What’s Next for Marketplace Startups

Goods versus Services: The next trillion dollar opportunity

Software is eating the service economy, but it’s been slow.

The 4 Eras of Service Marketplaces, and What’s Next:

1. The Listings Era (1990s).
2. The Unbundled Craigslist Era (2000s).
3. The ‘Uber for X’ Era (2009-2015).
4. The Managed Marketplace Era (Mid-2010s).

What’s Next: The Future of Service Marketplaces (2018-?)

Opportunities for companies addressing regulated services.

Five Strategies to Unlock Industries:

1. Making discovery of licensed providers easier.
2. Hiring and managing existing providers to maintain quality.
3. Expanding or augmenting the licensed supply pool
4. Utilizing unlicensed supply.
5. Automation and AI.

Source: a16z-What’s Next for Marketplace Startups