The Lean Marketplace: a Practical Guide to Building a Successful Online Marketplace Business

Inspired by the success of platforms such as Airbnb, Etsy or Fiverr? Want to know how to build an online marketplace business?

This is the book for you. In this step by step guide, we will go through everything you need to know about developing your idea into a sustainable business, offering lots of practical advice and actionable ideas along the way.

This book is the result of two experts putting almost two decades of experience together, in order to create a repeatable method for creating a successful online marketplace. The applicable tactics and techniques can be studied in advance, helping you avoid the most common pitfalls.

It's a handbook for anyone building an online marketplace. The same methods will apply whether your organization is a startup, a cooperative, a non-profit, or a big brand. Not every marketplace will be as big as Airbnb and Uber, but we believe there are thousands of marketplace ideas out there that can make for great, sustainable businesses. With the help of this book, you're one step closer to building the next one.

Critical acclaim

"Juho and Cristóbal have written a practical in-the-weeds guide on marketplace execution that will prove invaluable for all entrepreneurs looking to start a marketplace. No fluff, just actionable ideas." - Sangeet Paul Choudary, best-selling author of Platform Revolution and Platform Scale

"Building marketplaces can be hard. The Lean Marketplace is a very useful step-by-step guide to help entrepreneurs think through the challenges and solutions to create the next Uber or Airbnb." - Boris Wertz, Founder and General Partner, Version One Ventures

"Must read for every marketplace entrepreneur. I'm going to ask everyone in our team to read this book." - Bram de Zwart, Co-founder and CEO, 3D Hubs

"As I'm friends with both authors, I know first hand that the information in their book is hard won from long experience helping dozens of marketplaces succeed and consulting the top experts from around the world. However, the quality and comprehensiveness of the content speaks for itself. It covers all the essentials of growing an online marketplace, and in the most straightforward way possible. It is an impressively practical, must read resource for any current or aspiring marketplace entrepreneur. I can't recommend it highly enough, but please see for yourself." - Neal Gorenflo, Co-founder of Shareable

"The essential guide to building an essential marketplace." - Tristan Pollock, Co-founder, Storefront, Partner, 500 Startups

"Reading Juho's and Cristobal's advice online before launching our platform helped us save so much time and avoid the most common mistakes. If you're considering building a marketplace business, read this book first. Seriously." - Agne Milukaite, Co-founder and CEO, Cycle.land

"Envisioning, validating, building and growing a marketplace is no small challenge: the most important aspect to nailing this challenge down is all about avoiding losing time and energy in the myriad of wrong directions that can come up your way. This book is an essential guide, the lifeboat for the marketplace founder that faces the ocean of bootstrapping." - Simone Cicero, platform strategist and consultant, creator of Platform Design Toolkit

"I bootstrapped my marketplace business from launch to profitability in 6 months. Reading this book will help you do the same." - Mike Williams, CEO and Founder, Studiotime