Jason Leung is the Senior Manager of technology planning & strategy for Best Buy Canada’s Marketplace. On this episode of Operation Marketplace, Jason discusses the evolution of Best Buy’s marketplace and the challenges they faced along the way. We dive into how the marketplace grew from 3 sellers to 5,000, and how the marketplace fits into Best Buy’s overall growth strategy.
Episode links:
This episode was brought to you by Nautical Commerce— the end-to-end marketplace platform.
Nicole Smith is the Founder and CEO of Flytographer, a marketplace that helps people “capture the magic of travel” through vacation photo shoots with local photographers. Nicole started Flytographer in 2013 after a vacation in Paris with her best friend, where they struggled to get a photo together. In this episode of the podcast, Nicole shares how she took the marketplace from idea to reality, how it’s evolved since its conception, and how they’ve created a top-notch customer experience resulting in significant referral and repeat business.
Episode links:
This episode was brought to you by Nautical Commerce— the end-to-end marketplace platform.
Adam Gellert, Founder and CEO of Hipo (formerly Hired Hippo), shares insights into his journey of building a successful hiring marketplace that connects pre-vetted, high-potential talent with companies. In this episode, Adam discusses the importance of staying focused to continue to meet the needs of existing customers. He explains how sometimes saying no to new business directions can be a strategic yes. Adam also delves into the keys to building a strong team, the future of hiring, and the critical role of the human element in the hiring process.
Episode links:
This episode was brought to you by Nautical Commerce— the end-to-end marketplace platform.
Julie Schulte is the Co-founder and CEO of Chamfr, a marketplace for medical device components. With a career entirely dedicated to the medical device industry, Julie recognized the urgent need for digitization. In this week’s episode, Julie discusses how, unlike many other marketplace founders, she was confident in her ability to find product-market fit. Instead, her main challenge was navigating the technical complexities of an undigitized industry—especially with limited technical resources.
Julie also explains why she chose the marketplace model, how she got it up and running, and what she's learned along the way.
Episode links:
This episode was brought to you by Nautical Commerce— the end-to-end marketplace platform.
Yannis Moati is the founder and CEO of HotelsByDay, a daytime hotel services marketplace that allows buyers to purchase daytime use of hotels and their amenities.
After spending many years working in hospitality and travel, Yannis noticed a need in the travel industry that hadn’t yet been solved: daytime hotel services outside the usual parameters of an overnight stay.
Nine years in the making, Yannis shares how HotelsByDay has evolved, some of the biggest hurdles they faced along the way, and key learnings from his journey. He specifically stresses how important marketing and PR have been for the business— to both attract new customers and pitch hotels on joining the marketplace.
Episode links:
This episode was brought to you by Nautical Commerce— the end-to-end marketplace platform.
This week we welcome Mariam Naficy on the podcast, the Founder and Executive Chairman of Minted, and the Founder and Managing Partner of Heretic Ventures. Mariam is a serial entrepreneur and founder, with several successful ecommerce businesses under her belt. From founding and running the first beauty ecommerce site in the US, Eve.com, to launching Minted — a marketplace generating over $100m in revenue each year.
Mariam shares her entrepreneurial journey and highlights the importance of partnering with the right people who share your vision. She also addresses her process for identifying market opportunities, the differences in managing first-party ecommerce vs. marketplaces, and the value of a strong team.
Episode links:
This episode was brought to you by Nautical Commerce— the end-to-end marketplace platform.
On this week’s episode of Operation Marketplace, Niklas talks to Katy Carrigan, CEO of the gifting marketplace, Goody. While Goody started as a mobile app for consumers, it’s now evolved primarily into a business gifting marketplace. Katy talks about this journey, the differences (and similarities) between targetting business buyers vs. consumers, and how they leverage the former to generate demand for the latter.
One thing is clear: Goody does not settle for the status quo. They continue to evolve and unlock new growth opportunities, whether filling product gaps or productizing their marketplace through an open API.
Katy also sheds light on her journey transitioning into CEO of the company and what she’s learned in the process.
Episode links:
This episode was brought to you by Nautical Commerce— the end-to-end marketplace platform.
