You Can Monitor Off-Platform Messages, but You Can’t Enforce Them
Jayen Ashar · 2 min read
On a marketplace I built, every message between users was CC’d to the operator by email, so they could remove any provider taking deals off the platform. That shows you leakage is happening, but it doesn’t stop it. Giving users a reason to stay on the platform does.
What I’ve actually built
I’ve been asked whether messages can be monitored in real time, with AI flagging anyone trying to move off the platform. I’ve never built that.
What I have built is simpler: the operator gets a copy of every message, reads them, and can remove any provider who is going off platform.
That’s monitoring, not enforcement.
It tells you leakage (buyers and providers taking their deals off the platform) is happening. It doesn’t stop it.
Prevent it with value instead
Leakage is better prevented other ways. The marketplace should carry enough value that it still earns when the talking happens elsewhere. If users still need the platform after they’ve talked, it matters much less where the talking happened.
If that value only arrives once the marketplace has lots of users, don’t charge until then. The profit arrives with scale too, and free is easier to scale.
What founders should take from this
- Don’t count on monitoring to stop leakage. CC’ing messages to the operator shows you it’s happening. That’s all.
- Ask what your marketplace still does for users after they’ve met. That’s what keeps it earning.
- If the value needs scale, don’t charge before you have it. Free gets you to scale, and scale is where the profit is.
You can’t stop people talking. You can make the platform worth coming back to.
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