

Sarah Tavel - Consumer & Marketplace Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.168]
4 snips Apr 7, 2020
Sarah Tavel, a general partner at Benchmark and former product leader at Pinterest, dives into the dynamics of consumer technology and marketplaces. She shares valuable insights on the food delivery market's evolution, emphasizing DoorDash's strategy over Grubhub. Tavel discusses the importance of reputation scores within networks and the unique challenges of building niche marketplaces. Additionally, she explores how effective user engagement can drive marketplace success, leveraging data and community to enhance experiences.
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Incumbent Vulnerability
- Grubhub, a dominant food delivery incumbent, lost market share to newer competitors like DoorDash and Postmates.
- Their vulnerability stemmed from limiting their supply to independent restaurants that could handle their own deliveries.
HipCamp Investment
- Sarah Tavel invested in HipCamp, a marketplace for land rentals, similar to Airbnb.
- She saw potential for HipCamp to carve out a niche and coexist with Airbnb, like Etsy did with eBay.
Building Marketplaces
- Focus on building liquidity in marketplaces to achieve network effects and market tipping.
- Prioritize a constrained market, greenfield opportunities, and use product/policies to drive liquidity.