Marketplace Meetups, Internationalization 101, and more

Hot off the presses, this is the 40th edition of The Marketplace Snippet curated by Irene, Mathias, and Jeroen on behalf of the Speedinvest Marketplaces & Consumer team 🔥

In this edition:

• Wrapping up our very first Marketplace Meetup in London
• Internationalization 1o1 with our 3-question framework
• The link between generative AI and Network Effects
• Tips on runway extensions and strategies for the months to come

More on these topics and additional thought-provoking discussions below.

It’s difficult to start this week with something other than the troubled Silicon Valley Bank. In the last couple of days, we witnessed a run on the bank, followed by US and UK regulators stepping in to seize control of the respective SVB entities. Now, some of the early dust has started to settle with the US FDIC guaranteeing deposits of US SVB clients - mostly startups and VCs - while the acquisition of the UK entity by HSBC guarantees a similar outcome for customers of the UK entity.

It has definitely been a few frantic days for many players in the startup ecosystem, as SVB has been a household name to many startups and funds. Crisis averted - at least for now - and we wish all affected founders a quick recovery from the difficult situation.

Finally, as anticipated last month, unfortunately, old newsletters are not available any more after Twitter decided to shut down Revue. However, going forward you will be able to access previous editions, starting from the #39th issue here.

Now, let’s jump in!

Our first Marketplace Meetup: Talking Marketplace Exits in London! 🇬🇧

It's a wrap for our first official Marketplace Meetup! We would like to give a special thanks to FJ Labs for co-hosting the event with us, as well as to AWS for having us in their offices. Many thanks also to all of you who attended in person. We really had a blast and it was great to see so many of you there! ❤️

Last week Thursday we kicked off our Marketplace Meetup Series with a session focused on exits for marketplaces. Irene and Jeroen from our Marketplace Team gave a short primer on marketplace exits, followed by two insightful founder chats. First, we interviewed Jeff Berger, founder of Talent Inc and current Head of Portfolio at FJ Labs, who successfully sold his company to private equity. We ended the content part of the event with an interview with Jack Beaman, who sold his company Syft in a strategic exit to Indeed.

We will share a summary of our key takeaways on our blog soon, so stay tuned for more!  London was only a start. If you want to join future meetups, mark your calendars and subscribe to our snippet for updates on upcoming events:

• Paris, May 31st, Topic: Fintech Enabled & Fintech Embedded Marketplaces - Sign up here!
• US, Q4 2023 (time and place tba)

Also, if you would like to join us in organizing or sponsoring the next meetups, feel free to hit us up.

We hope you enjoyed our London event and we are all looking forward to seeing you at the next one! 🚀

Insights From Marketplace Operators

Startup decoupling and more on runway strategy

We discussed this already. The private funding bubble is long gone and we are entering a new reality in Venture Capital. While building up a company, we believe some data can be helpful for founders to navigate a rough sea:

• Elad Gil, serial entrepreneur and startup helper, discusses market corrections, forecast of funding trends, the effect of interest rate changes and much more. Have a read of his insightful piece here.
• Peter Walker, Head of Insights at Carta, collects a few lowlights on the current environment and shares his advice on runway strategies to current (and prospective founders).

More Insights From Our Friends

• We're in tough times. But is a market rebound due soon? Lenny Rachitsky, formerly founder of Localmind and Product Lead at Airbnb, analyzes his learnings from researching 20+ products and shares his insights on what precedes an inflection growth.
• Bryan Kim, formerly Growth Lead at Snap, shares his take on how to recognize cutting edge social apps and which early signs you should keep your eye on.

Insights From Marketplace Investors

Going international with your marketplace? Ask yourself these questions

Our own Jeroen Arts, Partner at Speedinvest, shares his insights about internationalizing marketplaces and builds a 3-question framework every founder should follow before making the first step abroad.

Generative AI and Network Effects: how does it tie in?

Building up on Speedinvest-content, our own Sameer Singh, who recently joined Speedinvest as a Venture Partner focused on all things network effects, collects his insights and analysis on the link between generative AI and network effects, as well as how to leverage it in a platform business.

If you love marketplace podcasts:

• We all share a passion for marketplaces. If you need a reminder why - or if you're simply in the mood for a great podcast during your commute - we recommend listening to Jeff Jordan, General Partner at a16z, sharing his take on why marketplaces are a great investment.
• If you have a bit more time and are down for an Investing 1o1 class from the best of the best, we recommend this great talk from Bill Gurley, General Partner at Benchmark. Bill shares great insights about investing rules, finding outliers, reading suggestions and more here.

News From Our Portfolio

Welcoming two new members to the Speedinvest Marketplaces Family

Jumba ...

As you know already, having previously backed companies such as Schüttflix or Yardlink, we’re big believers in B2B marketplaces at the intersection of construction and procurement. We are proud to participate in Jumba’s $4.5m round and support their mission to facilitate construction materials procurement in Kenya and beyond 🇰🇪

... and Konfetti! 🚀

We are excited to lead Konfetti’s  €2m seed round and help them bring teams closer together with their online booming plaztform for team activities and workshops.

Congrats to Inkitt for their 8th place in the FT 1000 🔥

We are proud to see our portfolio company making it to the top-10 of Europe's fastest growing companies 2023, as ranked in FT's annual report.

New Investments

FoodTech, EdTech, HealthTech, Sustainability and much more…

With 30 deals announced, including two of our own here at Speedinvest, February 2023 marketplace deal activity is increasing compared to the beginning of the year.

A special treat for all fellow Network Effects aficionados ❤️

We’ve got a little something for all newsletter subscribers:

Our own Sameer Singh is launching a new batch of his well renowned online course Applied Network Effects. The course covers the theory and practice of all you need to know to ace your knowledge of network effects. We at Speedinvest participated ourselves in the past and are pleased to offer a special discount to all snippet subscribers: Use the code “SNIPPET10” when applying here. The next course starts on April 24th!

Join Speedinvest

Our team is always on the lookout for top-tier talent. Have a look at our open positions below:

• Associate (permanent) - Berlin, Munich, London, or Paris

Portfolio Careers

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.

Thanks for opening our newsletter this month and we hope you enjoyed this issue.

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