Tristan Pollock is an EIR and venture partner at 500 Startups who has invested in over 1,200 startups over the past 5 years. The document discusses growing marketplaces and provides tips for Storefront, an online marketplace that connects makers to short-term retail space. Key points discussed include differentiating a marketplace through supply and demand, understanding where customers hang out both online and offline, testing marketing channels through "smoke tests" before large investments, and scaling growth through tools like virtual assistants and social media automation.

1. Tristan Pollock
500 Startups EIR &Venture Partner
@writerpollock
tristan@500.co
MARKETPLACE
GROWTH

2. ~ Most ActiveVC
~ 5Years Old
~ 1,200 Startups Invested

4. STOREFRONT IS AN ONLINE
MARKETPLACETO CONNECT
MAKERSTO SHORT-TERM
RETAIL SPACE

5. ~ 2.5YEARS OLD
~ RAISED ~$10M
~TEAM OF 20

6. OVER 1,000 STORES OPENED

7. Tristan Pollock
tristan@500.co
HOWTO GROW A MARKETPLACE?

8. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
B2C, B2B, or something else.
Who are your customers?
1

9. 1 IN 10 STORES ARE
EMPTY

10. 28 MILLIONsmall businesses and entrepreneurs in the US.
*1/6 work in the creative industry.

11. KANYE

12. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
Build lists
Write amazing emails
Mass personalized outreach
Automate, use virtual assistants
Buy it, scrape it, or build it
B2B: Sales Hacking

13. WINTER HAS
ARRIVED

14. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
Craiglist growth hack for supply
Automated posting for their users
Massive early growth
Craigslist now “ghosts” spammy/repeat posts
Need to always be innovating
B2C: Growth Hacking

15. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
How to differentiate.
Supply and Demand
2

16. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
Online directories
Forums and communities
Social networks
Conferences and events
Unique to industry
Where Do They Hangout?

17. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
Often B2C marketplaces have customers who are very
similar and use both sides of the platform (e.g.Airbnb,
DogVacay, Lyft)
B2B marketplaces are usually more different (e.g.
Storefront, Upcounsel, Kinnek)
Same Same, but Different

18. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
Use smoke (tests).
Test Everything
3

19. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
Try everything; stop/start
Use smoke tests before development resources
Find out what works
Understand unit economics (CAC, LTV)
Double (and triple) down
Tune Into Your Channels

20. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
PR
Hacking Pitches
Relationships
SEO
Long tail listings
Content
Organic (Growth) Food

21. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
Paid Acquisition
Adwords
Facebook/Pinterest/Twitter/Instagram
Referrals &Viral Sharing
Give $10, Get $10
Build a Movement
Never Stop Exploring

22. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
Take your growth from 0 to 100 (Drake wants you to).
Understand Scale
4

23. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
Upwork (Odesk) for virtual assistants*
Growbots for lead generation
Tout or Outreach for mass emailing
Socedo for Twitter automation
Rapportive for guessing emails
And on, and on…
Scaling Growth

24. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOODSo. Many. Tools.

25. See for yourself: bit.ly/saleshacking
Tristan’s sales hacking resource guide

26. MINNEAPOLIS =
ART, MUSIC, FOOD
Always Be Closing (and make good margins).
A.B.C.
5

27. @WRITERPOLLOCK +TRISTAN@500.CO