The end of Need Supply

And then eBay started pitting sellers against each other, as you're trying to please buyers more. And as they went down this path of optimizing for getting rid of friction, they killed what made the place so uniquely magical. And eBay's still around, obviously, but it is not on the pulse of commerce like it used to be. So that was a model of sellin... See more

Merchants have played a role in societies since ancient times, and in so many ways, acted as de facto ambassadors across continents and cultures. The ‘merchant class’ represented the one of the earliest versions of the middle class; people with little or no inherited wealth who managed to cultivate status through their adventurous personas, access ... See more

What does this mean? All of the infrastructure and services that were once optimized for physical SMBs / mom-and-pops need to be overhauled to accommodate internet-first businesses. If you were a YouTuber and you walked into Bank of America asking for a small business loan, you would be met with a quizzical look followed by a polite but firm dismis... See more