We're Thinkbox, A Marketplace Startup Studio
We're obsessed with building, working with, & investing in marketplaces
We're not your normal startup studio, agency, or venture fund. We're focused solely on building, working with, and investing in marketplaces. We're marketplace obsessed and have started marketplaces like Studiotime (acquired in 2021), worked with top marketplaces in the earlier stages to help accelerate growth, and have also invested in 25+. We've built relationship with world-class founders, teams, & leaders along the way and have brought them together with the Everything Marketplaces community that we also run.6/22/21 UPDATE: If you're wondering why there are strikethroughs, it's because we've made the decision to transition away from the startup studio model. We're now focused on building Everything Marketplaces as a community & world-class network for marketplace founders.
We're Thinkbox, A Marketplace Startup Studio
We're obsessed with building, working with, & investing in marketplaces
We're not your normal startup studio, agency, or venture fund. We're focused solely on building, working with, and investing in marketplaces & the exploring the future of marketplaces as being community-driven. We're marketplace obsessed and have started marketplaces like Studiotime (acquired in 2021), worked with top marketplaces in the earlier stages to help accelerate growth, and have also invested in 20+. We've built relationship with world-class founders, teams, & leaders along the way and have brought them together with the Everything Marketplaces community that we also run.
A brief overview
3
Marketplaces we've started acquired
$100M+
Marketplace GMV we've helped generate
20+
Marketplace investments made
Want to learn more about us, works with us, or join our community?
If you'd like to learn more about how we can help or you'd like to work with us, you reach out by sending us an email at contact@thinkbox.io. You can also join us in the Everything Marketplaces community that we run, which is a community of 750+ founders & leaders from top marketplaces like Thumbtack, Airbnb, TaskRabbit, and more. You can request to join us here.
We're Thinkbox, A Marketplace Startup Studio
We build, help build, & invest in marketplaces startups.
We're marketplace obsessed, so we built a platform & community around it.
We build, help build, & invest in marketplaces & community-driven startups.
We're not your normal startup studio, agency, or venture fund. We're focused solely on building, working with, and investing in marketplaces & community-driven startups. We're marketplace obsessed and have started a few marketplaces like Studiotime (acquired in 2021), worked with top marketplaces in the earlier stages to help accelerate them, and have also invested in 20+. We've built relationship with world-class founders, teams, & leaders along the way and have brought them together with the Everything Marketplaces community that we run.
A brief overview
3 marketplaces we've started acquired
$100M+ GMV we've helped generate
20+ marketplace investments
Want to learn more about us?
We're the team behind the Everything Marketplaces community, which is the go-to community for marketplace founders & leaders. You can request to join here.
Want to work with us?
We're the team behind the Everything Marketplaces community, which is the go-to community for marketplace founders & leaders. You can request to join here.
Want to join our community?
We're the team behind the Everything Marketplaces community, which is the go-to community for marketplace founders & leaders. You can request to join here.
About Us
Thinkbox was founded in 2016 by Mike Williams (Yoroomie) as a marketplace startup studio. Since then, we've started low & no code startups that we run such as Studiotime, Yoroomie App (acquired), and a few others.Thinkbox has raised $0 from outside investors and reinvested profits from it's first acquisition, company profits, and services revenue into 15+ startups. It now focuses all reinvestment via it's "fund" by backing no code & marketplace startups.
At A Glance
50+ Marketplaces Built
$10k-$50M Client GMV
15+ Investments Made
Meet Our Team
Mike Williams (Yoroomie) - FounderYoroomie is a serial entrepreneur that has taken two marketplaces from idea to acquisition (one funded & other bootstrapped). He is also a mentor at Founders Institute and helps mentor and advise other marketplace founders. He shares everything about building startups (using no code), running them, and investing here.
See Your Name Here - Designer, Maker, & Marketplace GeneralistLooking to join our team? We're always looking to bring on marketplace experts, low or no code makers, and others that want to be involved at the ground level of taking ideas to live marketplaces.
