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The Middleman Economy: How Brokers, Agents, Dealers, and Everyday Matchmakers Create Value and Profit
If you’re a PowerSeller on eBay, or a real-estate agent
showing houses to your client, or a sales rep in any field
(as more than two million Americans are), you’re not
just pushing products. If you’re worth your salt, you’re
a Certifier, staking your reputation on the quality of the
goods you represent. Far from killing the middleman, the
Internet has generated a thriving new breed. Between
1999 and 2010, just as the Internet was transforming the
world, middlemen’s contribution to the United States’
GDP has actually grown—from a quarter to more than a
third of our economy. In The Middleman Economy, Silicon
Valley-based reporter Marina Krakovsky elucidates the
six essential roles that middlemen play.
“Like many people, you may be a middleman without even realizing it. Marina Krakovsky explains how the best make themselves indispensable: as a merchant of information, she has gone far and wide to bring you the goods.”
—Jonathan Rosenberg, Senior Vice President at Google and co-author of How Google Works
“We often think of a middleman as someone to avoid—the person who stands in the way, or does nothing at all. But the truth is that the person in the middle, whether it’s a venture capitalist or a real estate broker, can create great value: and the best middlemen are true partners who make you a lot of money. The Middleman Economy shows you how.”
—Barbara Corcoran, Founder, The Corcoran Group
“In The Middleman Economy, Krakovsky has crafted a powerfully persuasive counterpoint to the notion that in today’s society, middlemen are obsolete. Her captivating and well-researched narrative will convince you of just the opposite—that middlemen are even more critical to today’s economic and social order, whether they function as Bridges, Enforcers, Certifiers, Risk Bearers, Concierges, or Insulators. And they…are us.”
—Margaret A. Neale, Professor of Management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and co-author of Getting (More of) What You Want
“Although technology has brought us to a more interconnected world, Marina Krakovsky, with captivating examples, brilliantly describes the irreplaceable role of the middleman in a successful economy.”
—Bill Draper, General Partner of Draper Richards L.P., and author of The Startup Game
“Krakovsky reveals a riveting truth: we are all middlemen. Her captivating examples and precise typology capture the vast reach and diversity of middlemen in every aspect of our lives. But most importantly, The Middleman Economy provides the necessary tools to avoid predators and parasites and find the partners that will lubricate and accelerate our success in life.”
—Adam Galinsky, Professor of Business at Columbia Business School and co-author of Friend & Foe
“With sound reasoning and hard evidence, Krakovsky exploded my belief that the rise of the Internet spells the demise of the intermediary. In the process, she’s provided me, and all of us, a great service.”
—Robert B. Cialdini, Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University, bestselling author, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
showing houses to your client, or a sales rep in any field
(as more than two million Americans are), you’re not
just pushing products. If you’re worth your salt, you’re
a Certifier, staking your reputation on the quality of the
goods you represent. Far from killing the middleman, the
Internet has generated a thriving new breed. Between
1999 and 2010, just as the Internet was transforming the
world, middlemen’s contribution to the United States’
GDP has actually grown—from a quarter to more than a
third of our economy. In The Middleman Economy, Silicon
Valley-based reporter Marina Krakovsky elucidates the
six essential roles that middlemen play.
“Like many people, you may be a middleman without even realizing it. Marina Krakovsky explains how the best make themselves indispensable: as a merchant of information, she has gone far and wide to bring you the goods.”
—Jonathan Rosenberg, Senior Vice President at Google and co-author of How Google Works
“We often think of a middleman as someone to avoid—the person who stands in the way, or does nothing at all. But the truth is that the person in the middle, whether it’s a venture capitalist or a real estate broker, can create great value: and the best middlemen are true partners who make you a lot of money. The Middleman Economy shows you how.”
—Barbara Corcoran, Founder, The Corcoran Group
“In The Middleman Economy, Krakovsky has crafted a powerfully persuasive counterpoint to the notion that in today’s society, middlemen are obsolete. Her captivating and well-researched narrative will convince you of just the opposite—that middlemen are even more critical to today’s economic and social order, whether they function as Bridges, Enforcers, Certifiers, Risk Bearers, Concierges, or Insulators. And they…are us.”
