How to build and scale winning marketplaces | Casey Winters (Eventbrite, Pinterest, Grubhub)
In Depth
Building and Scaling Marketplaces from Scratch
Building a marketplace from scratch requires focusing on bringing more demand for supply and more selection for demand. The quality of the software in a marketplace is not the primary focus; instead, the emphasis should be on increasing demand and supply. Manual work upfront is crucial, similar to enterprise software, to validate the presence of a real product. Metrics like liquidity, conversion rates, and repeat purchases are essential in determining the success of the marketplace. Founders should be willing to engage in non-scalable activities initially to achieve liquidity before focusing on scaling the cross-side network effect. Understanding the game you are playing in the marketplace is crucial, as different strategies apply depending on the stage of the marketplace's growth.