Want to join our team? Send us a message here.
About Us
Thinkbox was founded in 2016 by Mike Williams (Yoroomie) as a startup studio. Prior to this, Yoroomie founded Codeity, which was a hiring marketplace platform that quickly grew to being used by 500+ companies to source and hire developers before it was acquired in 2015 by Angelhack (press release).Post Codeity acquisition, Mike and the original core team stuck together and began to offer their services to other marketplace startups. Instead of building a development agency, Thinkbox not only continued to build revenue from projects, but also began to build it's own marketplace ideas using low and no code tools to quickly launch new marketplaces.One of the first ideas that was launched from Thinkbox was Studiotime, which was built in one evening (using no code), launched, and is now the largest online community of music studios in the world (in 35+ countries). It's been called the "Airbnb of music studios" and has been featured in VICE, Forbes, BBC, and other press. Thinkbox continues to operate Studiotime as a highly profitable marketplace. It still runs on low and no code tools & platforms.Shortly after Studiotime was launched, Thinkbox also built and launched Yoroomie App using low code, which was acquired in an all-cash deal within six months (in 2016). This was the first acquisition for a Thinkbox startup.Thinkbox has raised $0 from investors and has reinvested profits from it's first acquisition, profits, and project revenue into now 15+ startups (that have now raised $110M+) and is also a limited partner in two funds. It now focuses all reinvestment through it's "fund" that is now investing in no code & marketplace startups.
Our Team
Thinkbox is a small core team that is multi-disciplinary and has domain expertise working with some of the top marketplaces and even the popular no code tools & platforms. We're all former (and current) operators and have experience not only building and launching marketplaces, but running and scaling them. We are also active no code makers and are always working on our own builds, pursuing our marketplace interests.
Mike Williams (Yoroomie) - FounderYoroomie is a serial entrepreneur that has taken two marketplaces from idea to acquisition (one funded & other bootstrapped). He is also a mentor at Founders Institute and helps mentor and advise other marketplace founders. He shares everything about building startups (using no code), running them, and investing here.
Ben Collins - Technology & Low Code LeadBen was the founding CTO of Codeity, has built and scaled multiple development teams, and has also served as interim CTO for various venture backed startups before leading low code and custom development at Thinkbox.
Aure Gimon- DesignAure is one of the most sought after designers in Los Angeles and has led design for various venture backed marketplaces in the past. He also frequently runs design sprints with marketplaces, along with marketplace tools & platforms.
Want to join our team? Send us a message here.
Our Companies
We ideate, quickly build (using low & no code), launch, and scale marketplaces like Studiotime, Yoroomie App (acquired in 2016 within six months in all cash deal), and a few others.We're always working on something new and the best way to stay updated is by subscribing to our newsletter and following us on Twitter.
Studiotime
Yoroomie App (acquired)
We Build Great Marketplace Experiences
Looking to work with a team that can help you take your marketplace idea to launch using minimal time & resources? Need a trusted team that has the track record and experience doing so that you can trust?We help founders and startups design, build, and launch customized marketplaces leveraging low & no code.
Idea To LaunchLooking to take your idea to launched marketplace in days as a solo founder or team? We've built and launched 50+ marketplaces. Using our experience and process, we can help you get to a validated marketplace using minimal time and resources.
Marketplace Customization & SupportNeed a better marketplace experience after your've launched? We can redesign & customize marketplaces using no code & low code so you can have a better & more customized marketplace experience.
Sharetribe Customizations & Flex BuildsAlready have a Sharetribe marketplace but need help with customizations? We've done some of the most advanced Sharetribe customizations and can build custom pages, subscription functionality, complex booking flows, and more (here)!
Marketplace Low & No Code OptimzationRunning a marketplace but looking to optimize internal workflows, tasks, and functionality? Marketplaces can be manual but we help optimize & build automation using low & no code.