—Margaret A. Neale, Professor of Management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and co-author of Getting (More of) What You Want
“Although technology has brought us to a more interconnected world, Marina Krakovsky, with captivating examples, brilliantly describes the irreplaceable role of the middleman in a successful economy.”
—Bill Draper, General Partner of Draper Richards L.P., and author of The Startup Game
“Krakovsky reveals a riveting truth: we are all middlemen. Her captivating examples and precise typology capture the vast reach and diversity of middlemen in every aspect of our lives. But most importantly, The Middleman Economy provides the necessary tools to avoid predators and parasites and find the partners that will lubricate and accelerate our success in life.”
—Adam Galinsky, Professor of Business at Columbia Business School and co-author of Friend & Foe
“With sound reasoning and hard evidence, Krakovsky exploded my belief that the rise of the Internet spells the demise of the intermediary. In the process, she’s provided me, and all of us, a great service.”
—Robert B. Cialdini, Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University, bestselling author, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
236 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 2015
19 people are currently reading
693 people want to read
About the author
Marina Krakovsky
5 books7 followersMarina Krakovsky writes about ideas in the social sciences, particularly new research in psychology, sociology, and economics. Her work has appeared in Discover, the New York Times Magazine, Scientific American and Scientific American Mind, O, The Oprah Magazine, Psychology Today, Slate, Stanford Magazine, the Washington Post, Wired, and other publications.
She is the author of The Middleman Economy: How Brokers, Agents, Dealers, and Everyday Matchmakers Create Value and Profit (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015).
She and economist Kay-Yut Chen are co-authors of Secrets of the Moneylab: How Behavioral Economics Can Improve Your Business (Portfolio/Penguin, 2010).
Marina graduated from Stanford University with a degree in English and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
She is the author of The Middleman Economy: How Brokers, Agents, Dealers, and Everyday Matchmakers Create Value and Profit (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015).