In this episode, Niklas sits down with Matt Holder, the Founder of Loop Golf— a booking marketplace for golf course tee times. With two other startups under his belt and experience building well-known marketplaces like Houzz, Zillow, and Trulia, Matt brings a wealth of experience in both marketplaces and entrepreneurship. He shares insights on turning your marketplace idea into reality and the ongoing journey to find product market fit.
Like many successful marketplaces, the current version of Loop Golf was not the first version. Matt emphasizes the importance of getting started and learning as fast as possible. He advises entrepreneurs to build, launch, and learn quickly, and to be open to iterating and pivoting based on feedback.
Matt also talks about the similarities he’s observed across different marketplaces and the need for transparency and efficiency.
Episode links:
This episode was brought to you by Nautical Commerce— the end-to-end marketplace platform.
On this episode of Operation Marketplace, Olivia Mihaljevic, Co-founder and CEO of LIVD, shares her journey building a B2B benefits marketplace.
Olivia first launched LIVD as a B2C beauty services marketplace to help people find local beauty services in their area. When she and her co-founder realized the unanticipated challenges of the business model, they didn't give up— they pivoted. Now, LIVD has evolved into a B2B fringe benefits platform for employers. She discusses the reasons for the pivot, how she knew it was time to change the company’s business strategy, and the challenges and successes she’s faced along the way.
Olivia also provides insights into hiring and budgeting for marketplace success, making smart coding decisions, how she funds her startup, and the value of failure and learning from mistakes.
Episode links:
This episode was brought to you by Nautical Commerce— the end-to-end marketplace platform.
In this episode of Operation Marketplace, Niklas Halusa interviews Ryan Moser, VP of Revenue Strategy at ThredUp.
Ryan started at ThredUp over 10 years ago. Since then it's grown to become one of the world's largest online resale platforms for apparel, shoes, and accessories. Ryan shares incredible insights from his experience scaling the platform to the massive, public, managed marketplace that it is today (They’ve processed over 170 million unique SKUs.)
With Recommerce comes unique challenges like single SKU management, authenticating and pricing supply, balancing supply and demand, and more. Niklas and Ryan dive into these challenges, strategies for expansion, and the value of having a strong mission to guide you and your team toward success.
Episode links:
Learn more about ThredUp:
Connect with Ryan Moser on LinkedIn
This episode was brought to you by Nautical Commerce— the end-to-end marketplace platform.
In this conversation, Nick Pinkston, the Founder and CEO of Volition, shares the story behind the B2B marketplace and the vision to be the "GitHub of parts."
Nick dives into the complexities of building an industrial parts marketplace, emphasizing the critical nature of curating an expansive product catalog with detailed data. The accuracy and comprehensiveness of Volition’s product data allow them to stand tall beside bigger, horizontal marketplaces like Amazon and Ali Baba.
Their attentiveness to user experience also allows them to build trust with a wide range of use cases, including engineers, purchasers, maintenance personnel, etc.
Nick and Niklas also discuss the changing role of distributors, the future of B2B buying, what’s in store for Volition this year, and much more.
Learn more about Volition:
Connect with Nick:
This episode was brought to you by Nautical Commerce— the end-to-end marketplace platform.
In this conversation, Nicole Murphy, Co-founder and CEO of Tall Size, discusses her experience building and running a clothing marketplace for tall women.
She emphasizes the importance of involving customers in the development process and being open and vulnerable about the company's progress. Nicole also highlights the differences in running a marketplace compared to other types of businesses, particularly the lack of control over the supply side. Balancing supply and demand is a constant challenge for marketplace operators, and Nicole shares her experience in trying to meet the needs of both sides.
A common theme throughout Nicole’s marketplace journey is the power of understanding and listening to customer feedback. Attentiveness to the needs and pain points of Tall Size’s niche buyer segment — tall women— allows their marketplace to continue to reach new heights.
Learn more about Tall Size:
Connect with Nicole Murphy on LinkedIn.
This episode was brought to you by Nautical Commerce — the end-to-end marketplace platform.
Introducing the inaugural season of Operation Marketplace. In this series, Niklas Halusa, Co-Founder and CEO of Nautical Commerce, speaks with the people behind marketplaces like ThredUp, Tall Size, Volition, and more. Tune in next week for the first episode.
