What’s a market?
Friend of the list, Jonathan Stark, sent this email where he described what a market is:
“Market—a place, virtual or otherwise, where buyers and sellers gather to facilitate the exchange of goods and services.”
There are a few things to add that also make a market work:
- They don’t have defined nor definitive rules —yet, they can be regulated.
- Players can come and go as long as they have 2 things: will AND resources.
- Markets can expand, contract or cease to exist.
- There are no winners in a market, only players still in the game or out of it.
Here’s the thing
If you’re looking to find a Product-Market Fit, you’ll be playing by the current rules in that market. If it’s a saturated market, fitting in means finding what’s in there and how to make your offering fit. It doesn’t foster innovation. In fact, it doesn’t sound (very) different.
Think about this:
Playing by the current rules and trying to fit in the market would have stopped Uber from entering the space vs. Taxis. Hostels from playing against hotels. Airbnb to enter the accommodation market.
What’s your take?