Episode Drop - The Ostrich Report – Episode 2 (Re-Release): Marketplaces unplugged. Look how young we look. Some podcasts age like milk. Ours ages like whiskey. Episode 2 of The Ostrich Report deserves a re-release because, frankly, the myths we busted then are still haunting boardrooms today, the earnings reports confirm this, only now they’re wearing shinier shoes and talking about “AI flywheels.”
This episode we went full X-ray vision on the big players eBay, Amazon, Mercado Libre , Wish, Pinterest, DoorDash and spoke of uncomfortable truths most “thought leadership” decks politely ignore.
💡 5 Key Observations that still matter:
1️⃣ eBay was TikTok before TikTok. Sunday night auctions = dual-screening behavior before anyone even had the vocabulary. Add their “known goods” device recognition system and you basically had MFA, trust signals, and habit hacking baked in a decade before Web3 bros reinvented it.
2️⃣ Data is destiny. A seller on the Isle of Wight boosted wiper sales 20%+ by syncing prices to weather data. That’s not “AI disruption,” that’s common sense. Today’s brands are still sitting on oceans of marketplace behavioral data and acting like it’s a puddle.
3️⃣ Amazon isn’t just a store. It’s a service marketplace. Logistics, cross-border, advertising it’s infrastructure. Amazon is where brands pay rent.
4️⃣ MercadoLibre is the most underrated global player. Latin America’s Amazon clone has already married logistics + advertising + fintech. The only thing holding it back is people underestimating it. That mistake won’t last.
5️⃣ Relationships beat algorithms. eBay Daily Deals was born because someone picked up the phone about TomToms gathering dust. That one scrappy experiment is now a billion-dollar revenue stream.
🔥 And the Controversial Truth Bombs (because why else are you here?):
Wish.com was never a good idea. It wasn’t “ahead of its time,” it was a warehouse fire.
Shopify broke enterprise logic.
🎧 Listen (or re-listen) to Episode 2 here →
We are actively inviting sponsorships: marketplace operators, service providers, brands navigating this chaos this is your chance to stand next to sharp analysis, satire, and a global community of leaders who actually do the work.
Proudly supported by our community sponsor: EVOLVE Commerce Club — 450+ founders, executives, and advisors, in 43+ markets, compounding long-term value without the noise. Where this week we welcomed Faisal Ahmad J. , Kristian Mørk Puggaard and I spoke with Luke Hilton and got schooled by Martin Scholz - Thank you Carlos Monteiro and Gustavo Valle for having faith in Hendrik Laubscher and I.
At The Ostrich Report, we don’t bury our heads in the sand.
By the end of this decade, someone will claim these conversations were obvious in hindsight. Don’t be that person.
#Ecommerce #Marketplaces #Retail #TheOstrichReport #Podcast #B2B