She and economist Kay-Yut Chen are co-authors of Secrets of the Moneylab: How Behavioral Economics Can Improve Your Business (Portfolio/Penguin, 2010).
Marina graduated from Stanford University with a degree in English and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 11, 2016
Interesting positive take on the value middle men add to society...
October 3, 2016
I found the book to be very interesting for me, as I'm vastly playing the middleman role in my daily job.
With a lot of notes, I'll definitely be coming back from time to time to it.
With a lot of notes, I'll definitely be coming back from time to time to it.
June 29, 2018
The value and function of middleman, i didn't know before..
纵观很多行业，都是如此，尤其是在风险不可预测的情况下。一方面，判断不足或者其中某一方没尽力会造成一定问题；而另一方面，大自然的不确定性也是一个因素，律师称之为“不可抗力”。[4]风险承担者协助买卖双方平稳处理交易中可能遭遇的一切变动，不论是有保险的灾祸，还是币值波动，或者是日复一日的需求变化。
为什么中间人应该承担风险？一方面，他们比交易伙伴更有能力去分散风险，通过分散风险以求收入能够弥补损失。画廊经营者签约几十个艺术家，尽管不能避免全部风险，但还是可以分散不少风险，上都就是一个例子。出版社一年列出几十个甚至更多的书目，也是一种“赢得一些，失去一些”的态度，出版社不会依赖一个作家，因为一般来说，一个作家两年才能写出一本书。同时，出版社为了降低作家的风险，还会按照未来销售预估的一定比例来提前支付报酬。出版行业不太景气，尽管出版社已经把一部分风险转移到作家身上，比如说“预付金”现在基本不提了，[5]但出版社还是承担着很多风险，编辑、封面设计、印刷和相关费用都是由出版社支付的。自费出书的作家得自己支付这些费用，还寄希望于能多拿一些版税来平衡这些费用。在一个自费出版物销量不超过150册的市场上，这几乎是不可能的。[6]有些出版社每年出版几十本书，和作家相比，他们抗风险能力要强得多。
译后记
中间人的实质是市场机制下分工的进一步演化，早在18世纪，亚当·斯密就告诉我们：“分工之起，源于交换，并受限于市场交换力。”换言之，人类交换的能力促使分工产生，而交换能力的不断提升，让分工更加细致。认识到这一点是非常重要的，否则我们容易陷入这样的误区——专业化或者分工产生了市场交换。这一逻辑告诉我们，中间人的存在不是因为人们看到了其中的商机，从而有意地进行了分工，进而以中间人形式产生了中间人市场，而是因为市场交换范围、程度的发展，使分工更加细化和专业化，带来了中间人经济普遍的存在。
所以，中间人经济是一种合乎理性的存在，也是市场机制发展下的必然产物。随着市场经济的发展，中间人经济不但不会消失，而且会更加发达。本书有助于我们更具体、更现实地理解中间人经济。在本书中，作者主要阐述了三个方面的问题：一是意识到自己是中间人的重要性；二是中间人怎样做才能有效地创造价值；三是如何将这些价值转化为利润。
某些观念认为，互联网的出现会阻碍中间人这个行业的发展；同时，这一观念还认为中间人不会产生任何真正的价值，只能消除其他人因时间不足而产生的知识限制。一旦人们获得互联网提供的丰富的知识，中间人就不再有价值了。作者玛丽娜·克拉科夫斯基在本书中对此观点进行了回击。她认为，虽然互联网的出现使每个人的交易成本都有所下降，但专业中间商的交易成本下降得更快，以至其在经济中发挥更大的作用。总之，玛丽娜认为互联网带给中间人角色的变化使他们比以往任何时候都更有价值。她将中间人分为6个不同的类别，这有助于我们进一步理解中间人具体做什么，以及他们怎样在当今社会创造价值。
搭桥者通常是最容易被想到的中间人类型，它作为一个桥梁连接买卖双方。一个关于搭桥者的例子就是eBay，它帮助买卖双方更便捷和高效地实现交易的对接。强制者类似于认证者，因为它们有助于维护合规性并承担消费者的风险。婚礼策划者是一个强制者，他们的存在激励着服务提供者做好工作，即使他们以后不再服务于一个特定的新娘或新郎。认证者是指认证机构在交易市场上有一定的可信度。他们通过专长，可以帮助引导他人的考虑和购买过程。Yelp属于认证者，其用户评级可以提高或降低餐厅的受欢迎程度。风险承担者需要做好风险管理，比如虽然自己出版一本书在理论上听起来很棒，但存在很多营销上的不确定性。出版商除基本任务外，还要承担书可能遭到市场冷遇的风险，但与此同时，出版商可能获得不错的利润。礼宾者具有领域专有的知识和经验，在组织和执行方面可以做得比外行人更好。旅行社属于这样一类，虽然互联网已经改变了这个行业的发展，但旅行社在节省人们时间和自我组织麻烦方面仍然有很大的价值。隔离者的任务是承受责难，帮助双方调节和化解矛盾，比如那些允许双方有战略互动的律师和代理人。一旦你了解了不同类型的中间人，就会对各种中间商如何创造价值有更好的理解，并对自己或者观察对象如何在中间人的角色中挖掘价值有所启迪。
