Creating Supply and Demand: How to Build and Scale Successful Marketplaces
Women in Product Panel
Last night, Women In Product and Trulia brought together marketplace product leaders for a conversation about how to build and scale successful marketplaces.
The panel of marketplace experts included Abhay Sukumaran, Director of Product Management at DoorDash; Ashita Achuthan, CEO/co-founder at Tonga; Yardley Ip, General Manager of Trulia Rentals at Zillow Group; Maya Choksi Eichler, Senior Product Manager at Uber; and Yue Zhao, Group Product Manager at Thumbtack.
A vibrant marketplace is a gift that keeps on giving. A platform creates the space where suppliers can provide services or goods, while consumers can find what they want. If everyone is happy, then the marketplace will grow, enabling the platform to be profitable. It is a win-win for suppliers, consumers and the platform, but building a vibrant marketplace is no easy task.
Companies are often challenged with creating traction with suppliers and consumers, figuring out priorities between supply and demand, and how to scale the platform as a business. Additionally, many companies often fail because they are focused on the wrong metrics at the wrong time.
Based on a wide range of experiences, the panel was able to cover a lot of ground: from how to prioritize between focusing on the supply vs. demand side to understanding what the right metrics and goals are when building a marketplace. For those who couldn’t make it or want a recap, here are a few key highlights from the conversation:
The chicken and egg problem: where do you focus first for the building process of the marketplace?
- “I have a slight preference for seeding the supply side of the marketplace first. Usually that is the hardest thing to do, and a good place to get started.” — Ashita Achuthan, CEO/co-founder at Tonga
- “Usually when creating a new product you think about how is this going to affect each side of the marketplace, but a big challenge is thinking about the human component that isn’t always economically rational.” — Maya Choksi Eichler, Senior Product Manager at Uber
- “Pick whichever side is harder so that you can build something that is pretty interesting and defensible.” — Abhay Sukumaran, Director of Product Management at DoorDash
How do you build a successful marketplace?
- “How do we instill trust in consumers so that they can make the leap to purchase? We talked a lot about buyer protection programs, ratings and reviews. I was naive in thinking that if we have inventory, people will come. Yeah, people will come, but they need to take that action though. That is the key.” — Yardley Ip, General Manager of Trulia Rentals at Zillow Group
- “Fake it until you make it. Fake the demand until you have the demand, and fake the supply until you have the supply. Find very creative ways to do that so that you attract real supply and demand to the platform.” — Yue Zhao, Group Product Manager at Thumbtack
How do you scale the organization to focus on both supply and demand?
- “Start locally and develop a playbook that you can then replicate.” — Abhay Sukumaran, Director of Product Management at DoorDash
- “Look for the most concentrated suppliers that you have that will bring supply to your audience quickly, and then you can figure out how to get more fragmented players down the road. Early on, focus on seeding the right supply and getting the feedback from those suppliers and then evolving the marketplace from there.” — Yardley Ip, General Manager of Trulia Rentals at Zillow Group
What were some surprising challenges and learnings along the way?
- “Understanding how you build a business that has three sides to the marketplace, the drivers side, restaurant side, and consumer side. With marketplaces, sometimes the product is a lot larger than just an application, website, or software, and the value that we deliver depends a lot on the operational side of the business so that has been the biggest learning surprise for me.” — Abhay Sukumaran, Director of Product Management at DoorDash
- “Branding for marketplaces. Finding a common thread or theme that applies to all sides of the marketplace was a surprising challenge.” — Yue Zhao, Group Product Manager at Thumbtack
- “My biggest takeaway is to execute fast, iterate, and learn.” — Yardley Ip, General Manager of Trulia Rentals at Zillow Group
- Be deliberate about establishing a system with both a carrot and stick to ensure quality, especially in transactional environments. Hold product builders accountable for quality but also empower consumers to report poor quality.
This event was organized by Women In Product and Trulia. Women In Product is a highly-engaged community of women builders and leaders. Join our community or sign up for our newsletter for monthly events, networking opportunities, and much more! Please check out Women in Product website for a list of upcoming events. Trulia is a vibrant home shopping marketplace, focused on giving homebuyers, sellers and renters the info they need to make better decisions.
