Insights
Insights on growing and building better digital systems.
Practical writing on growth, search, websites, automation, platforms and where AI genuinely helps.
Marketplace & platform architecture
7 articlesDesign recurring-revenue platforms around accounts, subscriptions, listings, payments, permissions and operations.
- 01Marketplace models · 10 minMarketplace vs directory: what's the difference?A directory helps people find information. A marketplace lets several sides act on it. The difference is architectural — accounts, ownership, workflows and recorded exchange — not a matter of design.Read insight →
- 02Platform monetization · 11 minMarketplace revenue models: how platforms actually make moneyMarketplace monetization rarely has to rest on one source. The useful question is which streams match the value each side is already receiving — and what each one costs to operate.Read insight →
- 03Listing ownership · 11 minListing claim systems: how businesses take ownership of their profilesPre-seeded listings solve the empty-marketplace problem. A claim system is how those listings find their owners — without creating duplicates, and without handing control to whoever asks first.Read insight →
- 04Pricing architecture · 10 minSaaS subscriptions vs transaction fees: choosing a marketplace revenue modelSubscriptions monetize ongoing access and capability. Transaction fees monetize completed economic activity. They imply different architecture, different incentives and different failure modes.Read insight →
- 05Regional platforms · 11 minRegional marketplace architecture: how platforms scale across cities and regionsExpanding from one city to many changes the data model, discovery, permissions, moderation and operations. A region has to be a first-class concept in the platform, not a word inserted into a URL.Read insight →
- 06Trust & governance · 11 minMarketplace moderation architecture: designing trust, rules and governanceAny platform carrying listings, reviews, photos, claims and transactions needs rules written before enforcement, queues that clear, and a record of who decided what. Trust is a system, not a policy page.Read insight →
- 07Platform architecture · 5 minRebuilding our own website into a working platformWhy JMG Group rebuilt its own site from the ground up, and what that process reveals about the shift from a conventional website to an integrated digital system.Read insight →
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