Marketplace Business = The Next Level

Selling digital products is not the easiest thing to do if you’re just getting started working online. (I consider it a Level 4 online business).

But you know what’s even harder? 🤔

Building a marketplace that many digital products are bought and sold on. (That’s Level 5).

GraphicRiver is part of the Envato marketplace, which has been referred to as “the most profitable start-up you haven’t heard of.”

Launched out of an Australian garage in 2006, by 2016 it had 6 million members, 180 staff, and $33 million in annual profits.

A more recent example is Lemon.io, “a marketplace of vetted offshore engineers” which has bootstrapped its way to $7 million in revenue in just one year 🚀

I think of these businesses as the equivalent of owning a professional sports team vs playing for one. The people creating and selling products on the marketplace are like pro athletes, while the marketplace owners are like the super-rich owners of pro sports teams.