LinkedIn is the New Craigslist

Vertical service marketplaces can optimize around one or a few adjacent verticals, but the low frequency of most verticals (other than cleaning and lawn care) creates challenges.

There’s a pressing need — and an opportunity — to build vertical-specific tools for workers striking out on their own. Much has been written about the proliferation of vertical software tools that help firms run their businesses, but the next generation of great companies will provide integrated, vertical software for individuals going solo.

Come for the network, stay for the jobs: This is akin to the original LinkedIn strategy, but now with a narrower focus. How it works: First build a community or a network of individuals in a certain demographic or vertical, then layer in job opportunities and employers in a nuanced and organic way.

But for LinkedIn, the large pool of people who have simply filled in their work profiles, even if they hardly ever visit the site, is the fundamental basis of the site’s value. That’s because LinkedIn’s revenue was derived from job postings and premium subscriptions paid for by recruiters who wanted upgraded features to find and connect with potent

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Every few years a great unbundling occurs

In 2010, Andrew Parker wrote a defining post about the "unbundling" of Craigslist where he outlined the opportunity to carve out niche products from broad horizontal networks like Craigslist. The broad networks are everything to everyone, the niche ones are something special to a certain group. If you add u... See more