Positioning for marketplaces
Position a marketplace for both sides of the market, not for a single user. Bill Gurley writes that a true marketplace needs natural pull from consumers and from suppliers, and that gathering suppliers is not enough on its own. Say what each side does today, and what they can do with you that they could not do before.
One side is not a marketplace
Gurley’s 2012 essay says a true marketplace needs natural pull on both the consumer side and the supplier side. Aggregating suppliers is necessary and not sufficient. Demand has to show up too. He also says a strong marketplace does more than list the market. It makes an experience that was not possible before. His example is OpenTable: a diner searches reservation availability across many restaurants in seconds, instead of phoning them one by one. The position is that difference, for each side.
Steps
Name the two sides
Who asks, and who fulfills. Use their words for themselves.
Write what each side does today
The phone call, the spreadsheet, the broker, the group chat.
Write the experience they could not get
One concrete thing the old way could not do.
Give each side its own line
Same marketplace. A homepage that speaks only to one side hides the other.
Say which side you are winning first
From real supply and real demand, not from the slide that hopes both arrive together.
A line for each side
| Side | What they do today | Line |
|---|---|---|
| Firm owner | Asks in a group chat and waits | See who can close the books this month, with a time they have already opened |
| Bookkeeper | Finds work by referral | Firms that need your month-end, without another intro call |
| Either, if you blend them | Neither knows if this is for them | The marketplace for modern finance |
Fictional. Acme Bench is not a client. It imagines a marketplace where small firms book bookkeepers. The rows are the kind of line each side needs. They are not a result.
FAQs
Can the homepage speak to only one side?
It can lead with the side you are winning. The other side still needs a line, or they will not recognize themselves.
Is “we have network effects” a position?
No. Gurley’s test is pull on both sides, and an experience the old way could not offer. A label does not show either.
What if we only have supply so far?
Say so in the positioning document. A page that pretends both sides are here is a claim your first customers can check.