# Marketplace Collective Strategic advisory and engineering for marketplace founders at $1M to $30M GMV. Source: https://www.marketplacecollective.co --- ## About Bryan Petro Bryan Petro has 17 years of experience building marketplaces. He led Getmyboat to become the number one boating marketplace globally and has built 4 marketplaces from the ground up. He advises marketplace founders at $1M to $30M GMV on growth, SEO, supply-side strategy, product, operations, team, and engineering. ## Who This Is For Marketplace founders at the $1M to $30M GMV stage dealing with: - CAC that is climbing and no clear organic alternative - Supply quality that is inconsistent and eating margin - Hiring by gut feel with no repeatable process - SEO that is basically zero - Too many priorities and no framework to sequence them - Operations held together with spreadsheets and Slack ## Engagement Models **Retainer Advisory:** Monthly engagement, minimum 3 months. Direct access for hiring decisions, strategic pivots, fundraising strategy, and growth decisions. **Project-Based:** Fixed scope, defined deliverables, set timeline. No long-term commitment required. ## Advisory Services - [Growth and SEO](https://www.marketplacecollective.co/services/growth-seo): Marketplace-specific SEO and growth strategy for founders at $1M to $30M GMV. - [Product and Operations](https://www.marketplacecollective.co/services/product-operations): Product and ops advisory for marketplace founders tired of holding things together manually. - [Supply-Side Growth](https://www.marketplacecollective.co/services/supply-side-growth): Supply acquisition, onboarding, quality control, and fraud prevention for marketplace founders. - [Team and Culture](https://www.marketplacecollective.co/services/team-culture): Hiring strategy, leadership development, and organizational design for marketplace founders. - [Fractional Advisory](https://www.marketplacecollective.co/services/fractional-advisory): Ongoing founder-to-founder advisory for marketplace founders at $1M to $30M GMV. ## Engineering Services - [Engineering](https://www.marketplacecollective.co/services/engineering): Monthly engineering support. Website and app development, AI for non-technical teams, migrations off no-code platforms, fraud and security, database architecture, pagespeed, design and UX audits, payment processing. ## The Flywheel (Blog) - [How to Acquire Your First 100 Buyers in a Cold-Start Marketplace](https://www.marketplacecollective.co/flywheel/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. - [Retention vs. Reactivation: Where to Spend Your Demand-Side Budget](https://www.marketplacecollective.co/flywheel/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](https://www.marketplacecollective.co/flywheel/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](https://www.marketplacecollective.co/flywheel/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](https://www.marketplacecollective.co/flywheel/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](https://www.marketplacecollective.co/flywheel/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](https://www.marketplacecollective.co/flywheel/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](https://www.marketplacecollective.co/flywheel/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](https://www.marketplacecollective.co/flywheel/how-to-define-your-right-supply-volume-quality-and-diversity-that-actually-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](https://www.marketplacecollective.co/flywheel/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](https://www.marketplacecollective.co/flywheel/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](https://www.marketplacecollective.co/flywheel/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. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What does Marketplace Collective do? Marketplace Collective provides strategic advisory and engineering for marketplace founders at $1M to $30M GMV. Services cover growth and SEO, supply-side strategy, product and operations, team and culture, fractional advisory, and hands-on engineering support. ### Who is Bryan Petro? Bryan Petro has 17 years of experience building marketplaces. He led Getmyboat to become the number one boating marketplace globally and has built 4 marketplaces from the ground up. He now advises marketplace founders on growth, SEO, supply strategy, product, operations, and team. ### What stage of marketplace is the right fit? Marketplace Collective works with founders between $1M and $30M GMV. Typical problems at this stage include climbing CAC with no organic alternative, inconsistent supply quality, near-zero SEO, operations held together with spreadsheets, and hiring without a repeatable process. ### How do engagements work? Two models. Retainer advisory is an ongoing monthly engagement with a 3-month minimum that includes weekly or biweekly working sessions and async Slack access. Project-based work has a fixed scope, defined deliverables, and a set timeline with no long-term commitment. ### How do I start working with Bryan? Apply through the form at marketplacecollective.co/work-with-me with a short description of your marketplace, its approximate GMV, and your biggest challenge. Bryan takes on a limited number of clients at a time and follows up within 2 business days if it looks like a good fit. ## Work With Bryan https://www.marketplacecollective.co/work-with-me