Examples Of Our Work
Studiotime
Idea To Launch, Shartribe Flex Build, Sharetribe Marketplace SupportWe're the team behind the largest online marketplace for music studios in the world. Studiotime is in 35+ countries and is frequently mentioned in top media outlets such as Forbes, BBC, Hypebeast, Fader, Complex, and more. Our team continues to operate and support Studiotime as a highly profitable marketplace that runs on Sharetribe Flex, which we've heavily customized.
Keylime
Idea To Launch, Low Code Marketplace Build, Marketplace Launch & SupportThe Keylime team came to us with the goal to transition their existing service agency to a marketplace. We helped them quickly work through & validate the marketplace concept, built and launched an initial MVP to transition their existing business & revenue, then made an industry launch. We then helped them further customize their marketplace for larger clients, along with acted as the tech team as a service for what is now an industry-leading marketplace.
Wellnessly
Idea To Launch, Sharetribe Customization, Marketplace Launch & SupportThe Wellnessly team came to us with an idea to build a marketplace for booking virtual training classes & personal training sessions. We helped them quickly work through & validate the marketplace concept, built and launched an initial MVP using Sharetribe (customized), then made an industry launch. We then helped them further customize their marketplace with a custom homepage, why page, etc.
We Build & Work With
"Thinkbox helped me take my idea as a solo-founder to live marketplace leveraging no code in days. I'm now able to focus on scaling revenue and couldn't recommend working with them more."Brett Weisberg, Founder Fitworthy
"Mike and the Thinkbox team are experts at building online marketplaces. Their work has been extremely valuable to Sharetribe and our users."Juho Makkonen, CEO Sharetribe
Ready to get started and work with us? Please reach out to us and let us know more on your project, budget, and timeline.
Our "Fund"
We're a bootstrap and profitable startup studio and we've chosen to reinvest a large part of our profits back into the no code & marketplace ecosystem.Although our focus on no code & marketplaces is new (our previous portfolio varies), we're proud to have been playing our small part in backing incredible startups since 2016, which have collectively gone on to raise over $110M.Our new focused "fund" plans to invest in 5-10 startups that are no code & marketplaces within the next 12 months.
Working on something amazing and want us to invest? Want to invest with us? Send us a message below.
Thinkbox No Code & Marketplace "Fund"
Our "fund" was initially started by our founder making angel investments via AngelList to build an initial "fund MVP".Now that we're a bootstrap and profitable startup studio (with one acquisition), we've chosen to reinvest a large part of our profits from our acquisition and projects back into the no code & marketplace ecosystem. Although our focus on no code & marketplaces is new (our portfolio has prior focuses), we're proud to play our small part in backing some other incredible startups and have invested in 15+ startups that have raised $110M (in addition to two funds we've invested in) prior. We've done this in 18 months and plan to invest in 5-10 startups that are no code & marketplaces within the next 12 months.If you'd like to invest in no code & marketplaces alongside us, you can back our AngelList syndicate here.
Brandable
Burrow
mParticle
Zeotap
ProducePay
Public Goods
Cognomotiv
Drive Motors
Gone
Krue
Rinse
Service
The Picks & Shovels Co. (acquired)
Trusted (acquired)
VetPronto (acquired)
Shrug Capital Fund Investment
Bitwise Asset Management Fund Investment
Working on something amazing and want us to invest? Send us a message below.
Our Marketplace Resources Have Moved
We're always sharing what we're working on, learning, and insights so we can help other marketplace founders.Having said that, we've moved all of our resources over to our Marketplace Founders Community.
Want to access all of our previous resources we've shared? You can still find our Sharetribe Marketplace Directory, Marketplace Resource Stash,
and more resources that are up-to-date at Everything Marketplaces.
