Following is a comparison of TheMarketplace.Guide to other popular books that cover a similar topic.

TL;DR: Other books are general and teach you how to run a company. That is very useful. After you’ve read them, and as you work on your marketplace, you’ll have to learn the lessons that are in TheMarketplace.Guide

Lean Startup et. al

This comparison applies for Lean Startup as well as any other book about running a startup.

	TheMarketplace.Guide	The Lean Startup
Purpose	To help marketplace founders build a better product quicker	To teach a first-time founder how to iterate
Target market	Entrepreneurs with previous experience in startups building a marketplace for the first time	First time founders or business owners
Example lesson	You should add an audit log	You should measure your engagement

The Lean Marketplace

	TheMarketplace.Guide	Marketplace Best Practices
Purpose	To help marketplace founders build a better product quicker	To teach a first-time founder how to do Lean Startup within the context of a marketplace
Target market	Entrepreneurs with previous experience in startups building a marketplace for the first time	First time founders who would like to build a marketplace
Example lesson	You should add an audit log	How to grow your marketplace

Platform Revolution or Matchmakers

These books, while very interesting, suffer from survivorship bias. They take a look at companies that have made it and extrapolate what it takes to get there. They’re interesting and informative and discuss important but general principles. They do not directly address the actual work you’ll have to do.

	TheMarketplace.Guide	Platform Revolution
Purpose	To help marketplace founders build a better product quicker	To understand the general principles behind the success of the biggest marketplaces
Target market	Entrepreneurs with previous experience in startups building a marketplace for the first time	Broadly people interested in the space
Example lesson	You should add an audit log	These companies did this same thing and are successful

The Hard Thing About Hard Things or Zero to One

These books are very useful for learning more about building a startup. They address many situations that you might find yourself in and are relevant to building any business.

They are not specific to marketplaces and do not offer advice on the details.

	TheMarketplace.Guide	The Hard Thing About Hard Things
Purpose	To help marketplace founders build a better product quicker	To explain how founders can best handle difficult situations while building their business
Target market	Entrepreneurs with previous experience in startups building a marketplace for the first time	Founders who are building a business
Example lesson	Focus on what if it succeeds	CEOs don’t play the odds

Marketplace Best Practices

	TheMarketplace.Guide	Marketplace Best Practices
Purpose	To help marketplace founders build a better product quicker	To explain the value of e-commerce to enterprises
Target market	Entrepreneurs with previous experience in startups building a marketplace for the first time	Corporate management in more traditional companies
Example lesson	You should add an audit log	Sometimes the e-commerce platform is called the front end and the marketplace is the back end.

Examples of lessons none of these books mention

• To learn the correct jargon
• Admins are your users too
• The need for an audit log
• To generate documentation automatically
• How to build import and export features
• etc.