Middlemen seemingly exist just to get "cut out." Online marketplaces like Airbnb and Uber are described as middlemen, and I frequently read about how they could be replaced, say, by worker cooperatives or open source apps. After all, "it's just an app." Replacement is an appealing idea---imagine Uber/Lyft, but with drivers making X% more money because they don't have to kick up money to the platform. I'm deeply skeptical, as I think there is not enough appreciation of what these marketplaces do and what it would take to replace them. Setting aside network effects, I think even recreating the basic functionality of most popular marketplace-intermediating apps as they *currently* exist would be challenging.
The problem with "it's just an app"
The problem with "it's just an app"
The problem with "it's just an app"
Middlemen seemingly exist just to get "cut out." Online marketplaces like Airbnb and Uber are described as middlemen, and I frequently read about how they could be replaced, say, by worker cooperatives or open source apps. After all, "it's just an app." Replacement is an appealing idea---imagine Uber/Lyft, but with drivers making X% more money because they don't have to kick up money to the platform. I'm deeply skeptical, as I think there is not enough appreciation of what these marketplaces do and what it would take to replace them. Setting aside network effects, I think even recreating the basic functionality of most popular marketplace-intermediating apps as they *currently* exist would be challenging.