Strong as Your Value Prop
A critical lesson from these examples is that platforms vulnerable to vampire attacks typically have weak value propositions or network effects that are exploitable. If your marketplace creates genuine, hard-to-replicate value, users won't easily defect to competitors. Conversely, if your value is primarily in aggregation without differentiation, you're vulnerable to the same attacks.
5. Consider Legal and Ethical Boundaries
The most effective vampire attacks often push boundaries, but consider the risks:
Technical integrations may violate the terms of service and lead to lawsuits
Aggressive recruitment can generate backlash
Unsustainable incentives may attract the wrong users
The incumbent might retaliate with legal action or platform changes
Remember: these strategies typically only work for a limited time before platforms close loopholes or take legal action. Airbnb, Thumbtack, and others all eventually had their Craigslist integrations shut down. Uber faced public backlash for its aggressive tactics. Be prepared for the window of opportunity to close.
6. Beware the Platform Risk
Vampire attacks come with substantial platform risk:
Your growth channel can be cut off instantly if the target platform changes its policies
Terms of service violations could result in expensive lawsuits
Building dependence on another platform creates a single point of failure
Long-term sustainability requires developing independent acquisition channels
The more aggressive your vampire attack, the more likely and severe the eventual response from the target platform will be. Plan accordingly.
Here are some companies that were notably “deplatformed”:
Zynga – Built on Facebook’s viral mechanics; user growth stalled when Facebook restricted feed notifications and imposed Credits tax.
Meerkat – Gained traction via Twitter’s social graph; died quickly after Twitter cut access and backed rival Periscope.
BranchOut – Grew by tapping Facebook friend invites; collapsed when Facebook cracked down on spammy virality.
Amazon Marketplace Sellers – Built businesses on Amazon; many were undercut or copied by Amazon Basics.
7. Transition to Sustainable Growth
Vampire attacks are a bootstrap strategy, not a business model:
Plan for the attack to be blocked eventually
Build direct acquisition channels in parallel
Focus on retention once users are acquired
Evolve your value proposition beyond the initial hook
For Existing Marketplaces: Defense and Opportunity
If you're running an established marketplace, vampire attacks might seem like a threat, but they can also represent an opportunity. Consider:
Opening Strategic APIs: By carefully exposing parts of your platform via APIs, you can extend your reach through third-party developers. This approach helped Twitter grow dramatically in its early days, with companies like TweetDeck and Hootsuite essentially becoming distribution channels for the platform.
Turn Vampires into Features: If you're a horizontal marketplace (covering many categories), consider enabling specialized vertical marketplaces to plug into your platform. Instead of fighting the vampires, make them features that enhance your value proposition.
Network Effect Enhancement: Well-designed integrations can strengthen your network effects by making your platform more valuable to users, thereby enhancing its overall value. PayPal enhanced eBay's utility, which is why eBay eventually acquired it.
Monitor for Warning Signs: Keep an eye on user engagement patterns. If specific segments of your marketplace are vulnerable to poaching, that's a signal to enhance your value proposition for those users before a competitor capitalizes on the gap.
The Ethical Question
Let's address the elephant in the room: Are vampire attacks ethical?
The answer isn't black and white. On one hand, these tactics can push boundaries and sometimes violate the platform's terms of service. On the other hand, they often provide genuine value to users and accelerate innovation in stagnant markets.
Consider these perspectives:
The Libertarian View: Users should be free to choose the best platform for their needs. If your product is superior, why shouldn't you be able to let users know about it?
The Incumbent View: Building user bases requires significant investment. Vampire attacks free-ride on this investment without contributing to the costs.
The Consumer View: Competition generally benefits users through better features and lower prices. Vampire attacks can break monopolies and force platforms to improve.
My take? The ethics depend largely on execution. Tactics that deliberately sabotage another platform are problematic. But strategies that make it easier for users to discover and try alternatives, while adding genuine value, are fair game in competitive markets. The most successful vampire attacks ultimately succeed because they offer something better to users, not just because they're cleverly parasitic.
Final Thoughts: The Future of Vampire Attacks
As platforms become more sophisticated, traditional vampire attacks are becoming increasingly difficult to execute. Facebook, Craigslist, and others have improved their defenses against unauthorized integrations and mass outreach.
However, the fundamental strategies continue to evolve. For marketplace founders in 2025, the key question isn't whether to consider vampire tactics, but how to adapt them to today's landscape:
Be more surgical: Target specific high-value segments rather than broad attacks
Add more value: Ensure your platform solves real problems for the users you're attracting
Leverage new incentive models: Consider how tokens, revenue sharing, or other models can align incentives
Prepare for resistance: Have multiple growth strategies ready when the incumbents inevitably respond
Being early to platform shifts remains one of the most potent growth levers available. Currently, platforms like OpenAI present massive opportunities for marketplace founders who can leverage them creatively, just as mobile and social platforms created windows of opportunity for the last generation of startups. These windows inevitably close as platforms mature, but those who move quickly can establish positions that endure long after the initial opportunity fades.
Remember: a vampire attack is just the beginning. The blood infusion gives you a fighting chance, but building a sustainable marketplace still requires creating genuine, lasting value for both sides of your platform.
Have you executed or witnessed other interesting vampire attacks in the wild? Share your stories in the comments! I'm particularly interested in hearing about lesser-known examples from niche marketplaces that might provide new insights for founders.
Thanks for reading!
Please don’t forget to share this post and subscribe/follow me on X and LinkedIn for other great marketplace content. If you want to book a call, you can find me on Intro.
Thank you to Casey Winters, Chris Herndon, Joe Magyer, Scott Gorlick, Steve Kenning, Brian Nichols, and Harry Campbell for their feedback and editing. 🙏
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 longtime advisor to marketplaces, helping them with product growth, monetization, liquidity optimization, and strategy. Previously, he served as the CPO/CRO at Outdoorsy and has worked at Tripping.com, Ancestry.com, JustAnswer, and the Federal Reserve.
Sounds doable🧸 Thx!
Great Post! Enjoyed every word of it. For this strategy to work, it seems very key to get engineering to understand that the work put into helping port new users' data from an existing platform needs to be scrappy enough to move fast but also deliver on the value prop of the new platform via UX, price, etc..