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Marketplaces and Network Effects: Predictions into 2022 and reflections on the year that has passed 🎇

The Marketplace Snippet
Issue #26 • View online
The Marketplace Snippet
Happy Monday and Happy New Year ! 🎆
Hope you all had a GREAT break, managed to recharge and are now ready to kick off with an awesome, marketplace-y 2022 ! 
Welcome back to the 26th edition of The Marketplace Snippet curated by Paola and Mathias on behalf of the Speedinvest Marketplaces & Consumer team 🚀
The Marketplace Snippet is a monthly newsletter featuring the most interesting content on Marketplaces that caught our eyes.
In this edition…
The momentum in Marketplaces continues: We have seen a lot of content recently being published on Network Effects along with lots of questions and reflections. Faking users: good idea, bad idea? Winner-take-all-dynamics: Is that actually true? 
Meanwhile, with the power of NFTs being embraced by ever more people around the globe and the belief that NFTs can bring the cultural masses to Web3, more social platforms are expected to adopt NFTs as they shift to the metaverse. But how is Web3 changing incentives for Marketplaces? 
More on this in the selection of articles below.
If you’ve missed past newsletters or simply can’t get enough, catch up here.
Now, let’s jump in!
Our December edition includes:

Insights: Marketplace Operators
Are network effects overrated?
Are network effects overrated?
In this piece, Julian Lehr challenges the way people think about the power of network effects, introducing the concept of “Thinking in layers,” and the power of defaults ⚡ 
julian.digital  •  Share
2021 has been a landmark year for NFTs and Sorare… What's next for 2022?
2021 has been a landmark year for NFTs and Sorare… What's next for 2022?
Nicolas Julia, Co-Founder & CEO of Sorare, reflects back on 2021 and on Sorare’s thesis, setting out his top predictions in NFTs, Gaming and Sports ⚽
medium.com  •  Share
A Primer on DAOs
A Primer on DAOs
Eric Golden is joined by Aaron Wright, law professor and Founder of Tribute Labs to cover the hive-mind that makes a DAO special, the mechanics of decision making within a DAO, and other possibilities DAOs could unlock 🌐
www.joincolossus.com  •  Share
Insights: Marketplace Investors
Marketplaces Year in Review 2021
Marketplaces Year in Review 2021
With 2021 being the year of broken supply chains, Amazon aggregators, more advertising, Shopify’s almost-marketplace… the world of marketplaces seems to still be revolving around Amazon. And yet, there are some exciting areas to watch… ❕
www.marketplacepulse.com  •  Share
Kickstarting Network Effects
Kickstarting Network Effects
In this podcast, Alexis Ohanian, Co-Founder of Reddit, Paul Davison, Co-Founder of Clubhouse, and a16z General Partner, Andrew Chen, look at the role of network effects creator-driven social platforms.
open.spotify.com  •  Share
The next generation of speedy grocery: slower, but smarter?
The next generation of speedy grocery: slower, but smarter?
Following a mad year of disruption for Europe’s speedy grocery sector, VCs are now turning their heads to those companies disrupting the non-food side of the weekly shop. It doesn’t have to be fast 🏎
sifted.eu  •  Share
News From our Portfolio
Planetly joins forces with US-based OneTrust, bringing Planetly's mission to support business transformation to a net-zero economy to new heights
Planetly joins forces with US-based OneTrust, bringing Planetly's mission to support business transformation to a net-zero economy to new heights
Congratulations to the Planetly-Team who ended the year with a big bang: The company got acquired by Atlanta-based OneTrust to expand its ESG offering giving Planetly the opportunity to go truly global 🌍 We’re stoked to team up with OneTrust and continue this exciting journey together!
www.onetrust.com  •  Share
Lapse's new $11M round - only 5 months after our initial investment ❕
Lapse's new $11M round - only 5 months after our initial investment ❕
On the back of a successful release of their app, which catapulted them to the #1 spot in the US and UK iOS app stores, Lapse raised $11m in seed funding from Octopus Ventures and Google Ventures. Congrats Team! 🚀
techcrunch.com  •  Share
We ❤️ B2B Marketplaces & Logistics: Our portfolio company Yolda secures $5m follow-on funding 👏
We ❤️ B2B Marketplaces & Logistics: Our portfolio company Yolda secures $5m follow-on funding 👏
Following a $1.6m seed round in June, led by yours truly, and with a consistent monthly growth of over 25%, Istanbul’s freight tech startup, Yolda, has pulled into the petrol station to tank up $5m in follow-on funding ⛽
tech.eu  •  Share
New $$$
E-learning, social commerce, Q-commerce and so much more…
E-learning, social commerce, Q-commerce and so much more…
We closed the year on a high with a record 65 marketplace deals in December, showing an ever-increasing investor appetite for network effect businesses, including some of our own here at Speedinvest.
airtable.com  •  Share
Careers in Tech
Now hiring!
Now hiring!
Our portfolio companies are always hiring exceptional talent! If you or someone you know would love to work in a fast-paced marketplace startup, check out the open jobs at our startups here.
careers.speedinvest.com  •  Share
Thanks for reading! We hope you enjoyed this issue.
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The Speedinvest Marketplaces & Consumer team backs startups who are shaping the future across B2B and B2C at the intersection of marketplaces, eCommerce 2.0, and consumer subscriptions. You really want our attention? Throw in some network effects - the driver behind the digital platforms that are redefining our everyday lives.
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