《中间人经济》是一本非常有趣、实用性强、通俗易懂的好书。玛丽娜以其独特的视角阐述了中间人在当今社会中所处的重要地位。事实上在现实生活中，很多人对中间人这一角色存在一定的误解和矛盾的态度。他们一方面需要中间人，但另一方面又对中间人感到反感。作者在“导论”部分也提到了中间人的现状：“没有人喜欢中间人，但我们大部分人都是中间人。”换言之，许多处于中间行业的人并没有对自己的身份有正确的了解和定位，甚至他们当中还有一部分人没有意识到自己也属于中间人。
通常关于中间人的定义是：中间人是连接关系网节点、增加关系网价值的人。但并不是每一个中间人都可以创造价值，具备一定能力的中间人才可以在社会关系网中实现价值的提升。关于怎样评判一个中间人是否优秀，本书提出了两个判断的标准：带给客户的温暖程度和中间人自身的业务能力。作者用每一章讲述一种中间人角色，并辅以大量专业性案例，让我们在阅读时很容易消化。除此之外，本书的每一章还详细地分析了经纪人、中介、交易商以及各种中间人如何创造价值和赚取利润，对中间人这个行业的发展提供了一定的参考价值。
总的来说，这本书不仅提供了一个崭新的视角，让读者重新认识中间人在今天所扮演的不同角色以及他们如何创造自己的价值，而且能教会读者怎样成为一名优秀的中间人。
唐榕彬
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在很多情况下，互联网是中间人的同盟。因为互联网，那些曾经自己做买卖的中间人（局限于自己的地理范围内）可以接触到世界各地的顾客，并比以往更快速便捷地和他们分享信息。与此同时，在“认证者”和“强制者”这两章里我们看到，当人们和陌生人交易的时候，他们倾向于依赖可信的第三方，以此保证所售货物和所提供服务的质量。在“礼宾者”一章里也提到了，互联网带来了庞大的信息池，买方在筛选信息的时候也需要帮助。用生意人的话说，卖方在“突出重围”这方面需要帮助，才能让买方注意到自己。随着互联网工具的成熟化，雇用专家代表我们使用工具完成这些事情变得越来越高效，买卖二手车和二手衣服的中间人都借助互联网的发展摆脱了一些烦恼。互联网也使软件公司创业变得更便宜、更简单，正如我们在“风险承担者”一章里所看到的，微风投是一种趋势，这些中间人每天筛选几千个商业创意，从中挑选出那些最有可能为投资人带来可观回报的项目。
有些中间人角色是不受时间影响的。在“风险承担者”一章里，我们总是依赖中间人平衡供需的起伏，而今天“Uber式”产品不过是这种中间人基本角色在最新科技中的应用。“认证者”和“强制者”两章展示了中间人是如何有效减少买卖双方信息不对等的。“隔离者”一章展示了中间人扮演一个均衡器，为经验不足者和专家这两方人士找到均衡点，或者用更合适的方式帮助新人展示他们的优点并转述他们的需求。在很多时候，中间人会给予信息匮乏、易受伤害的参与者更多知识和力量，不仅扮演两方之间起连接作用的纽带，还是两边不可缺少的支点。
中间人总是需要保持双方的平衡。不论是演艺经纪人、二手车销售商还是风险投资者，成功的中间人知道仅为一方服务是不够的。为了生存，他们必须为双方提供价值，且优待双方。在“风险承担者”一章里，我们提到的那个画廊经营者贾森·霍雷什说得很好：“作为一个中间人，你得意识到你的顾客不仅仅是所售商品的买方，你还得向你的供应商进行自我销售且提供价值。如果不是为了艺术家，我根本不可能做这一行。”这种两重责任在具有双边市场特点的中间人行业里是真实存在的，买方想要进入优秀卖方的聚集之处，反之亦然。由于双方需求有时是矛盾的，平衡很难达到，但是卓越的中间人能创造良性循环。总的来说，最受人尊敬的中间人吸引最优买方，相应地也吸引了最优卖方，再吸引更多的优秀买方，以此类推。尽管双边市场不是永动机，但是中间人必须持续不断地努力，以此保证他们的策略、态度和价格是服务于双方需求的。
总的来说，向往稳定而不是速战速决的中间人总是放长线，会牺牲短期利益来获取之后更大的收益。他们花时间在一个具体的领域成为专家，他们咽下一方恶行的苦果，他们通过互动建立信任关系。在这样的成长曲线中，他们耐心地为未来投资。相比于为买方和卖方服务一两次，这种投资最终能为中间人带来更长久的丰厚回报。起初，中间人可能为了获得快速回报而收取回扣，比如在质量上偷工减料，或者举荐你根本不了解的人，但是这些都不是长久之计。长远来看，捷径导致的成本增加，远多于这些捷径所带来的价值，同时玷污了中间人作为认证者、强制者和礼宾者的名声。
中间人的名声很臭。从“精通你所做的、有益于社会的事”这句话来看，做个优秀中间人的方法有很多。这意味着，你需要达到交易伙伴的期望，而第一步是先知道他们的期望是什么。当顾客需要强制者的时候，中间人只做优秀的认证者就会令顾客失望。所以如果你是中间人，我希望你能认真思考自己擅长的角色、交易伙伴看中的技能和在磨合过程中你所能获得的利益。如果你是买方或者卖方，我希望本书说出了你在生活中需要中间人时想说的话。如果你是一个令人尊敬的中间人，我希望你能享受工作的挑战，同时也能发现你感兴趣领域中的工作机遇。
纵观很多行业，都是如此，尤其是在风险不可预测的情况下。一方面，判断不足或者其中某一方没尽力会造成一定问题；而另一方面，大自然的不确定性也是一个因素，律师称之为“不可抗力”。[4]风险承担者协助买卖双方平稳处理交易中可能遭遇的一切变动，不论是有保险的灾祸，还是币值波动，或者是日复一日的需求变化。
为什么中间人应该承担风险？一方面，他们比交易伙伴更有能力去分散风险，通过分散风险以求收入能够弥补损失。画廊经营者签约几十个艺术家，尽管不能避免全部风险，但还是可以分散不少风险，上都就是一个例子。出版社一年列出几十个甚至更多的书目，也是一种“赢得一些，失去一些”的态度，出版社不会依赖一个作家，因为一般来说，一个作家两年才能写出一本书。同时，出版社为了降低作家的风险，还会按照未来销售预估的一定比例来提前支付报酬。出版行业不太景气，尽管出版社已经把一部分风险转移到作家身上，比如说“预付金”现在基本不提了，[5]但出版社还是承担着很多风险，编辑、封面设计、印刷和相关费用都是由出版社支付的。自费出书的作家得自己支付这些费用，还寄希望于能多拿一些版税来平衡这些费用。在一个自费出版物销量不超过150册的市场上，这几乎是不可能的。[6]有些出版社每年出版几十本书，和作家相比，他们抗风险能力要强得多。
