Which side of your marketplace comes first?
Buyers land on an empty platform and providers sign up but never post. Work out where to start and how to get both sides active, with mentors who built marketplaces.
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Harri Thomas
5.0 · +11 more
Blaine
Founder · Permit Hound
"I don't want to walk through an uncleared minefield without someone who has walked it before."
Hamel Shah
Co-Founder · CarrotsAndCake
"GrowthMentor enables us to swiftly get a world-class expert to give us guidance on any marketing issue or…"
Lena Sesardic
Product Manager
"Knowing I can always book a call to help me clarify what I'm doing is the best feeling in the world."
Minh
Solo Founder · SEOmatic
"I like to set my own strategies and then get help from experts to improve on them and check if I'm on the…"
Nicola Rubino
Growth Marketing Consultant · nicorubino
"It gave me fast access to expert-level insights that I couldn't get from academic research or user surveys…"
Annie Chen
Head of Marketing · DOWN Dating App
"Sometimes I'm stuck at one step and all I need is someone who can share experiences of what they did when…"
Carlos Terol
Co-Founder · Bagmaya
"I enjoy having pretty much instant access to a pool of worldwide, expert mentors who are keen to share their…"
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Co-Founder · The Happy Beavers
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Co-Founder · Acie
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Digital Marketing Manager · magier
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Head of Growth · EmbedSocial
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Co-founder · BiosectRx
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Anastasia Rubleva
Head of Growth · Rapid Dev
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Andrew McBurney
CEO & Co-founder · Review Robin
"You should cut out 99% of the things that you're thinking about."
The mentors, selected for this decision.
12 featured mentors
Harri Thomas
Founder. Scaled from Bootstrapped to PE Exit, via 4 VC Rounds. Also Former Facebook UXR.
Why this mentor
Harri co-founded Respondent, a marketplace connecting companies with research participants, and took it from handing out flyers to eight figures in GMV, a guide to getting both sides moving from zero.
Dmitry Trofimets
Get First Sales in 2 Months Without a Product | Advisor to Early-Stage Startups | 12 years of 0-1> Startups
Why this mentor
Dmitry built a bootstrapped mental health marketplace into a top-two player in Eastern Europe with 1,000 providers and 100,000 clients, useful when you need supply and demand to grow together.
Craig Zingerline
Six-time founder helping companies grow with strategies that advance product adoption & revenue.
Why this mentor
Craig is a six-time founder who ran product and growth at Red Tricycle as it launched a double-sided events marketplace in San Francisco, a fit for starting in one city first.
Why this mentor
Nick managed several two-sided marketplaces at Shopify, working to grow supply quantity and quality at once, useful when adding more sellers or providers starts to lower the standard.
Why this mentor
Zubin co-founded LeagueSide, a sponsorship marketplace connecting brands with youth sports organizations, grew it to eight figures in ARR and raised $4m, useful for funding and scaling decisions.
James Hamlin
Fractional CMO / Advisor / Mentor / Investor for Start ups and Scale ups
Why this mentor
James has spent over 20 years building and scaling marketplace and community businesses, including leading Taskrabbit in Europe and growth at TrustedHousesitters, useful when you plan to grow beyond your first market.
Why this mentor
Zach co-founded Cater2.me, a B2B marketplace linking organizations with local food partners, and grew it bootstrapped to 15 US markets and $300m in sales, a guide to city-by-city growth.
Why this mentor
Alex founded Tutor House, an online tutoring marketplace, ran it for ten years, raised £1.4m along the way and sold it in 2022, useful for deciding when outside money makes sense.
Vivek Rajukumar
Online Marketplaces | Go To Market Strategy | Product Value Proposition | D2C Ecommerce | Zero to One
Why this mentor
Vivek helped scale Flipkart, set up Landmark Group’s marketplace business with Tmall, Myntra and Shopee, and has worked as both seller and marketplace decision maker, useful when the two sides pull apart.
Why this mentor
Miao led growth and marketing at HomeCooks, a marketplace for chefs selling ready meals, during 6x revenue growth, useful for winning buyers once the supply side is live.
