"Some of the best marketplaces grow through demand-driving-supply loops, not supply-first"
Evidence from the Archive
Eventbrite, Pinterest
Airbnb: guests who become hosts after experiencing the platform as travelers
Eventbrite: attendees becoming event creators, systematically amplified by the growth team
As Eventbrite's first head of growth, he identified and amplified the demand-driving-supply loop that powered the company's growth, and later shaped growth strategy at Pinterest -- making him one of the few operators who has proven this counter-narrative to supply-first with real marketplace results. Their core argument: Some of the best marketplaces grow through demand-driving-supply loops, not supply-first.
The evidence is specific: Eventbrite: attendees becoming event creators, systematically amplified by the growth team. Furthermore, airbnb: guests who become hosts after experiencing the platform as travelers. Etsy: buyers who become sellers after seeing the marketplace from the consumer side.
In Casey Winters's own words: "After I joined as Eventbrite's first head of growth, our initial growth team chose to prioritize this as our top area for experimentation. Given our existing attendee-to-creator conversion, we hypothesized that we could materially increase this rate of conversion." (On the demand-driving-supply growth loop at Eventbrite.)