译后记
中间人的实质是市场机制下分工的进一步演化，早在18世纪，亚当·斯密就告诉我们：“分工之起，源于交换，并受限于市场交换力。”换言之，人类交换的能力促使分工产生，而交换能力的不断提升，让分工更加细致。认识到这一点是非常重要的，否则我们容易陷入这样的误区——专业化或者分工产生了市场交换。这一逻辑告诉我们，中间人的存在不是因为人们看到了其中的商机，从而有意地进行了分工，进而以中间人形式产生了中间人市场，而是因为市场交换范围、程度的发展，使分工更加细化和专业化，带来了中间人经济普遍的存在。
所以，中间人经济是一种合乎理性的存在，也是市场机制发展下的必然产物。随着市场经济的发展，中间人经济不但不会消失，而且会更加发达。本书有助于我们更具体、更现实地理解中间人经济。在本书中，作者主要阐述了三个方面的问题：一是意识到自己是中间人的重要性；二是中间人怎样做才能有效地创造价值；三是如何将这些价值转化为利润。
某些观念认为，互联网的出现会阻碍中间人这个行业的发展；同时，这一观念还认为中间人不会产生任何真正的价值，只能消除其他人因时间不足而产生的知识限制。一旦人们获得互联网提供的丰富的知识，中间人就不再有价值了。作者玛丽娜·克拉科夫斯基在本书中对此观点进行了回击。她认为，虽然互联网的出现使每个人的交易成本都有所下降，但专业中间商的交易成本下降得更快，以至其在经济中发挥更大的作用。总之，玛丽娜认为互联网带给中间人角色的变化使他们比以往任何时候都更有价值。她将中间人分为6个不同的类别，这有助于我们进一步理解中间人具体做什么，以及他们怎样在当今社会创造价值。
搭桥者通常是最容易被想到的中间人类型，它作为一个桥梁连接买卖双方。一个关于搭桥者的例子就是eBay，它帮助买卖双方更便捷和高效地实现交易的对接。强制者类似于认证者，因为它们有助于维护合规性并承担消费者的风险。婚礼策划者是一个强制者，他们的存在激励着服务提供者做好工作，即使他们以后不再服务于一个特定的新娘或新郎。认证者是指认证机构在交易市场上有一定的可信度。他们通过专长，可以帮助引导他人的考虑和购买过程。Yelp属于认证者，其用户评级可以提高或降低餐厅的受欢迎程度。风险承担者需要做好风险管理，比如虽然自己出版一本书在理论上听起来很棒，但存在很多营销上的不确定性。出版商除基本任务外，还要承担书可能遭到市场冷遇的风险，但与此同时，出版商可能获得不错的利润。礼宾者具有领域专有的知识和经验，在组织和执行方面可以做得比外行人更好。旅行社属于这样一类，虽然互联网已经改变了这个行业的发展，但旅行社在节省人们时间和自我组织麻烦方面仍然有很大的价值。隔离者的任务是承受责难，帮助双方调节和化解矛盾，比如那些允许双方有战略互动的律师和代理人。一旦你了解了不同类型的中间人，就会对各种中间商如何创造价值有更好的理解，并对自己或者观察对象如何在中间人的角色中挖掘价值有所启迪。
《中间人经济》是一本非常有趣、实用性强、通俗易懂的好书。玛丽娜以其独特的视角阐述了中间人在当今社会中所处的重要地位。事实上在现实生活中，很多人对中间人这一角色存在一定的误解和矛盾的态度。他们一方面需要中间人，但另一方面又对中间人感到反感。作者在“导论”部分也提到了中间人的现状：“没有人喜欢中间人，但我们大部分人都是中间人。”换言之，许多处于中间行业的人并没有对自己的身份有正确的了解和定位，甚至他们当中还有一部分人没有意识到自己也属于中间人。
通常关于中间人的定义是：中间人是连接关系网节点、增加关系网价值的人。但并不是每一个中间人都可以创造价值，具备一定能力的中间人才可以在社会关系网中实现价值的提升。关于怎样评判一个中间人是否优秀，本书提出了两个判断的标准：带给客户的温暖程度和中间人自身的业务能力。作者用每一章讲述一种中间人角色，并辅以大量专业性案例，让我们在阅读时很容易消化。除此之外，本书的每一章还详细地分析了经纪人、中介、交易商以及各种中间人如何创造价值和赚取利润，对中间人这个行业的发展提供了一定的参考价值。
总的来说，这本书不仅提供了一个崭新的视角，让读者重新认识中间人在今天所扮演的不同角色以及他们如何创造自己的价值，而且能教会读者怎样成为一名优秀的中间人。
唐榕彬
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在很多情况下，互联网是中间人的同盟。因为互联网，那些曾经自己做买卖的中间人（局限于自己的地理范围内）可以接触到世界各地的顾客，并比以往更快速便捷地和他们分享信息。与此同时，在“认证者”和“强制者”这两章里我们看到，当人们和陌生人交易的时候，他们倾向于依赖可信的第三方，以此保证所售货物和所提供服务的质量。在“礼宾者”一章里也提到了，互联网带来了庞大的信息池，买方在筛选信息的时候也需要帮助。用生意人的话说，卖方在“突出重围”这方面需要帮助，才能让买方注意到自己。随着互联网工具的成熟化，雇用专家代表我们使用工具完成这些事情变得越来越高效，买卖二手车和二手衣服的中间人都借助互联网的发展摆脱了一些烦恼。互联网也使软件公司创业变得更便宜、更简单，正如我们在“风险承担者”一章里所看到的，微风投是一种趋势，这些中间人每天筛选几千个商业创意，从中挑选出那些最有可能为投资人带来可观回报的项目。
有些中间人角色是不受时间影响的。在“风险承担者”一章里，我们总是依赖中间人平衡供需的起伏，而今天“Uber式”产品不过是这种中间人基本角色在最新科技中的应用。“认证者”和“强制者”两章展示了中间人是如何有效减少买卖双方信息不对等的。“隔离者”一章展示了中间人扮演一个均衡器，为经验不足者和专家这两方人士找到均衡点，或者用更合适的方式帮助新人展示他们的优点并转述他们的需求。在很多时候，中间人会给予信息匮乏、易受伤害的参与者更多知识和力量，不仅扮演两方之间起连接作用的纽带，还是两边不可缺少的支点。
