# VC10X - Investing in Marketplaces - Colin Gardiner, Founder & GP, Yonder Ventures

An episode of [VC10X - Investing, Venture Capital, Asset Management, Family Office, Wealth Management](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1632806986), 18 Feb 2025, 34 min.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/a453ddd4/podcast/play/98679201/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-1-18%2F395101386-44100-2-f1ad5fa502886.mp3

Colin Gardiner is the founder & GP of Yonder Ventures where he is investing in early-traction marketplace startups. Colin is also an experienced marketplace operator and was formerly the CPO & CRO of Outdoorsy, a highly valued outdoor experience marketplace. In this episode, we talk about - - Colin's story and how he started investing - Their investment thesis at Yonder - What are marketplaces? - Why marketplaces make great business opportunities? - Use of AI in marketplaces & lots more Links: ⭐ Sponsored by Podcast10x - Podcasting agency for VCs - https://podcast10x.com Yonder Ventures website - https://www.yonder.vc/Yonder-8ee3fa1f28f7420ca780f62f293b86cb Subscribe to Take Rate newsletter by Colin - https://www.gardinercolin.com/ Colin on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/colingardine 🎙️ Hosted by Prashant Choubey Follow Prashant on X - https://x.com/ChoubeySahab Follow Prashant on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/choubeysahab Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction to Colin Gardiner and Yonder Ventures (02:11) Colin's story and how he got into investing (04:43) Founding Yonder Ventures (05:24) Investment thesis at Yonder Ventures (06:49) Definition of marketplaces (07:33) Why marketplaces make great business opportunities (08:26) Application of AI in marketplaces (10:37) Interesting examples of marketplaces (13:09) How marketplaces benefit from network effects (14:41) Evolution of marketplaces over time (16:37) Portfolio companies solving important problems (18:43) When marketplaces hit escape velocity (20:38) Investing in early-stage marketplaces (22:32) First-mover advantage in marketplaces (23:21) Common mistakes marketplace founders make (24:22) Sourcing high-quality deal flow for marketplaces (25:47) Portfolio construction strategy at Yonder (28:06) Investment return criteria (30:08) Biggest learning from investing in startups (32:00) Rapid fire round begins For sponsorship or guest appearance requests, write to prashantchoubey3@gmail.com Subscribe to VC10X on Youtube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts.

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