Building a Marketplace Startup

Marketplace startups, essentially liaisons between vendors and consumers, have been shifting business models across many industries. Investors and entrepreneurs see this as a promising model - but growing and scaling a marketplace startup isn’t easy. The complex dynamic of internal marketplace economies is difficult to define and master. 

On February 26, join us and founders of some of NYC’s most successful marketplace startups at Betaworks Studios as we discuss:

• Finding your first users and building both sides of your marketplace
• Understanding network effects and how they apply to marketplaces
• Developing your marketplace product and keeping your users engaged

About the speakers

• Alpay Koralturk is the Founder of Kaiyo, an online marketplace for pre-loved furniture, dedicated to great design, exceptional customer care, and environmental sustainability. Kaiyo picks up, cleans, photographs, and delivers all products sold on the platform, offering a more streamlined, simple process for both buyer and seller.Alpay was inspired to launch Kaiyo after his seventh move in NYC motivated him to develop a better solution to buying furniture. Before Kaiyo, Alpay co-founded Gram Games, acquired by Zynga for $250M in 2018, and also worked in finance and ecommerce strategy for brands including J.P. Morgan and Moda Operandi. He lives with his wife Basak and pup Casper in NewYork.
• Arun Gupta is Co-Founder and CEO of Grailed, a peer-to-peer, curated community marketplace for men's clothing launched in early 2014. He previously founded WakeMate, which produced a personal fitness device and was part of the Y Combinator accelerator. Arun is a graduate of Yale University.
• Mariko Tokioka is Founder and CEO of EastMeetEast, North America’s largest social app for Asians. Mariko is a seasoned serial entrepreneur with a track record of building technology businesses from concept to maturity. Mariko received the Forbes Japan Women Award (most influential women in Japanese business, 2019) and is listed in 55 Women in Global Leadership (2016) by Forbes Japan. Quipper, an e-learning mobile app company that Mariko co-founded, was sold for $40m in 2015. Mariko enjoys being involved with the startup community outside of her role as a founder. She has served on the organizing committee of the Oxford Technology Network and a judge at VCIC, the international Venture Capital Investment Competition. 
• Jaden Levitt is the co-founder & COO of Pietra. Backed by a group of investors that include Andreessen Horowitz, Robert Downey Jr., Will Smith, and Michael Ovitz, Pietra is the world's largest fine jewelry marketplace. Jaden previously served as CFO for Robert Downey Jr. and founded a finance & operations services firm that supporrted >200 tech and creative-driven startups such as Glossier and Social Native.

Schedule

6:30 - 6:50: Drinks & Networking
6:50 - 7:50: Panel
7:50 - 8:15: Audience Q&A
8:15 - 9:00: More Drinks & Networking

About us

Stacklist hosts startup events in NYC to help entrepreneurs learn from successful founders & experts. Previous speakers have included the founders of Greenhouse, Movable Ink, x.ai, and Techstars. You can find all of our past events and speakers here!
If you have any questions, please email me at danny@stacklist.com. 

Our Partners

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Betaworks Studios is a new membership club for individuals looking to make a dent in the universe. Supported by innovative technology, this space is designed for connectivity within a curated community. Studios is your space to meet, scheme, get advice, collaborate, do a little bit of work, attend events, and host events. For 10 years betaworks has been working and networking—building companies, running accelerators, investing in talent—and now we've opened our doors. Find out more at betaworks-studios.com

Audio transcripts, videos and photos will be taken at the event. As an attendee, you acknowledge that such recordings, videos and photos may be used for promotional or marketing purposes.