28 Ways to Grow Supply in a Marketplace 📈
Jun 2019
Airbnb discovered that 300 listings with 100 reviewed listings created a step-function change in booking growth. Below that threshold, guests couldn't find what they wanted; above it, the marketplace became self-reinforcing. Identify your magic number and treat reaching it as your primary early-stage goal.
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This Week #2: Tackling the chicken-and-egg problem, building a growth team from scratch, and addressing overlap with PM peers 🤔
Sep 2019In marketplace cold-start problems, you're almost always supply-constrained first. Rather than trying to attract both sides simultaneously, focus on seeding supply through single-player mode, employee participation, or direct payment—this naturally draws in the demand side later.
28 Ways to Grow Supply in a Marketplace 📈
Jun 2019OpenTable initially sold restaurants a useful reservation management system—valuable even with zero diners on the platform. Only after achieving critical mass of restaurants did the diner side become compelling. If your marketplace can deliver standalone value to one side, you remove the chicken-and-egg problem.
This Week #2: Tackling the chicken-and-egg problem, building a growth team from scratch, and addressing overlap with PM peers 🤔
Sep 2019In early-stage growth, focus on opportunities that can deliver exponential returns rather than incremental gains. Unless your product has viral mechanics built in, chasing small conversion improvements won't move the needle.
28 Ways to Grow Supply in a Marketplace 📈
Jun 2019Looking back at Airbnb's growth, "most things we tried didn't have an impact—but enough did." Success came from many small wins compounding, not from finding silver bullets. This reframes failure as a necessary part of the process rather than a sign of wrong strategy.
28 Ways to Grow Supply in a Marketplace 📈
Jun 2019"Airbnb now seems like an unstoppable juggernaut, but early on it was so fragile that about 30 days of going out and engaging in person with users made the difference between success and failure." At the critical moment, no growth tactic replaces direct human engagement and problem-solving.
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