Assertion certainty 4/5 debate potential 2/5

Airbnb's review ecosystem creates defensibility that competitors cannot replicate

Anu Hariharan · 20VC: Why, How and When To Think About Growth Teams, The Right Way To Think About Network Effects & Scaling from Phase 1 To Phase 2 of Startup Life with Anu Hariharan, Partner @ YC Continuity Fund · Mar 5, 2018 · at 13:50

Anu Hariharan, Partner at YC Continuity Fund, discusses how marketplace trust and ratings generate strong user retention and network defensibility.

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“A product that's not like Facebook, but it has that same network effect is Airbnb, right? Because it's a marketplace and obviously it's a matching of hosts and guests, but over time they've built so many reviews and ratings, both about the guest and the host. That the trust element is not something I can replicate in a new marketplace.”

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