Collectors Universe

Credence Goods + Third-Party Trust = Dominant Recurring Business Model

PSA built a dominant business by solving the 'credence good' problem in collectibles: buyers can't verify authenticity or condition themselves, so a trusted third-party grader becomes a monopoly tax on every transaction. Shaan calls this model capital-light, network-effect-driven, and near-impossible to dislodge once established.

“attestation, credentialing, these are huge businesses that are just some of the most beautiful business models because you become basically a trust tax on an entire industry. You don't have to be the best buyer or seller. You don't have to own anything. It's super capital light. All you have to do is become the trusted third party. And that's hard to do. But once you do it, it's an incredible position to be in.”

Steal thisFind an industry with credence goods and no dominant third-party authenticator, then build the trusted grading/credentialing layer.