MBA2654 Q&A Wednesday: Why Do You Rarely Talk About Marketplace Startups?

The $100 MBA Show

Omar Zenhom

Entrepreneurship, Business, Careers, Marketing

4.8 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 23 July 2025

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Why aren’t marketplace startups talked about more often as go-to business ideas? Frederick sent in this sharp question for today’s episode, and it’s one Omar was excited to tackle.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You've probably heard stories like this. Someone built Uber for X or Airbnb for Y.
0:05.9	Think you to me, but better. And I get this question all the time. Why don't you talk about
0:12.5	two-sided marketplaces? Why don't you recommend them? Why do you seem to actively avoid the topic?
0:19.2	Well, it's not because I don't think they're cool.
0:21.1	I love them as a consumer.
0:23.0	It's because I want you to actually succeed.
0:26.4	The truth is, marketplace startups are one of the hardest businesses that get off the ground.
0:30.9	They're not just hard.
0:32.0	They're brutal.
0:33.2	Let's break down in today's lesson why I don't recommend them.
0:37.7	I'm going to give you real examples from companies that you know, like Udeme, Airbnb, Uber, eBay.
0:42.6	All these companies are two-sided marketplaces.
0:45.6	But more poorly, I'm going to explain why I don't recommend them, especially for bootstrapped entrepreneurs.
0:50.1	People are self-funded looking to grow life-changing businesses.
0:53.7	First of all, today's question comes from Frederick on Q&A Wednesday.
0:57.0	If you've got a question you want to ask here on Q&A Wednesday, just submit it over at
1:00.3	100mBA.net slash Q.
1:03.0	And you can submit your question there.
1:04.2	We'll answer it right here on the show.
1:13.7	Welcome back to the $100 MBA show. I'm your host, Omar Zen Home, where I deliver practical business lessons three times a week,
1:18.3	Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to help you start, grow, and scale your business.
1:22.8	Let's start with what is a two-sided marketplace?
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 17 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Omar Zenhom, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Omar Zenhom and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.