My guest this week is Bill Gurley, a general partner at Benchmark Capital and one my favorite investment thinkers. As you’ll hear, despite enormous success through his career, Bill is clearly still in love with business and investing. Where many might discuss past glories, I’ve been incredibly impressed with how both Bill and his partners emphasize the current portfolio and market landscape. I’m thankful to have had the chance to speak with him in this format. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
 
Show Notes
1:13 - (First Question) – The idea of increasing returns
            1:21 – Competiting Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-in By Historical Events
            2:07 – Complex Systems Theory – Santa Fe Institute
4:35 – Markers that could be a sign of network effect in a company
6:27 – The opportunities for companies to capture network effect
8:46 – Are there certain teams/leaders that are more conducive to leading a network effect company
11:55 – Liquidity quality
13:35 – How important is the revenue model at the beginning
15:59 – Fascination with Nextdoor
            17:56 – Paradox of Choice
18:39 – Finding opportunities
20:17 – Potential marketplaces and assets that could be commoditized
            20:20 – All Markets Are Not Created Equal: 10 Factors To Consider When Evaluating Digital Marketplaces
21:39 – Usage yield on the world’s assets
23:50 – Has technology changed the world of value investing
26:28 – Hyper niche marketplaces
27:52 – Challenges of labor marketplaces
30:12 – User generated content businesses
32:44 – People who are capable of building UGC businesses
33:16 – His interest in Discord
34:31 – Factors of a healthy marketplace
37:57 – Fools’ gold in marketplace businesses
39:04 – How influx of cash is impacting the marketplace business landscape
            40:43 – All Revenue is Not Created Equal: The Keys to the 10X Revenue Club
43:20 – How does the influx of money into the space impact him
46:44 – Spending money to attack top brands
50:32 – Regulatory capture
53:36 – His thoughts on the IPO market
57:49 – How did he realize this was his passion
1:00:42 – Qualifying his passion
1:01:52 – Favorite thing about working with entrepreneurs
102:48 – Honing your craft
1:04:33 – Making yourself a good mentor
1:05:56 – Kindest thing anyone has done for him
 
Learn More
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. 
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub
Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag