Million Tiny Products
0xDesigner@0xdesigner
+4.1%
since Oct 1
The idea
I believe software is fragmenting from a handful of giant companies into millions of tiny products and companies over the next five years or so. Since I can't buy those tiny companies directly, this basket owns the chokepoints they all have to pass through: the ad and discovery networks that make a small product findable, the app store tolls every app pays, the checkout rails for digital goods, and the platforms where micro-sellers and micro-creators actually reach people.
What it owns
- When millions of products exist, getting found is the hard part, and these are the machines tiny companies pay to be found. · AppLovinIt runs the ad engine where small app makers with no marketing team buy users to get found, and keeps growing as long as targeting beats alternatives., Meta PlatformsIt is where tiny companies with no brand go to find their first customers, and its ad system is built for small-business spending., The Trade DeskIt is the buying rail for ads across the open web where independent advertisers route spend instead of consolidating into big walled platforms., RedditPeople find tiny products by asking communities of obsessives, and it turns that recommendation traffic into ad and data revenue., PinterestIt is where people browse without knowing what they want yet, converting that browsing into purchases for small sellers., MagniteIt sells the ad space for thousands of small publishers, routing inventory on behalf of tiny media outlets.34%
- These are the storefronts and worlds where tiny creators actually meet consumers, earning more as the long tail grows. · ShopifyIt is the storefront rail where small merchants run their businesses and earn more as each one sells more., SpotifyIt is where an endless long tail of small artists and podcasters gets consumed, monetized through subscriptions and ads., RobloxIt is a whole economy of micro-creators selling tiny digital products inside one platform, growing with creator earnings and the catalog., EtsyIt is a marketplace built entirely of tiny sellers, a direct read on whether buyers shift spending toward small independent makers.25%
- Every tiny app pays the same gatekeepers to reach a phone, so the toll grows as the number of apps explodes. · AppleNearly every tiny app has to pass through the App Store to reach a phone, and Apple takes a cut of each sale., AlphabetThe Play Store collects its cut as an ever-growing catalog of small apps reaches buyers on Android.15%
- Millions of tiny sellers all need a way to get paid, and these rails clip a fee on every sale. · PayPalIt is the button tiny companies bolt on to their checkout when they cannot build one themselves., BlockIt lets very small sellers accept money, from one-person businesses to person-to-person commerce., PayoneerWhen millions of tiny sellers earn money on marketplaces around the world, it pays them out across borders.14%
- Cash12%