The Flywheel
Thinking for marketplace founders.
Practical writing on supply strategy, growth, operations, and the mechanics of building marketplaces that work.
How to Acquire Your First 100 Buyers in a Cold-Start Marketplace
Getting to 100 buyers in a cold-start marketplace is not a growth milestone. It is a proof-of-concept milestone. Here are the channels and tactics that work before you have budget, brand, or traction.
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Retention vs. Reactivation: Where to Spend Your Demand-Side Budget
Most marketplace founders spend their demand budget on the wrong problem. Here is how to diagnose whether you have a retention problem or a reactivation problem before you spend anything.
The Conversion Audit Every Marketplace Should Run Before Spending More on Growth
Spending on acquisition before fixing conversion is the most common waste in marketplace growth. Here is the five-stage framework for finding where your marketplace is losing buyers before you add more budget.
How to Show Up When Buyers Ask AI Instead of Google
Search behavior is shifting. Buyers are asking ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews instead of scanning organic results. Here is what marketplace founders need to do now to stay visible as that shift accelerates.
The Programmatic SEO Playbook for Marketplaces
Marketplaces have a structural SEO advantage most founders ignore. Your supply data already contains everything needed to build thousands of ranking pages. This is how to build a programmatic SEO engine that compounds without a content team.
Marketplace Playbook Series: Seeding Supply in a Cold-Start Marketplace
Learn how to seed supply in a cold-start marketplace. This founder-focused playbook covers tactical strategies, from manual outreach to partnerships and anchor suppliers, to build liquidity and trust before demand arrives.
How to Calculate TAM for Marketplaces
Learn how to calculate Total Addressable Market (TAM) for marketplaces using GMV, revenue potential, and city-by-city analysis. A practical guide for founders.
How Poor Photos Destroy Marketplace Trust and Conversion
High-quality supply photos drive trust, conversion, and SEO in marketplaces. Learn the image standards every founder must set early to protect growth and user confidence.
How to Define Your "Right" Supply: Volume, Quality, and Diversity That Drives Demand
A practical guide for marketplace founders on defining the right supply for growth. Learn how volume, quality, diversity, engagement, and geographic density shape liquidity, trust, and conversion.
The Different Types of Marketplaces and How They Grow
A clear breakdown of the different types of marketplaces and how they grow. Learn how horizontal, vertical, B2B, B2C, product, service, high frequency, and low frequency marketplaces work and why each model needs its own growth strategy.
The Marketplace Flywheel: How It Actually Works and Why It Matters
Learn how the marketplace flywheel actually works, why it fuels sustainable growth, and how founders can build real liquidity, trust, and early traction.
The Marketplace Glossary: Essential Terms Every Founder Must Understand
Learn the essential marketplace terms every founder must know. Understand GMV vs revenue, take rate, liquidity, CAC, LTV, retention, and more in this complete guide.
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Advisory for marketplace founders at $1M to $30M GMV.