“in 2013 GrubHub acquired seamless its closest competitor at the time”
Seamless
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“doordash did a much better job than the previous model of seamless”
Related frameworks
Adjacency-and-Network Expansion Test
Prioritize marketplace expansion by adjacency and network reinforcement, not by the size of the adjacent TAM
Assume the Disruptor Is Right
During an existential threat, assume the disruptor is playing an optimal game and respond with overreaction
Consumer Subscription Viability Test
Freemium-plus-paid-acquisition consumer subscriptions fail without ~60-70%+ retention or a network effect
Dual-Sided ROI Equation
Price each acquisition to include the cost of acquiring the other side it needs, then push to your payback threshold
Founder Intuition vs Team Expertise Handoff
Delegate to hires only once they consistently make better calls than you would — and signal in both directions
Homogenize the Early Experience for Retention
Move retention by fixing unlucky bad first experiences, not by nudging people about to churn
SaaS-Marketplace Transition Test
A SaaS business can add a marketplace only if it touches its customer's customer and those customers need multiple suppliers
Scenario-Based PM Interviewing
Interview PMs by making them do the real job under real constraints, not recite prepared stories
Ship-to-Learn Research Allocation
Reserve scarce user research for high-uncertainty, high-leverage problems; ship to learn everywhere else
The Four Marketplace Health Metrics
Track GMV, unit economics, liquidity, and share of wallet to know if a marketplace is truly healthy
The Gardener Mindset for Marketplaces
Run a marketplace like a gardener with a light touch, not a construction worker building linear features
The Growth Model Building Blocks
Build a spreadsheet formula of how your business grows, layer by layer, to find your real levers
The Marketplace Fragmentation Test
A marketplace only works if the market is fragmented and the per-transaction dollars are small enough to keep it in the middle
The Three Network Effects (and Why Social Products Must Evolve)
Classify defensibility as direct, cross-side, or data network effects — and know social products must add the latter two
Vertical Unbundling Criteria
Only carve a vertical out of a horizontal marketplace if it has high value or frequency and a self-contained network
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