Marketplace Tactics: Metrics, Growth vs. Focus, Business Strategy | Field Notes by Connie Chan | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

Deb Blue discusses her experience joining Ancestry remotely, the use of AI in genealogy research, and offers career tips for executives.

Key Insights

• 🎁 Virtual interviews and onboarding processes have become increasingly common, presenting unique challenges and opportunities for both employers and candidates.
• 👻 AI technology has revolutionized genealogy research, allowing for faster and more efficient digitization of historical records.
• 👪 Ancestry's large and exclusive dataset provides users with a unique and comprehensive resource for discovering their family history.
• 🤩 Focusing on a specific niche or category and prioritizing deepening relationships with buyers are key elements for marketplace success.
• 😨 Overcoming the fear of rejection and being persistent are essential for founders in a marketplace setting.
• 👤 Balancing growth and authenticity is crucial for marketplace platforms, ensuring continued user engagement and satisfaction.
• 🧑‍🏭 Marketplace success is not solely dependent on transaction volume, but also on factors such as user retention and engagement.

Transcript

foreign [Applause] [Laughter] and welcome to field notes I'm Connie Chan and this is a new video podcast series from Andreessen Horowitz where we talk about the business models and behaviors changing in consumer technology today I'm with my guest Deb blue Deb is the CEO of ancestry and the former VP of Commerce at meta we'll be talking all about ma... Read More

Questions & Answers

Q: How did Deb Blue join Ancestry as CEO remotely without ever meeting the team in person?

Deb Blue went through the entire interview process via Zoom, which was an intimidating yet exciting experience. The company even set up blind meetings where the executives had no prior knowledge of her identity, leading to interesting interactions.

Q: How is Ancestry using AI in genealogy research?

Ancestry has deployed AI technology for various purposes. For example, they used handwriting recognition to search the US Census. AI has also enabled faster digitization and indexing of historical records, significantly reducing the time and resources required.

Q: What is the significance of Ancestry's massive dataset on people's heritages?

Ancestry's dataset includes 40 billion records, with 75% of them being exclusive to the platform. This vast collection of records, including birth certificates, draft cards, and land records, allows users to delve deep into their family history and uncover previously unknown information.

Q: How does Deb Blue advise marketplace founders on achieving growth?

Deb Blue emphasizes the importance of knowing your marketplace's unique value and competitive advantage. Founders should focus on a specific category or niche where they can excel instead of trying to compete directly with existing marketplaces. Building trust and deepening relationships with buyers is also crucial for sustained growth.

Summary

In this video podcast, Connie Chan interviews Deb Liu, the CEO of Ancestry, discussing marketplaces, AI, and career tips. They cover topics such as joining a company remotely, the use of AI in Ancestry's work, the data opportunity in ancestry, the potential of AI in storytelling, the importance of trust in marketplaces, advice for marketplace founders, balancing growth and retention, and the significance of hearing "no" in career advancement.

Questions & Answers

Q: What tips does Deb have for people joining a company remotely, especially as an executive?

According to Deb, joining a company remotely can be intimidating, but also a unique opportunity to connect with people multiple times. While the experience of meeting a new manager or boss on Zoom without any prior information about them might be unusual, it can also be an interesting and revealing introduction into the role.

Q: How is Ancestry using AI and what are the potential impacts?

Deb explains that AI has the potential to revolutionize the genealogy industry. Ancestry has used AI to digitize records, such as the 1940 census, which previously took months and significant resources to complete manually. With AI, Ancestry can digitize records in a matter of days. AI also has the potential to transform storytelling by bringing people's family histories to life through their records.

Q: How is Ancestry leveraging its vast data set on people's heritages?

Ancestry has 40 billion records, 75% of which are exclusive to the platform. These records include birth certificates, draft cards, land records, and more. Ancestry plans to triple its digitized content with the help of AI, adding 15 billion more records. The goal is to provide users with comprehensive information about their family history.

Q: What can we expect to know about our past through Ancestry in the future?

Deb envisions a future where Ancestry can not only provide information about people's family histories but also capture their stories through digitized letters, photos, and oral histories. The goal is to automatically create books and narratives that bring families' stories to life, making it easier for users to connect with their family's past.

Q: What advice does Deb give to marketplace founders?

Deb emphasizes the importance of identifying a marketplace's unique advantage, whether it's a specific interest, niche, brand, or type of buyer or seller. Founders should focus on finding their "right to win" and differentiate themselves from existing marketplaces. Even if there are already marketplaces addressing similar buyers and sellers, founders can still offer a different, improved experience. Additionally, Deb advises a careful balance between category expansion and maintaining focus.

Q: How does finding the next category or concentric circle to tackle work in marketplaces?

Deb suggests looking for the most similar category to what the marketplace is already doing. She mentions Amazon's progression from books to CDs, where they leveraged similar categorization processes. The key is to gradually expand into adjacent categories while considering the target audience and focusing on meeting their needs.

Q: What are some things that marketplaces have done right but are not often recognized?

Deb highlights eBay's ability to build trust in online transactions and handling payments. This created a unique connection between buyers and sellers, as people were willing to send money in the mail, trusting that they would receive the purchased item. The reputation system and the introduction of platforms like PayPal further augmented this trust. However, one misstep eBay faced was the negative feedback system, which ended up favoring sellers and discouraging honest buyer reviews.

Q: What did companies like eBay and Amazon do differently when it comes to growth strategies?

Deb explains that eBay's success in the early days was due to building trust among users, particularly in sending money via mail for purchases. Amazon, on the other hand, focused on broadening selection by creating a third-party marketplace. By allowing third-party sellers and gamifying the competition for the buy box, Amazon expanded its inventory and provided customers with more choices.

Q: What advice does Deb have for marketplaces in the growth stage?

Deb suggests that marketplaces should focus on deepening relationships with buyers rather than solely chasing top-line revenue or GMV (Gross Merchandise Value). The key metrics to consider are traffic, retention rates, and frequency of visits. Understanding buyers' behaviors and evolving the product to meet their needs can drive growth. Balancing focus on transactions and building a strong reputation system also plays a crucial role in long-term success.

Q: How does Deb approach career coaching and what advice does she offer?

Deb places importance on individuals advocating for themselves and clearly expressing their goals and ambitions. She encourages people to communicate their aspirations to their managers or superiors instead of assuming that they will be noticed. Deb advises that hearing "no" is a natural part of the journey and suggests that individuals who don't hear "no" often enough may not be asking enough.

Q: What is the significance of hearing "no" in career advancement?

Deb believes that hearing "no" is an essential part of career growth and personal development. Rejection is inevitable, and learning how to handle it is crucial. By being open to rejection, individuals can navigate the path to success, as perseverance and resilience play a critical role in achieving one's goals.

Takeaways

Deb Liu shares insightful advice for marketplace founders, emphasizing the importance of finding a unique niche and focusing on building trust in online transactions. She highlights the value of retaining and deepening relationships with users and the need to balance growth with maintaining authenticity. Additionally, Deb offers career guidance, stressing the importance of advocating for oneself and being open to rejection as part of the journey towards personal and professional growth.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Deb Blue joined Ancestry as CEO remotely without ever stepping foot into the building, highlighting the challenges and importance of virtual interviews and onboarding processes.

• Ancestry uses AI to revolutionize genealogy research, digitizing historical records and enabling users to uncover their family stories.

• Ancestry has a massive dataset of 40 billion records, 75% of which are exclusive to the platform, providing users with a wealth of information about their heritage.