The case for B2B Marketplaces — all markets are equally unique
At Point Nine, we’ve been very enthusiastic about B2B marketplaces for quite some time now — to the point that we organized a conference exclusively focused on this topic and published a “map” that showcases all major European B2B marketplaces that we could find. Also, we have been lucky enough to invest in a few B2B marketplaces already and want to continue doing so.
However, the industry as a whole is still at a very early stage when it comes to B2B marketplaces and we see new opportunities here on a weekly basis. A common mistake I observe is to think that just because there are transactions between two parties in a specific industry, there is a great marketplace opportunity. If you are thinking about starting a B2B marketplace and what’s the best way to approach this, I can highly recommend this classic by Bill Gurley to understand which criteria make a great marketplace. When we’re analyzing B2B marketplaces, Bill Gurley’s framework is one of the tools that we like to use to assess the market. In addition, I also try to sketch the market structure and the value chain of the market and want to outline my thinking here in case it can be helpful for early-stage founders.
In B2B, the value chain always consists of the supply and demand side and in many cases, you will find some sort of middleman in between. Over time I realized that these sketches usually end up in one of four different structures — two that are more in favor for a marketplace (A1, A2) and two which are less (B1, B2). As an overview, it looks like this:
Let me explain these different structures in more detail.