[duxup]

>The process of companies building products that strip away use-cases from horizontal platforms is called “unbundling”.

Is there a more plain English explanation what this means?

I didn't understand their explanation, and then they showed Zapier that seems to be a service that relies on automating some tasks based on one or more other service .... that seems to be very "bundled" in my mind now that you've got two or more services heavily reliant on each other...

[tbran]

The graphic in this short article [0] that shows the numerous companies "unbundled" from Craigslist is worth the click and will help you instantly understand the concept.

[0]: https://thegongshow.tumblr.com/post/345941486/the-spawn-of-c...

[starik36]

I didn't grok it either and this graphic explained instantly what 6 paragraphs and countless images failed to do.

[chriskelley]

The article is saying that Zapier is ripe to be unbundled.

Meaning it does many different things across many verticals, and that some of them are big enough that a company could be created around building a more specialized / better version of zapier just for a specific vertical.

[KaiserPro]

Unbundled implies that the company it's self splits up and focuses on a specific "vertical"

In this instance I would argue that the author is saying clone the idea but make sure the APIs offered are for a specific subsection of an industry.

Or more succinctly: jump on the bandwagon in the style of hipstermatic/instagram gold rush.

[psds2]

My understanding of how the term was used is this: Zapier has many use cases. Many customers buy Zapier for one or two use cases, not all the features offered. New startups are emerging that accomplish a subset of the use cases that Zapier addresses.

[KaiserPro]

I suspect what the author is trying to say in plain english is that Zapier is prime for being copied to a more focused business case.

ie, ITTT/zapier have proven that this idea works, lets copy+paste one but aimed at some other more specific business/scenario like catering or some junk.

Its a more jazzy version than "lets make an uber, but for farts."

[dnndev]

unbundling = offer higher quality integrations for a specific audience. zapier for marketers would be an unbundled zapier example.

[duxup]

I think I got it now. Thank you.