All articles by Juho Makkonen

Marketing & growth

What to do if your marketplace business slows down

Five recommendations to consider for your marketplace during times of slower business. Some can help you make it through these difficult times, others prepare your business for better ones ahead.

Platform technology

Part 2 – What are the key features of marketplace payment solutions?

There are a number of specific payment features marketplaces need from a payment service provider. This article compares the key features from four prominent PSPs: PayPal, Stripe, Adyen, and MANGOPAY.

Platform technology

Marketplace payments – Costs, integration, and more things to consider

When you are choosing a payment service provider, payment costs, ease of integration, and quality of customer service are important things to consider. In this article, we discuss how PayPal, Stripe, Adyen, and MANGOPAY compare in these aspects.

Platform technology

Marketplace payments – Compare payment providers

What are the best payment service providers for online marketplaces? In this article, we identify the most relevant PSPs for online marketplaces.

Marketing & growth

Growing with content - An interview with Simon Powell

The founder of TransferTravel reveals how creating content helped them build supply and awareness about their marketplace, up to 30,000 visitors per month, without spending anything on ads.

Marketing & growth

"Network effects are key to successful marketplaces," says James Currier

The managing partner of NFX Guild believes a new class of businesses—ones that combine aspects from marketplaces and social networks—is being created.

Business Model

Why marketplace trust is key for BlaBlaCar – An interview with Vincent Rosso

The co-founder of Blablacar discusses what B2B marketplaces can learn from P2P marketplaces, and specifically, marketplace trust as a facilitator for transactions.

Starting a marketplace

Why did Thumbtack succeed?

Starting your marketplace with one city and one vertical is key. But for every rule, there's an exception.

Business Model

Focus your marketplace on one city and one vertical

Tackle the chicken-or-egg problem with an extreme focus.

Starting a marketplace

Five must-read books for marketplace entrepreneurs

Our CEO Juho picked the five books he strongly recommends to all marketplace entrepreneurs.

Platform technology

How to design the booking flow of your service marketplace

How ten well-known marketplaces match supply and demand, and how to pick the right approach for you.

Marketing & growth

From bootstrapping a marketplace to $1M in funding

Arash Shiva and Marius Ciocirlan of Sharegrid reveal how they went from bootstrapping to $1M in funding, using Sharetribe.

Starting a marketplace

Discover latent demand – An interview with Boris Wertz

Boris Wertz, the prolific marketplace investor and former COO of AbeBooks, believes there are still many untapped verticals that are ripe for disruption by new marketplace businesses.

Starting a marketplace

From marketplace idea to profitability in a matter of months

An interview with the founders of Cycle.land, the Sharetribe-powered bike-sharing marketplace that raised more than £400,000 in equity crowdfunding.

Marketing & growth

Do one thing well – An interview with Mike Williams

The founder of Studiotime shares how he built a profitable marketplace business by bootstrapping.

Marketing & growth

Conquer one city at a time – An interview with Tristan Pollock

The founder of Storefront advises entrepreneurs to build manual-first marketplaces and to not scale too rapidly.

Starting a marketplace

How much does it cost to build a marketplace business?

Example of a first year’s marketplace startup budget, and how to spend it wisely.

Marketing & growth

How to find the best marketplace growth strategies

Choosing the early-stage marketing mix for your marketplace.

Business Model

How to build your marketplace supply

How to bring in the first, quality providers before your platform has any customers.

Platform technology

How to design your marketplace transaction flow

The science behind minimal abandoned carts for marketplace platforms.

Platform technology

The marketplace search engine: How to help your customers find what they’re looking for

Your success depends on demand finding its way to supply. Here’s how to make it happen.

Business Model

Marketplace pricing: How to define your ideal take rate

Find a pricing strategy that is just right for everyone: you, your providers, and their customers.

Business Model

Managing marketplace leakage – How to discourage people from going around your payment system

How to solve the most daunting challenge of the marketplace business model: platform leakage.

Starting a marketplace

Business Model

How to choose the right marketplace business model

Compare marketplace revenue models & find the revenue strategy that can boost your growth.

Starting a marketplace

Why you should launch your marketplace early

‘Time is money’, and other teachings to inspire you to take the plunge and launch your marketplace as soon as you can.

Starting a marketplace

Three reasons why marketplaces fail (and how not to)

Peer-to-peer marketplaces can be great businesses. They combine the convenience of online stores with scale that comes from the notion that every consumer can also be a provider.