中间人总是需要保持双方的平衡。不论是演艺经纪人、二手车销售商还是风险投资者，成功的中间人知道仅为一方服务是不够的。为了生存，他们必须为双方提供价值，且优待双方。在“风险承担者”一章里，我们提到的那个画廊经营者贾森·霍雷什说得很好：“作为一个中间人，你得意识到你的顾客不仅仅是所售商品的买方，你还得向你的供应商进行自我销售且提供价值。如果不是为了艺术家，我根本不可能做这一行。”这种两重责任在具有双边市场特点的中间人行业里是真实存在的，买方想要进入优秀卖方的聚集之处，反之亦然。由于双方需求有时是矛盾的，平衡很难达到，但是卓越的中间人能创造良性循环。总的来说，最受人尊敬的中间人吸引最优买方，相应地也吸引了最优卖方，再吸引更多的优秀买方，以此类推。尽管双边市场不是永动机，但是中间人必须持续不断地努力，以此保证他们的策略、态度和价格是服务于双方需求的。
总的来说，向往稳定而不是速战速决的中间人总是放长线，会牺牲短期利益来获取之后更大的收益。他们花时间在一个具体的领域成为专家，他们咽下一方恶行的苦果，他们通过互动建立信任关系。在这样的成长曲线中，他们耐心地为未来投资。相比于为买方和卖方服务一两次，这种投资最终能为中间人带来更长久的丰厚回报。起初，中间人可能为了获得快速回报而收取回扣，比如在质量上偷工减料，或者举荐你根本不了解的人，但是这些都不是长久之计。长远来看，捷径导致的成本增加，远多于这些捷径所带来的价值，同时玷污了中间人作为认证者、强制者和礼宾者的名声。
中间人的名声很臭。从“精通你所做的、有益于社会的事”这句话来看，做个优秀中间人的方法有很多。这意味着，你需要达到交易伙伴的期望，而第一步是先知道他们的期望是什么。当顾客需要强制者的时候，中间人只做优秀的认证者就会令顾客失望。所以如果你是中间人，我希望你能认真思考自己擅长的角色、交易伙伴看中的技能和在磨合过程中你所能获得的利益。如果你是买方或者卖方，我希望本书说出了你在生活中需要中间人时想说的话。如果你是一个令人尊敬的中间人，我希望你能享受工作的挑战，同时也能发现你感兴趣领域中的工作机遇。
May 25, 2017
This book takes a deep look into the value that middleman provide. To be useful, middleman must provide value to both the sellers and the buyers in the exchange. Thing is, middleman need to sustain their trade as well, that means taking a share of the profit from the exchange. When middleman do their job right, they provide more value than their expense, benefiting all those involved. The bad reputation of middleman comes about when they cost more than the value they provide.
Krakovsky provides six different ways that middleman can provide value when they act as the Bridge, Certifier, Enforces, Risk Bearer, Concierge, and Insulator. The six value providing activities are not mutually exclusive. Each is needed and sometimes required in many different situations. Each has the power to provide massive value to society. Each role increases efficiency by allowing for less idle capacity, reducing time spend, or reducing stress for either party. But should the middleman take more profit than the value the service provides, it will be easy to cut the middleman out of the exchange.
Being the bridge means reducing the transaction costs between people. Many markets were not sustainable due to high costs, the middleman can bridge the gap by reducing those costs. The certifier helps by sorting through information and providing the appropriate value to the information. Without expertise, it is difficult to discern the value of information, while the certifier has the expertise to know the proper value. Enforces make sure that all parties to an exchange play by the