Reverb
👤 David Kalt (Sold optionsXpress to Schwab for $1B; then bought Chicago Music Exchange (2010), seeding Reverb with supply, pricing data, cred.)🌐 sitedavidkalt.comLinkedIn
He sold a $1B brokerage, bought a guitar shop, then built the definitive used-gear marketplace on its insider knowledge.
Will it work? · our read
Owned the data. A vertical marketplace wins on proprietary data and insider supply, not on being 'eBay for X.' Kalt had both: a guitar store to seed it and a price database no rival could copy.
01How the money moves
Musician lists gear free; buyers check the Price Guide for fair value
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Buyer pays through Reverb Payments (buyer protection, shipping)
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Reverb keeps a 5% seller fee + payment cut on every sale
02The numbers
$917.9M
2024 gear GMV (not revenue)
Etsy 10-K
$275M
2019 Etsy acquisition
Etsy
5%
seller selling fee
Reverb
GMV is turnover, not revenue — Reverb's cut is about 5% of it. Etsy FY24 results
Inc 5000 (2016): $16M revenue on $240M GMV, ranked #18. Etsy filings later disclosed $19.1M of Reverb revenue for part of 2019; GMV reached $917.9M in 2024.
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Reverb.com — Wikipedia (founding, funding, Etsy $275M, 2025 sale)Inc 5000: $16M rev on $240M GMV (2016), ranked #18Reverb Pricing & Payouts — 5% selling feeReverb: privately held again (2025 Etsy divestiture)Summit Partners: $25M Series B + Kalt / optionsXpress background
Revenue shown is first-party but dated: $16M in 2016 (Inc 5000, company-reported, ranked #18). Etsy's SEC filing separately disclosed $19.1M of Reverb revenue for part of 2019. Recent Etsy reports break out GMS by segment, not revenue, so $917.9M (2024) and $942.1M (2023) are GMV/turnover — Reverb's take is roughly 5%, not the whole sum. $275M is the 2019 Etsy purchase price, not revenue. Founder facts (optionsXpress sold to Schwab for about $1B; bought Chicago Music Exchange in 2010) and the April 2025 sale to Creator Partners + Servco are documented. The 'dead twin' failure mode is our framing, supported by the GMV decline and Etsy's divestiture. We never score you.