We're Experts At Building Sharetribe Marketplaces
Looking to get started building a peer-to-peer marketplace using Sharetribe, customize your existing Sharetribe marketplace, or build a custom marketplace using Sharetribe Flex?We're the team behind the most advanced Sharetribe marketplace customizations and also the most successful Sharetribe marketplaces to date. We're here to help you!
"Mike and the Thinkbox team are experts at building online marketplaces. Their work has been extremely valuable to Sharetribe and our users."Juho Makkonen, CEO Sharetribe
Idea To LaunchLooking to launch a marketplace but don't have the budget for a custom build? We can help you go from idea to MVP, then launch in days leveraging Sharetribe's hosted platform. We can also help you launch!
Sharetribe CustomizationsAlready have a Sharetribe marketplace but need help with customizations? We've done some of the most advanced Sharetribe customizations! We can build custom pages, subscription functionality, complex booking flows, native app versions, and more!
Sharetribe Flex BuildsLooking to build a custom marketplace that has advanced requirements? We can build fully custom marketplaces using Sharetribe's new Flex platform. We were the first to build and launch a Flex marketplace!
Sharetribe Marketplace SupportNeed a team to help support your marketplace? You can count on us to be your team and we have full capabilities as operators ourselves. We've been there and can help save you time and money as you scale your marketplace!
Examples Of Our Work
Studiotime
Idea To Launch, Shartribe Flex Build & Customization, Sharetribe Marketplace SupportWe're the team behind the largest online marketplace for music studios in the world. Studiotime is in 35+ countries and is frequently mentioned in top media outlets such as Forbes, BBC, Hypebeast, Fader, Complex, and more. Our team continues to operate and support Studiotime as a highly profitable marketplace that runs on Sharetribe Flex, which we've heavily customized.
Tribe Hire
Sharetribe Customization, Sharetribe Marketplace SupportThe Tribe Hire team came to us with an existing community that was telling them they wanted a marketplace to both offer & hire other for specific services. We helped them create a custom marketplace using Sharetribe GO that included a custom homepage, why page, why sell page, custom category pages, and more. They've successfully launched their marketplace and run this in parallel with their thriving community today.
Wellnessly
Idea To Launch, Sharetribe Customization, Marketplace Launch & SupportThe Wellnessly team came to us with an idea to build a marketplace for booking virtual training classes & personal training sessions. We helped them quickly work through & validate the marketplace concept, built and launched an initial MVP using Sharetribe (customized), then made an industry launch. We then helped them further customize their marketplace with a custom homepage, why page, etc.
The Quiver
Sharetribe Customization, Sharetribe Marketplace SupportThe Quiver team came to us with the task of leveraging Sharetribe's hosted platform while still customizing it for their marketplace needs, along with having the best user experience possible. We rebuilt their marketplace with an entirely new & improved look and feel within weeks. We then leveraged our marketplace expertise to help them have a successful relaunch to what is now the most trusted marketplace for surfboard rentals in 20+ countries!
Roamer
Idea To Launch, Sharetribe Customization, Sharetribe Marketplace SupportThe Roamer team came to us with a napkin idea for a student housing marketplace and we helped them with go from concept to live MVP in 30 days. We leveraged our marketplace expertise to help Roamer also have a successful launch and achieve market liquidity to validate their business concept.
"Thinkbox helped me take my idea as a solo-founder to live marketplace leveraging no code in days. I'm now able to focus on scaling revenue and couldn't recommend working with them more."Brett Weisberg, Founder Fitworthy
"The team is hands down invaluable and helped us take our idea to validated startup. They also expedited our learning curve as a marketplace startup."Alexander Galicki, Co-Founder Roamer
"Mike and the Thinkbox team are experts at building online marketplaces. Their work has been extremely valuable to Sharetribe and our users."Juho Makkonen, CEO Sharetribe
FAQ
Why Thinkbox?It's simple! We have the most experience working with Sharetribe, have built the most successful Sharetribe marketplace to date, and are also operators ourselves. We're more then just developers building a feature for you. We bring the additional value of our experience and insights that will help your marketplace succeed. We've helped 100+ founders and startups take their idea to live marketplace with Sharetribe.
