You Don’t Have Network Effects Until You Have Liquidity.
- alan7455
- Jun 18
- 1 min read
James Currier says it best:
“A network effect doesn’t kick in until participation reaches liquidity.”
Most marketplace founders miss this.
They think:
→ “If I build the platform, users will come.”
→ “Once people join, the network effect will do the rest.”
But here's the truth: the magic only starts once there's enough supply and demand actively using the product - and that takes hustle.
When we launched ClearShift, there was no flywheel.
We knocked on doors.
Visited restaurants.
Interviewed job seekers in person.
We placed people manually and followed up after each shift.
Only once establishments came back and professionals referred others…did we feel the first signs of real network strength.
The tech didn’t create the network effect.
The trust did.
→ alan@rework.co.za if you're building something similar and want help getting to liquidity the smart way.
Inspired by James Currier’s teachings on network effects.
