The Secondary IT Market is Becoming the World of Warcraft Auction House — Doug Wick on Technology

Hello Tech Pros - Motivation, Soft Skills & Business Advice

TradeLive, a recently launched Austin-based startup, is a modern business-to-business marketplace for new and used IT gear aimed at eliminating the pitfalls that make other IT exchanges slow, unreliable and restrictive.

General manager Doug Wick is building this company, after having spent 15 years in senior product/business development roles at software startups.

Show notes at http://hellotechpros.com/doug-wick-technology/

Key Takeaways

• The secondary market for IT gear is starting to mature like the used car market.
• 15 years ago, your only real solution was to find some guy online and sell him a trunk full of stuff. This was ok for small businesses, but not practical for enterprise.
• In asset disposition, most of it goes to recycling.
• Cars and computers drop value quickly, though there are still some hardware that is usable and valuable for smaller businesses.
• Due to Moore's Law, the progress on hardware outpaces the software.
• The lifetime of hardware is useful for 15 years now.
• Instead of buying a new router with new options and configurations you can now get the same model off the secondary market.
• Valuing IT equipment is like valuing art.
• Tradelive is like CarMax for IT gear.
  • All the inventory is priced at the best price, and is driving the change for the industry.
  • This network of dealerships operates via price transparency and market efficiency.
• We are now in a position to allow developing countries have access to this equipment.
• The secondary IT market has been valued in $100s billions.
• The Austin tech scene works on non-sexy problems.