9 must-read books on online marketplaces

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With the wealth of technology available, it is now easier and more affordable than ever to set up a marketplace. However, operating and scaling it sustainably is no small feat, as each marketplace faces its own unique set of challenges.

We, at Arcadier, have compiled a list of book recommendations on building marketplace businesses. These books will open the eyes of business owners and executives to the role of online marketplaces in today’s digital age. The knowledge that can be found in these books can also help marketplace owners and operators understand how they fit into the economy and learn from marketplace platforms that have made it big.

Here are our favorites:

Peers Inc

By Robin Chase

A pioneer of the collaborative economy, Robin Chase is the co-founder of American car-sharing company Zipcar. She talks about how the collaborative economy brings together “strengths of localization, specialization, and customization” from individuals. She also discusses the “industrial strengths of significant scale and resources” of corporations which make it possible for companies to grow more quickly, learn faster, address climate change, and deliver smarter products and services.

Matchmakers: The New Economics of Multisided Platforms

By David S. Evans and Richard Schmalensee

The concept of matchmaking has been around since time immemorial, and they exist today in the form of multisided platforms. The authors talk about the most valuable startups and dynamic public companies that have cracked the code of the matchmaking business model and what they have analyzed and discovered during their study.

The topics discussed include how to overcome the chicken-and-egg problem, reducing friction, pricing, and designing the platform to enhance the value of interactions.

Modern Monopolies: What It Takes to Dominate the 21st Century Economy

By Alex Moazed and Nicholas L. Johnson

From constructing a platform, building audiences, to creating network value, this captivating read explains the platform business model’s inner workings. The authors—both experts on platform technology—take the examples of platform businesses such as Ebay and Amazon, which moved beyond the linear model, highlighting their successes and the greater entrepreneurial lessons to learn from their failures.

The Sharing Economy: The End of Employment and the Rise of Crowd-Based Capitalism

The Network Imperative: How to Survive and Grow in the Age of Digital Business Models

Platform Revolution: How Networked Markets Are Transforming the Economy–And How to Make Them Work for You

What’s Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption

Platform Scale: How an emerging business model helps startups build large empires with minimum investment

Version One’s Marketplace Handbook