Who will I be working with?You'll be interfacing directly with our founder as the project lead, in addition to our core design and development team as needed for your project. Our team is all based in Los Angeles, CA and we do not offshore our work. You'll have the peace of mind by working with a team that has a proven track record, are marketplace experts, and come highly recommended by the Sharetribe team.
What's the deal with Thinkbox and Sharetribe?We were one of the first and now largest marketplaces to run on Sharetribe. Since then we have helped 100+ people build their marketplace using Sharetribe. We are also the team behind the most advanced Sharetribe customizations. We also have a close relationship with the Sharetribe team and consider them a software partner.
What services do you offer?We are full-service and can help with everything from initial napkin idea to MVP, customizations, to even post-launch support. You can think of us as your team as a service. We list all of our Sharetribe service offerings here.
How can we work together and what are your rates?To keep things simple, we work on a project basis and cash compensation for all of our projects. We don't take equity and recommend projects have an initial budget of at least $5-10K to get started.
How can we get started?It's very easy and you can contact us here. Please let us know your needs, budget, and timeline that you're looking to get started. We'll get right back to you and get everything out of the way such as project proposal, timeline, deposit, and everything else so we can have a project start date confirmed.
Ready to get started and work with us? Please reach out to us and let us know more on your project, budget, and timeline.
Marketplace Resource Stash
We've curated some of our favorite and most helpful marketplace resources we've found and are sharing them with you. You'll find posts and essays from marketplace experts like Andrew Chen (Andreessen Horowitz), founders like Jonathan Swanson (Thumbtack), Brian Chesky (Airbnb), and more from some of the most successful marketplace teams. We've even added videos!
Subscribe to our dedicated marketplace newsletter for marketplace insights, tips, what we're learning as we run Studiotime, and more.
Idea Stage Resources
✍How to come up with a great marketplace ideaWhat you need to know before starting your marketplaceFour Things Every On-Demand Company Needs To NailWant to suggest an article or video for us to add here? Tweet at us @Thinkboxmakes and let us know!
Subscribe to our dedicated marketplace newsletter for marketplace insights, tips, what we're learning as we run Studiotime, and more.
Pre-Validating Marketplace Resources
✍How to validate your marketplace idea before building the platformRead This Before You Build Uber For XWant to suggest an article or video for us to add here? Tweet at us @Thinkboxmakes and let us know!
Subscribe to our dedicated marketplace newsletter for marketplace insights, tips, what we're learning as we run Studiotime, and more.
Building A Marketplace MVP Resources
✍Building A Marketplace MVP Without Coding GuideHow To Build A Minimum Viable MarketplaceHow I Built The Airbnb Of Music Studios In A Single Evening🎥How I Built & Launched The Airbnb For Music Studios In An Evening (part 1)How I Scaled An MVP To The Largest Marketplace & The Tools Used (part 2)How To Build A Marketplace Without Coding TutorialsWant to suggest an article or video for us to add here? Tweet at us @Thinkboxmakes and let us know!
Subscribe to our dedicated marketplace newsletter for marketplace insights, tips, what we're learning as we run Studiotime, and more.
Launching A Marketplace Resources
✍Marketplace Scaled To Thousands Of Users In Hours🎥How I built & launched the Airbnb for music studios in an evening3 Tips For Launching A MarketplaceWant to suggest an article or video for us to add here? Tweet at us @Thinkboxmakes and let us know!
Subscribe to our dedicated marketplace newsletter for marketplace insights, tips, what we're learning as we run Studiotime, and more.
