Jonathan Libov of Union Square Ventures compares traditional centralized e-commerce platform fees against decentralized alternatives.
Prediction Held up
OpenBazaar Could Drive Marketplace Take Rates to Zero
“You could drive that all the way down to zero if you're using something like Open Bazaar.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
SMS Will Not Become a Primary Interface for Mobile Services
“I do also think that in in a variety of cases, I, you know, I'm not a believer. That SMS is going to, because there are people who are quite a bit more optimistic than I am that SMS is going to be one of the primary ways that we interact with services on our p…”
Opinion
Twitter Provides Smarter Sports Analysis Than Mainstream ESPN Commentary
“There's a lot of great content on Twitter, and about Pro football and sports in general, and as someone who's very into Twitter, it's easy for me to curate you know, a timeline or lists of people who have smart things to say about football beyond the kind of b…”
Opinion
USV Operates as a Thesis-Driven Firm Rather Than Deal-Flow Driven
“We're thesis driven, which means that we operate, we look out at what's happening based upon are sort of core beliefs about the internet and how to grow a business on the internet. So in contrast to some firms, which I which are more, I think, deal flow orient…”
Assertion Supported
Polling Shows Most Uber Drivers Prefer Independent Status Over Employee Status
“If you actually look at some of the polls, it's actually not the case. I mean, if you even talk to a lot of Uber drivers, they're not even aware of it, and if you ask them if they prefer to be W-II or T-Nine-I mean, not necessarily in those terms, they say tha…”
Insight
Network Effects Are the Primary Defensible Quality of Internet Businesses
“I think they had a real belief that networks would be the defensible quality of the internet, or the defensible thing about building a business on the internet. Whereas, let's say, In prior businesses like, ah, Microsoft Office or Windows or any other software…”