Most people don’t even realize the problem until it’s too late
The first startup I ever built was the type of company that people in the entrepreneurial community usually describe as the “hardest type of startup.” It was a two-sided marketplace.
Two-sided marketplaces are considered the hardest types of startups because founders need to solve the “chicken or the egg” problem — as-in that old philosophical puzzle: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
In the case of a two-sided marketplace, it needs some type of supplier and some type of buyer. However, without suppliers, the marketplace won’t attract any buyers. And, without buyers, the marketplace won’t attract any suppliers. The result is an empty marketplace and a founder struggling to get initial traction.
My first startup turned me into one of those struggling founders desperately trying to get traction for a two-sided marketplace. Ultimately, the company failed miserably, and I swore I was never going to build a company like it again.
The good news is I didn’t. The bad news is my next startup was almost as difficult. It was the second-hardest type of startup, and it failed just as miserably.