Building Marketplace Supply & Demand Resources
✍Liquidity hacking: How to build a two-sided marketplaceHow the 100 largest marketplaces solved the chicken and egg problemLessons Learned Scaling Airbnb 100X (lessons on bootstrapping liquidity)Marketplace Liquidity (TechCrunch overview article)8 strategic hacks for building marketplace liquidityHow Modern Marketplaces Like Uber and Airbnb Build Trust to Achieve Liquidity🎥Interview: Building A Marketplace - What Your Mother Never Told YouWant to suggest an article or video for us to add here? Tweet at us @Thinkboxmakes and let us know!
Subscribe to our dedicated marketplace newsletter for marketplace insights, tips, what we're learning as we run Studiotime, and more.
Scaling Marketplaces Resources
✍Lessons Learned Scaling Airbnb 100XUber's virtuous growth cycleAll about Network Effects🎥Blitzscaling 18: Brian Chesky On Launching Airbnb And The Challenges Of ScaleAirbnb's Joe Gebbia: "Do Things That Don't SaleScaling Growth With Gustaf Alstromer, YC Partner (formerly Airbnb) & Ed Baker (formerly Uber)Mosaic Ventures: Building And Scaling Marketplaces With Reid HoffmanWant to suggest an article or video for us to add here? Tweet at us @Thinkboxmakes and let us know!
Subscribe to our dedicated marketplace newsletter for marketplace insights, tips, what we're learning as we run Studiotime, and more.
Other Marketplace Resources
✍Four Questions Every Marketplace Startup Should Be Able to AnswerMapping the B2B European Marketplace EcosystemWhy Platforms might want to welcome regulatorsNot All Marketplace are Created Equal: Tales of a marketplace FounderWhy "Uber for x" startups failed: the supply side is kingWhat’s Next for Marketplace Startups?Will Blockchain(s) Eat The Marketplace Stack?🎥2017 Platform Strategy Summit VideosWhat's Next For Marketplace StartupsWant to suggest an article or video for us to add here? Tweet at us @Thinkboxmakes and let us know!
Subscribe to our dedicated marketplace newsletter for marketplace insights, tips, what we're learning as we run Studiotime, and more.
Marketplace Tools
Sharetribe -Marketplace platform. Easily build an Airbnb, Etsy, and more similar types of marketplaces.Eventgrid - Create your own events marketplace. Eventgrid is a complete white label API driven event ticketing platform.Stripe Connect - Payments platform for marketplaces.Spreedly - Connect once to a complete, cloud-based infrastructure for payments applications.Chargebee - Easily manage susbscriptions, invoicing, and more for marketplaces.Payable - Everything you need to pay contractors for your marketplace and ensure that you are 1099 compliant.Peerkey - Easily add user identity, trust, and reputation to your marketplace without any technical integration needed.Stripe Radar for Fraud Teams - A more powerful toolkit for marketplace teams to control fraud and protect their business.Jumio - Trusted ID and identity verification as a service. Products such as AI selfie recognition and ID matching is used by Airbnb and other top marketplaces.NoFraud - Accept credit cards without the worry of fraud chargebacks. Eliminate the need to manually review transactions for fraud – NoFraud delivers a yes/no response using the latest fraud prevention technology.Blockscore - ID verification API for user identity. Used by KitSplit.Sift Science - Fraud and chargeback prevention software. Used by KitSplit, Airbnb, Shutterstock, Cabify, and more marketplaces.TalkJS - Messaging for marketplaces. Add buyer-seller chat to your online marketplace or platform.Timekit - A booking API that can be added to your website allow for booking experiences, scheduling, and more.Forest - A highly customizable admin interface for your marketplace.Want to suggest a marketplace tool for us to add here? Tweet at us @Thinkboxmakes and let us know!
Subscribe to our dedicated marketplace newsletter for marketplace insights, tips, what we're learning as we run Studiotime, and more.
