The seller side in a marketplace is often considered the harder side due to several reasons:

Firstly, attracting sellers is challenging because they often have more at stake. They need to invest time, resources, and sometimes money to list their products or services. They also need to trust that the platform will protect their interests and ensure they get paid.

Secondly, sellers are usually fewer in number than buyers. This means each seller is more valuable to the platform, and losing one can have a significant impact.

Finally, sellers often have more options for platforms to sell on, so they can be more selective. This means the marketplace needs to offer competitive features and benefits to attract and retain them.

In contrast, buyers usually have lower barriers to entry and are more numerous, making them the easier side to attract.

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The Cold Start Problem

When a networked product launches, it faces a chicken-and-egg problem: people need to use it for it to be worth anything. So how do you start the very...

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Chen also distinguishes between the easy and hard sides of a given network. To solve the Cold Start Problem, products must, above all else, attract the hard side—sellers on a marketplace, content creators on a video platform, or in the case of Tinder, attractive women. Tinder launched on the University of Southern California campus. The founders leveraged their popular friends to promote the app at parties. Students had to download Tinder to allow party access. The next day, hundreds of hungover, like-minded students had a second chance at love via Tinder.

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A startup can use the concepts of the Cold Start Theory to grow by focusing on attracting the 'hard side' of their network. This could be sellers in a marketplace, content creators on a platform, or a specific demographic in a social app. For example, Tinder initially launched on a university campus and leveraged popular students to promote the app at parties. This strategy led to a large user base of like-minded individuals, which helped Tinder overcome the Cold Start Problem and grow.

Companies trying to solve the Cold Start Problem may face several obstacles. One of the main challenges is attracting the 'hard side' of a network, such as sellers on a marketplace, content creators on a video platform, or in the case of Tinder, attractive women. This is crucial as these are the users that add value to the network. Another obstacle is the initial lack of users, which makes the network less appealing to new users. Companies can overcome these obstacles by leveraging popular individuals or entities to promote their product or service, as Tinder did when it launched on the University of Southern California campus. They can also offer incentives to early adopters or find unique ways to create immediate value for new users.

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