rules. By punishing those that break the rules, the enforcer can make certain that foul play is not costless. The risk bearer can handle the risky side of the business more than any individual can. Having the ability to diversify revenue streams, the risk bearer can survive when losing money from some sources due to profits from others. A concierge can tailor information to best fit the client. Having access to the same information does not mean the same value can be extracted by different people, the concierge listens to the client and helps them find the appropriate thing for them. The insulator takes away the pressure of being seen inappropriate. Representing oneself has different social connotation then representing someone else, the insulator levels the power relationship between the parties without damaging either parties’ reputation.
The focus of the book is when the middleman provides more value than the expense, while sparse information in given to why some middleman fail. In the introductory chapter, the author provides the potential view of middleman that depend on their ability to get things done to the value they extract. The major problem is the insufficient explanation of why some middleman are seen in the negative relative to the values they are meant to provide. Some sporadic examples are provided when middleman is notorious for the poor job done, but they lack depth. Understanding what makes a bad middleman in detail would have helped a lot in explaining what mistakes not to make. There is a lot of value in knowing what not do to.
Extremely well written and research from different fields are used such as economics, game theory, psychology, and sociology. The technical parts are fun to read. Even though examples of middleman doing a poor job are pervasive, a chapter or two on the failures of the middleman would have provided a lot of value.
Krakovsky provides six different ways that middleman can provide value when they act as the Bridge, Certifier, Enforces, Risk Bearer, Concierge, and Insulator. The six value providing activities are not mutually exclusive. Each is needed and sometimes required in many different situations. Each has the power to provide massive value to society. Each role increases efficiency by allowing for less idle capacity, reducing time spend, or reducing stress for either party. But should the middleman take more profit than the value the service provides, it will be easy to cut the middleman out of the exchange.
