Masterclass #8 | How Infra.Market offers concrete solutions through its construction marketplace
About this Episode
Recent Episodes from SeedToScale | Curated by Accel
Learnings from 40 Years in VC | SeedToScale Specials
Masterclass #9 | How Urban Company created tech-led value in the at-home services space
Masterclass #8 | How Infra.Market offers concrete solutions through its construction marketplace
Masterclass #7: Lessons from Myntra on how to build a long-lasting marketplace
Masterclass #6: Spinny’s Lessons on Winning Customer Trust In A Crowded Market
Masterclass #5: How BlackBuck drove digitization in the complex world of trucking
Conversation Highlights
- In addition to asking if the sector is unorganized, ask whether it is inefficient. Know exactly what kind of a profit pool is available there.
- There are businesses where a tight testbed is not possible. So find your fulcrum. It takes trial and error but look for the side where your tech intervention as a marketplace will drive the most value.
- Fairness is an easy sell. Both sides of the marketplace appreciate fair policies and practices.
- Once built, marketplaces are not static. They are in dynamic equilibrium. Pay attention to both demand and supply and balance them.
- Unknown mistakes are okay. Don’t make known mistakes.
Masterclass #4: How Zetwerk disrupted manufacturing by using technology to cut delays
Masterclass #3: How Captain Fresh reeled in B2B success using clarity, capital, and talent
Masterclass #2: How Swiggy fell in love with the problem, and not their solutions
It’s essential to keep things as simple as possible initially, with a total focus on understanding the consumer problem statement. Because when it comes to subscriptions, users drop off a lot — they are commitment-phobic.
In the next stage, startups must know how to decentralise well. A founder cannot go on micromanaging a hundred things. Many startups fail because while they thought they solved a problem, they had no idea about its sustainability in terms of how it would scale economically.
And as far as possible, until you hit product market fit, keep things as lean as possible. If you start hiring too many people for specific roles, it gets difficult to roll things back when they go wrong.
Eventually, it all boils down to two questions: Who are you building for? Do they consumers like your product? In this conversation, Nandan Reddy and Phani Kishan from Swiggy and Accel's Anand Daniel share lessons learned while building and scaling their startup in a crowded market.
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Over the past decade and a half, new-age marketplaces in India have transformed how people buy and sell products and services. From Flipkart to Swiggy, Urban Company, and Zetwerk, each has reimagined "the bazaars," shaping the future of commerce and livelihood in India.
Starting November 3rd, we will share stories from the trenches about building and scaling these marketplaces, along with foundational lessons from their journeys.
Learn more: https://bit.ly/3DqT87o