Why this mentor
Saguna built the supply side of Tripaneer, a wellness travel marketplace, adding over 10,000 retreat centers, teachers and venues and launching the US market, a direct fit for winning first supply.
Why this mentor
Bukki runs Taskrabbit in the UK with full P&L ownership, including marketplace expansion, and led UK growth for Fiverr, useful for unit economics and growing a services marketplace.
Here's how it works.
AI matching
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Tell us what you're stuck with today. Matched in seconds with a mentor.
A session
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30 min
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Inbox · 15 min later
Dani Hart
Recording
You came in with
"Three pricing tiers, flat conversion on the middle one."
You left with
"Don't lower your B2B price under $400."
14:22 / 30:00
Jump to the moment
Keep the recording, summary, and takeaways. Yours to implement.
Supply first or demand first?
Most marketplaces start with the side that is harder to get, usually supply. Once enough good providers are in place, the first buyers find something worth coming back for.
Some founders do the reverse: they collect demand with a waitlist or a hand-run test, then recruit supply to serve it. A mentor can help you see which side limits your growth today.
How do you get the first providers in?
Early supply rarely comes from ads. Founders who got past the cold start did things that don’t scale:
- Recruit one by one. Call, email or visit the first providers and onboard each one yourself.
- Do the work yourself. Fill orders or deliver the service by hand while the product catches up.
- Seed the listings. Post the first listings, events or plans so new buyers never land on an empty page.
- Narrow to one niche or city. Get dense in one place before you open the next one.
Who pays, and how much?
Commission or a fixed fee, charged to the provider, the buyer or both: each choice changes who stays. Charge too much and providers take their best customers off the platform.
Leakage drops when the platform gives each side something it can’t get alone, such as payments, protection, reviews or a steady flow of new work. Bring your pricing model and your numbers for a sense check.
When is one market dense enough to expand or raise?
Liquidity is the share of listings that find a buyer, or of buyers who find what they came for. Investors look for it in one small market before they fund the next.
The mentors above include marketplace founders, supply-side leads and operators who grew platforms into new cities. Choose the one closest to the stage you are at.
People who were exactly where you are.
GrowthMentor enables us to swiftly get a world-class expert to give us guidance on any marketing issue or question in a matter of days.
Hamel Shah · Co-Founder
Read Hamel's storyKnowing I can always book a call to help me clarify what I'm doing is the best feeling in the world.
Lena Sesardic · Product Manager
Read Lena's storyI like to set my own strategies and then get help from experts to improve on them and check if I'm on the right track.
Minh · Solo Founder
Read Minh's storyIt gave me fast access to expert-level insights that I couldn't get from academic research or user surveys alone.
Nicola Rubino · Growth Marketing Consultant
Read Nicola's storySometimes I'm stuck at one step and all I need is someone who can share experiences of what they did when they were in my situation.
Annie Chen · Head of Marketing
Read Annie's storyI enjoy having pretty much instant access to a pool of worldwide, expert mentors who are keen to share their expertise and help others.
Carlos Terol · Co-Founder
Read Carlos's storyAsk ChatGPT
Don’t take our word for it.
Ask ChatGPT what it really knows about two-sided marketplace mentors and GrowthMentor, then decide for yourself.
Before you join
What people ask before their first call.
Usually the side that is harder to get and that buyers come for, often supply. A mentor can look at your market, tell you which side limits growth today and how to recruit it by hand.
Post the first listings with them, or for them, on a call. Then follow up personally until each one gets a first booking or sale. Buyers judge the platform by what they see on their first visit.
In most cases, yes. A small market where both sides meet usually beats a thin spread across many. Talk through how to pick that first market and when it is dense enough to open the next.
It depends on order value, how often people transact and what providers already pay to find customers. Bring your current fees, order values and margins, and a mentor can help you test a model both sides accept.
Your two sides, how many of each you have, what you have tried to win them, and your numbers on matches or repeat use. Add your pricing model and any fundraising plans.
No. The session is advice. Hands-on work, such as recruiting supply, running growth campaigns or ongoing advisory support, needs a separate agreement with the mentor, so describe the help you need in your request.
Still have questions? See all FAQs →
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Every face here has already solved what you're working on in two-sided marketplace. You're one call away.