Jan 2, 2019 · 24m · a16z
a16z Podcast | Building Marketplaces with the Power of Community
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode of the a16z podcast, host Boris Wurtz joins Tindie founders Emil and Julia to examine how online marketplaces leverage community engagement, manage power users, and navigate the transition from niche startup platforms to scalable mass-market businesses.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. How this is scored →
The host as informed peer 5.7 Guest teaching 3.3 Guest disagreement 1.9 The host pushing back 2.3
speaking balance: gold is the host, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 10:24 Emil counters host premise on super users
Emil directly questions Boris's stance on prioritizing mass market buyers over power users, invoking the classic rule of securing the first thousand passionate users.
Hardest push from the host ▶ 11:24 Boris reframes the point of conflict in marketplace growthBoris holds his ground against Emil's counterpoint, clarifying that the tension does not occur at inception but specifically during the transition from a niche community to a scalable business.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 19:02 Emil reframes modern marketplace social mechanicsEmil provides a fresh analysis showing how modern marketplaces like Uber externalize social interactions to Facebook and Twitter rather than building native community features.
The host holds their own ▶ 20:14 Boris delivers a clear taxonomy of marketplace typesBoris demonstrates deep domain expertise by categorizing platforms based on whether they deal in standardized services or unique, personal products that require community trust.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | The host as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | The host pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Origins of Tindie and Reddit Community Growth | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | Boris draws on his background founding AbeBooks to frame questions about balancing community involvement with operational control. Emil and Julia explain Tindie's origins on Reddit and how they maintain seller autonomy while retaining control over payments and reviews. | |
| Involving Community Members in Product Decisions | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | The guests turn the interview back onto the host, asking how AbeBooks managed feedback and community governance prior to its sale to Amazon. Boris shares actionable insights on maintaining clear rules and open channels while making tough business choices. | |
| Navigating Power Users Versus the Mass Market | 7 | 3 | 3 | 4 | Boris provides a structured analysis of super users vs mass market buyers, citing Digg as a cautionary tale. Emil offers a polite pushback regarding the need to serve early power users, but Boris defends his premise by explaining that conflict arises when expanding from niche to mass market. | |
| Micro-Communities and Marketplace Community Structures | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | Boris references Etsy and eBay as examples of community management. Emil elaborates on how platforms use micro-communities and sub-groups to satisfy power users without cluttering the experience for casual shoppers. | |
| Offline Engagement and Scaling Community Events | 6 | 2 | 2 | 3 | Boris shares the 1-10-90 rule of community participation and explains how AbeBooks leveraged informal offline gatherings to engage passive users. The guests push for specifics regarding team size and cost management when scaling offline events. | |
| Technical Debt and Utility versus Social Marketplaces | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | Julia outlines the technical debt and product risks associated with building features for niche power users. Emil contrasts older marketplaces like Etsy with modern platforms like Uber that offload community interactions to external social networks. | |
| Seller Personality and Types of Marketplace Interactions | 7 | 4 | 2 | 3 | Boris provides a clear framework distinguishing standardized utility platforms from unique product marketplaces where seller personality matters. Julia adds nuance by breaking down community dynamics across buyer-seller, seller-seller, and buyer-buyer axes. |
Statements from this episode (9)
Wertz: AbeBooks involved sellers in product discussions while retaining final operational control
“Everything is up for discussion, but eight books ultimately takes the business decision. We run the business.”
Wertz: Managing thousands of passionate marketplace user opinions is exhausting for operators
“It's a very powerful thing to have a strong community. It's sometimes also a very tiring thing as an operator, because you get all of these thousands of opinion from highly passionate people.”
Boris Wertz: Power users took over Digg and resisted necessary business changes
“And when you look at kind of the history of Dick, for example, I think what happened is there were, you know, dozens and hundreds of power users that took over the community And basically resisted change for the better of the business going forward, right?”
Wertz: Marketplace conflicts emerge when scaling from niche users to mass market
“I think the conflict comes once you expand from the niche to the masses. Suddenly you might have new types of products on there that, you know, kind of the core sellers that were there early on say, listen, you know, that doesn't belong to our community or, Yo…”
Boris Wertz: Etsy best executed combining online and offline marketplace community
“I think Etsy overall is probably the marketplace that has done, you know, the best around a really strong community that combines both online and offline elements.”
Wertz: Offline events successfully engaged passive sellers at AbeBooks
“And, you know, at books, the one thing that has had always had great effect was offline events. So we traveled a lot to cities where we met sellers that we never saw on the forums.”
Wertz argues operational distraction is the key risk of offline events
“And, you know, it's, cost is the one thing. I think distraction to the businesses is, is the other one. You know, having people continuously travel. It was never kind of putting on expensive, shiny events. You know, it can be a quick get together for drinks so…”
Wertz: Community matters more in unique product marketplaces than standardized services
“So I think that the seller personality matters a lot in these in, in these marketplaces and these are creative individuals and unique personalities behind it. So I think from that point of view, a community is much more important and, In this case, then in a m…”
Wertz: Amazon Marketplace lacks community on both buyer and seller sides
“And I mean, you look at marketplace like Amazon marketplace, I mean, nobody, there's no community per se. I mean, people, seller go there to sell as many products as at high prices as possible and deliver a consistent service. Right. But there is no sense of c…”