Marketplace Business Model Resources
✍Anatomy of a Managed MarketplaceThe Evolution of Managed Marketplaces10 Marketplace Monetization StrategiesFour Strategies To Win Big With Low Frequency MarketplacesFinding the Next Billion Dollar Marketplace: 6 Questions to Ask Yourself10 Marketplace KPIs That MatterSaaS Based Marketplaces16 Ways to Measure Network EffectsThe Marketplace Funding Napkin 2018The Next 10 Years Will Be About "Market Networks"🎥Marketplace Business Models by a16z "What You Don't Know About Your Marketplace Type" by James Currier, NFX Guild
Want to suggest an article or video for us to add here? Tweet at us @Thinkboxmakes and let us know!
Subscribe to our dedicated marketplace newsletter for marketplace insights, tips, what we're learning as we run Studiotime, and more.
Marketplace Resources Stash
We've curated some of our favorite and most helpful marketplace resources we've found and are sharing them with you. You'll find posts and essays from marketplace experts like Andrew Chen (Andreessen Horowitz), founders like Jonathan Swanson (Thumbtack), Brian Chesky (Airbnb) and learnings the teams that have scaled companies such as Airbnb, Uber, and more. We even added videos!
Pre-Validating Marketplace Resources
✍How to validate your marketplace idea before building the platformRead This Before You Build Uber For X
Building A Marketplace MVP Resources
✍Building A Marketplace MVP Without Coding GuideHow To Build A Minimum Viable MarketplaceHow I Built The Airbnb Of Music Studios In A Single Evening🎥How I Built & Launched The Airbnb For Music Studios In An Evening (part 1)How I Scaled An MVP To The Largest Marketplace & The Tools Used (part 2)How To Build A Marketplace Without Coding Tutorials
Building Marketplace Supply & Demand Resources
✍Liquidity hacking: How to build a two-sided marketplaceHow the 100 largest marketplaces solved the chicken and egg problemLessons Learned Scaling Airbnb 100X (lessons on bootstrapping liquidity)Marketplace Liquidity (TechCrunch overview article)8 strategic hacks for building marketplace liquidityHow Modern Marketplaces Like Uber and Airbnb Build Trust to Achieve Liquidity🎥Interview: Building A Marketplace - What Your Mother Never Told You
Marketplace Business Model Resources
✍Anatomy of a Managed MarketplaceThe Evolution of Managed Marketplaces10 Marketplace Monetization StrategiesFour Strategies To Win Big With Low Frequency MarketplacesFinding the Next Billion Dollar Marketplace: 6 Questions to Ask Yourself10 Marketplace KPIs That MatterSaaS Based Marketplaces16 Ways to Measure Network EffectsThe Marketplace Funding Napkin 2018The Next 10 Years Will Be About "Market Networks"🎥Marketplace Business Models by a16z "What You Don't Know About Your Marketplace Type" by James Currier, NFX Guild
Scaling Marketplaces Resources
✍Lessons Learned Scaling Airbnb 100XUber's virtuous growth cycleAll about Network Effects🎥Blitzscaling 18: Brian Chesky On Launching Airbnb And The Challenges Of ScaleAirbnb's Joe Gebbia: "Do Things That Don't SaleScaling Growth With Gustaf Alstromer, YC Partner (formerly Airbnb) & Ed Baker (formerly Uber)Mosaic Ventures: Building And Scaling Marketplaces With Reid Hoffman
Other Marketplace Resources
✍Four Questions Every Marketplace Startup Should Be Able to AnswerMapping the B2B European Marketplace EcosystemWhy Platforms might want to welcome regulatorsNot All Marketplace are Created Equal: Tales of a marketplace FounderWhy "Uber for x" startups failed: the supply side is kingWhat’s Next for Marketplace Startups?Will Blockchain(s) Eat The Marketplace Stack?🎥2017 Platform Strategy Summit VideosWhat's Next For Marketplace Startups
Marketplace Tools
