I took the excuse of a keynote I was asked to give at Slush's "On-Demand Everything" conference to put a few slides together, which summarize my thoughts on the category, which I've defined as mobile-first marketplaces connecting consumers to professionals offering a service (ie. not a product), in less than an hour. These companies represent the 4th generation of online marketplaces, which evolved over time from simple, generalist, passive classifieds (Craigslist), where all the work of matching supply and demand was left to the buyers and sellers themselves, to ever more specialised and intelligent platforms, able to offer almost perfect and instantaneous matching, requiring virtually no work from both sides of the transaction (Uber's "click of a button" experience). While it's safe to assume that every service will move towards such a seamless mobile experience, the pace at which the change is occuring, and whether it will be led by a new startup vs. an incumbent, depends on a few characteristics, which vary from sector to sector. The following questions that will determine the pace of adoption and the eventual success of on-demand startups: 1. How urgent is the need? 2. How frequent is the need? 3. How complex is the task? 4. Is mobile a game-changer? 5. Can it ever be profitable?

1. “On-Demand” Everything
Slush Small Talks
19 October 2015

2. Slush Small Talks – 19 October 2015
What’s “On-Demand”?
Mobile-first marketplaces
connecting consumers to professionals
offering a service (ie. not a product)
in less than an hour.
ie. while often mentioned, Airbnb and Blablacar are not on-demand startups

3. Slush Small Talks – 19 October 2015
The 4th
generation of online marketplaces
Classifieds Transactional Vertical On-demand

4. What kind of services?
Transportation Parking Food delivery
Beauty
Biz servicesHome repair
Slush Small Talks – 19 October 2015
Education
Cleaning
Healthcare
and many more...

5. How urgent is the need?
Slush Small Talks – 19 October 2015
< 5 minutes
< 30 minutes
<1 hour
< 1 day
< 1 week

6. How frequent is the need?
Slush Small Talks – 19 October 2015
Multiple x/ day
Once / day
Once / week
Once / month
Once / year

7. How standard is the task?
Slush Small Talks – 19 October 2015
Skills Supply

8. Is mobile a game-changer?
Isthesuppliermobile?
Slush Small Talks – 19 October 2015
NOYES
NO
YES
Is the user mobile?

9. Can it ever be profitable?
Slush Small Talks – 19 October 2015
● Utilisation rate of labour
is key in the first years
(until demand is high
enough to enable “pay-
per-task” model):
● Other COGS can be high (parking space, cost of food, insurance,
payments, etc.)
● Net contribution margin will likely be low post marketing: it’s a scale game

10. While it is likely to become the dominant model in every
category over time, on-demand is best suited to
standard services addressing urgent and frequent
needs, where both the users and the suppliers are
inherently mobile.
Today, transportation and food appear to be the two
sectors best suited to the model, but more will emerge
as consumers’ expectations keep on rising.
Slush Small Talks – 19 October 2015
Conclusion