Being the bridge means reducing the transaction costs between people. Many markets were not sustainable due to high costs, the middleman can bridge the gap by reducing those costs. The certifier helps by sorting through information and providing the appropriate value to the information. Without expertise, it is difficult to discern the value of information, while the certifier has the expertise to know the proper value. Enforces make sure that all parties to an exchange play by the rules. By punishing those that break the rules, the enforcer can make certain that foul play is not costless. The risk bearer can handle the risky side of the business more than any individual can. Having the ability to diversify revenue streams, the risk bearer can survive when losing money from some sources due to profits from others. A concierge can tailor information to best fit the client. Having access to the same information does not mean the same value can be extracted by different people, the concierge listens to the client and helps them find the appropriate thing for them. The insulator takes away the pressure of being seen inappropriate. Representing oneself has different social connotation then representing someone else, the insulator levels the power relationship between the parties without damaging either parties’ reputation.
The focus of the book is when the middleman provides more value than the expense, while sparse information in given to why some middleman fail. In the introductory chapter, the author provides the potential view of middleman that depend on their ability to get things done to the value they extract. The major problem is the insufficient explanation of why some middleman are seen in the negative relative to the values they are meant to provide. Some sporadic examples are provided when middleman is notorious for the poor job done, but they lack depth. Understanding what makes a bad middleman in detail would have helped a lot in explaining what mistakes not to make. There is a lot of value in knowing what not do to.
Extremely well written and research from different fields are used such as economics, game theory, psychology, and sociology. The technical parts are fun to read. Even though examples of middleman doing a poor job are pervasive, a chapter or two on the failures of the middleman would have provided a lot of value.
April 6, 2023
A chatty and verbose book on how a middleman can add value in today's marketplace where direct matching is often possible. It broadly classifies middleman value-adds into Bridge (connects nodes in a network), Certifier (signs off things), Enforcer (referee), Risk Taker (underwrites risks), Concierge (service outsourcing), and Insulator (interface). The stories and episodes used to illustrate each category are mediocre and digressive.
November 14, 2019
Has many insights about different industries. Also it makes one rethink all business models from the perspective a middle man
January 7, 2020
Interesting book. Very well written.
December 11, 2015
The dictionary defines middleman as: "a person or company that buys goods from a producer and sells them to someone else; a person who helps two people or groups to deal with and communicate with each other when they are not able or willing to do it themselves." Being a middleman has not always been laudable, and they are often considered expendable or even worse, a greedy party who takes his cut out of the seller's or buyer's share of a financial transaction.
I was intrigued by the subtitle of this book "How Brokers, Agents, Dealers and Everyday Matchmakers Create Value and Profit". The inference is that middlemen actually play a very useful part in brokering deals and bringing parties together in ways that they couldn't do themselves, or at least not as efficiently. In the intro, the author discussed the fact that nobody likes a middleman, but most of us are middlemen. In reflection on my career in marketing and sales operations, it seems that many of the roles I fulfilled could have been labelled as middleman. Virtually every knowledge worker has aspects of middleman in their job descriptions.
The author segments the middleman role into the Bridge, the Certifier, the Enforcer, the Risk Bearer, the Concierge and the Insulator and covers each of them in a separate chapters with interesting examples. The writing is entertaining and fast-paced and not particularly academic, which of course makes it much more approachable. If you're a middleman (or think you might be), and looking to validate your existence, you'll certainly enjoy this book!
I was intrigued by the subtitle of this book "How Brokers, Agents, Dealers and Everyday Matchmakers Create Value and Profit". The inference is that middlemen actually play a very useful part in brokering deals and bringing parties together in ways that they couldn't do themselves, or at least not as efficiently. In the intro, the author discussed the fact that nobody likes a middleman, but most of us are middlemen. In reflection on my career in marketing and sales operations, it seems that many of the roles I fulfilled could have been labelled as middleman. Virtually every knowledge worker has aspects of middleman in their job descriptions.
The author segments the middleman role into the Bridge, the Certifier, the Enforcer, the Risk Bearer, the Concierge and the Insulator and covers each of them in a separate chapters with interesting examples. The writing is entertaining and fast-paced and not particularly academic, which of course makes it much more approachable. If you're a middleman (or think you might be), and looking to validate your existence, you'll certainly enjoy this book!
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June 22, 2018381.2 K893 2015
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