Developing a growth model + marketplace growth strategy | Dan Hockenmaier (Faire, Thumbtack, Reforge)
Dan Hockenmaier is an expert on marketplace strategy and growth. He was previously the Director of Growth at Thumbtack as well as a partner at Reforge, where he co-created the monetization track. Currently, he is the Head of Strategy and Analytics at Faire. In today’s episode, Dan shares the building blocks of a growth model, important considerations when building your growth model, and how to get started. We also chat about retention best practices, the complexity of building a marketplace, the future of marketplaces, and when it makes sense to add a SaaS business to a marketplace, and vice versa. Listen now on Apple, Spotify, Google, Overcast, and YouTube. — Where to find Dan Hockenmaier: • Twitter: https://twitter.com/danhockenmaier • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-hock/ • Website: https://www.danhock.com/ — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ — Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible: • Amplitude: https://amplitude.com/ • Flatfile: https://www.flatfile.com/lenny • Eppo: https://www.geteppo.com/ — Referenced: • Reforge: https://www.reforge.com/ • Casey Winters on Lenny’s Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-sell-your-ideas-and-rise-within-your-company • Faire: https://www.faire.com/ • Dan’s blog post on the future of marketplaces: https://www.danhock.com/posts/the-future-of-marketplaces • Careers at Faire: https://www.faire.com/careers — In this episode, we cover: (00:43) Dan’s background (04:01) What is a growth model? (07:20) The building blocks of a growth model for your own business (10:22) The value in building your own model (11:12) The importance of retention over growth (14:49) Getting started building your model (19:18) The growth model at Thumbtack (20:36) The importance of the early user experience for retention (25:02) Why is a marketplace a good business? (28:23) Health metrics for marketplaces (33:47) Supply and demand, and why you shouldn’t neglect demand (36:23) The role of ROI equations and how to use them (39:16) Why you should tread lightly when working with marketplaces (42:43) Expanding marketplaces (46:50) How marketplaces can add a SaaS offering, and why adding a marketplace to a SaaS business is trickier (49:47) When is there an opportunity to unbundle? (54:43) B2B marketplaces (56:36) What is fragmentation? (58:46) The future of marketplaces — Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. You’re a free subscriber to Lenny's Newsletter. For the full experience, become a paid subscriber. |
Older messages
Using behavioral science to improve your product | Kristen Berman (Irrational Labs)
Sunday, October 2, 2022
Listen now (56 min) | Kristen Berman is the CEO and co-founder of Irrational Labs, where she helps companies like Google, Airbnb, PayPal, Microsoft, and LinkedIn improve their products and services
Customer-led growth | Georgiana Laudi (Forget The Funnel)
Thursday, September 29, 2022
Listen now (67 min) | Georgiana Laudi is the co-founder and CEO of a consulting agency called Forget The Funnel, where she helps SaaS companies scale and improve conversion rates through customer-led
How to get your marketing team to drive more impact
Tuesday, September 27, 2022
GACCS: A framework for aligning your marketing, product, and sales teams
Growth tactics, retention strategies, and becoming a better writer | Julian Shapiro (Demand Curve, Hyper, Webflow,…
Sunday, September 25, 2022
Listen now (59 min) | Julian Shapiro is widely known as the founder of Demand Curve, where he's helped thousands of companies figure out their growth strategy. He also wrote the growth marketing
How to get better at influence
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
What Frodo Baggins from Lord of the Rings can teach us about influence
You Might Also Like
Enter: A new unicorn
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
+ French AI startup investment doubles; Klarna partners with Stripe; Bavaria overtakes Berlin View in browser Leonard_Flagship Good morning there, France is strengthening its position as one of the
Meta just flipped the switch that prevents misinformation from spreading in the United States
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
The company built effective systems to reduce the reach of fake news. Last week, it shut them down Platformer Platformer Meta just flipped the switch that prevents misinformation from spreading in the
Ok... we're now REALLY live Friend !
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Join Jackie Damelian to learn how to validate your product and make your first sales. Hi Friend , Apologies, we experienced some technical difficulties but now We're LIVE for Day 3 of the Make Your
Building GTM for AI : Office Hours with Maggie Hott
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Tomasz Tunguz Venture Capitalist If you were forwarded this newsletter, and you'd like to receive it in the future, subscribe here. Building GTM for AI : Office Hours with Maggie Hott On
ICYMI: Musk's TikTok, AI's future, films for founders
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
A recap of the last week ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
🚨 [LIVE IN 1 HOUR] Day 3 of the Challenge with Jackie Damelian
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Join Jackie Damelian to learn how to validate your product and make your first sales. Hi Friend , Day 3 of the Make Your First Shopify Sale 5-Day Challenge is just ONE HOUR away! ⌛ Here's the link
The Broken Ladder & The Missing Manager 🪜
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
And rolling through work on a coaster͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
[CEI] Chrome Extension Ideas #173
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
ideas for ChatGPT, Claude, YouTube, and Shopping ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
She sold her agency *after* closing it
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
This founder closed her business, *then* realized it had value for buyers ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
📂 Want to ship product updates faster?
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Forget traditional product QA ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