That was very interesting. This entire talk was all about "network affect".
The 3 takeaways I heard were:
- Market control through scarcity
- Spotting a market opportunity (seed concept)
- Requirements to Profit in Secondary Markets
The first item is very well known now, and there are plenty of examples (diamonds, oil sneakers). Monopolies are tools that enable scarcity and thus manipulate markets through control of the supply half of the supply and demand equation.
Item 2 is the key. It takes unusual entrepreneurial skills to see what most others don't, the seed concept. In the case of Nike it was spotting Micheal Jordan's athletic success / popularity and coupling that with his choice of shoes (or offering him an opportunity via sponsorship to put his shoes in demand).
Item 2 is where the magic of network effect is born. It takes intuitive people skills,
sales skills like these, and marketing skills like Apple & Nike have had to take that seed concept and hype it, promote it, sell it to stimulate demand. At what level do the conditions become ripe for a "viral" wave of demand to occur is the "magic" of network effect. I call it magic only b/c I don't understand it, but there are people that do and you have to pay big bux to hire them.
The last item just emphasized the point there is often lucrative money to be made in secondary markets, but you also need to have good sales skills and market insights to "catch the viral wave" and know when to get in and out or how to close sales in such markets.