Sharetribe -Marketplace platform. Easily build an Airbnb, Etsy, and more similar types of marketplaces.Eventgrid - Create your own events marketplace. Eventgrid is a complete white label API driven event ticketing platform.Stripe Connect - Payments platform for marketplaces.Spreedly - Connect once to a complete, cloud-based infrastructure for payments applications.Chargebee - Easily manage susbscriptions, invoicing, and more for marketplaces.Payable - Everything you need to pay contractors for your marketplace and ensure that you are 1099 compliant.Peerkey - Easily add user identity, trust, and reputation to your marketplace without any technical integration needed.Stripe Radar for Fraud Teams - A more powerful toolkit for marketplace teams to control fraud and protect their business.Jumio - Trusted ID and identity verification as a service. Products such as AI selfie recognition and ID matching is used by Airbnb and other top marketplaces.NoFraud - Accept credit cards without the worry of fraud chargebacks. Eliminate the need to manually review transactions for fraud – NoFraud delivers a yes/no response using the latest fraud prevention technology.Blockscore - ID verification API for user identity. Used by KitSplit.Sift Science - Fraud and chargeback prevention software. Used by KitSplit, Airbnb, Shutterstock, Cabify, and more marketplaces.TalkJS - Messaging for marketplaces. Add buyer-seller chat to your online marketplace or platform.Timekit - A booking API that can be added to your website allow for booking experiences, scheduling, and more.Forest - A highly customizable admin interface for your marketplace.Want to suggest articles, videos, or tools for us to add to our resource stash above? Tweet at us @Thinkboxmakes and let us know!
Subscribe to our dedicated marketplace newsletter for marketplace insights, tips, what we're learning as we run Studiotime, and more.
Marketplace Pitch Deck Examples
We've made a collection of real pitch decks that marketplace startups have used to collectively raise $800M+ 💸
Airbnb Seed Pitch Deck (2008)
Raised $600k in 2009 from Sequoia Capital
Uber Seed Pitch Deck
Raised $1.2M in 2010 from First Round Capital, Founder Collective, and Lowercase Capital
Yoroomie App Seed Pitch Deck
Acquired in 2017
Twine Seed Pitch Deck
Raised $1M+ in 2017 from Seedcamp and AXM Venture Capital
Ooomf (Crew) Seed Deck
Raised $2M in 2012 from BDC Venture Capital and Real Ventures“Moving our traction slide from the middle of our presentation to the beginning, made a huge impact for our story. We started speaking with new investors and it proved to be something that stood out. The first few times we presented this story, we received multiple invitations for follow up meetings. We could feel the emotional difference in this version of our presentation compared to the first version. We shared our story with fifty investors over the next three months, closing a $2 million dollar investment round.” -Mikael Cho, CEO Crew
Crew Series A Deck
Raised $10M in 2015 from Atlas Venture, LaunchCapital, iNovia Capital, BOLDstart Ventures, Real Ventures, AngelList, LDV Capital, Launch Capital, BDC Capital Corporation, Accomplice Venture Capital
Vettery Series A Pitch Deck
Raised $9M in 2016 from Greycroft Partners and Raine Ventures
Shift Series A Pitch Deck
Raised $23.8M in 2014 from DFJ, SV Angel, Highland Capital Partners, and Great Oaks Venture Partners
Why create a collection of marketplace pitch decks?We're obsessed with marketplaces and love working with and helping out other marketplace startups. We wanted to share pitch decks with other founders to help them learn how successful marketplaces have raised funding in the past, their marketplace insights, metrics, revenue, and more.How can I add my marketplace pitch deck to this?Tweet at us (we're @Thinkboxmakes) and can we can add it here for you. All we need is a SlideShare link to do so!How can I learn more on how to build, launch, and scale a successful marketplace?Our founder has shared quite a bit about this with these YouTube tutorials. You can also see written guides (as also featured in Hacker Noon and freeCodeCamp here). These are all free resources that we're sharing to help others. We of course offer services if you have a budget and would like to work with us.
Subscribe to our dedicated marketplace newsletter for marketplace insights, tips, what we're learning as we run Studiotime, and more.