Recording of the Everything Marketplaces Group Chat #214 (6/16) with Evan Frank, who’s the Co-Founder of Fora. Fora is a marketplace that’s transforming travel by empowering independent travel advisors. They’ve raised over $75M+ in capital from top investors like Thrive Capital, Insight Partners, and Forerunner Ventures. Prior to starting Fora, Evan was the CEO of onefinestay, so he has some incredible experience building in travel.
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0:04 Intro
‍1:02 Evan's background
‍2:37 Key learnings from onefinestay
‍5:53 Starting Fora
‍10:31 Early challenges with Fora
‍14:49 The Fora brand & relationship with customers
‍18:10 How Fora is leveraging AI
‍24:53 The future of travel with AI
‍29:07 Tips for marketplace founders
‍30:11 Group Q&A on building initial supply
‍33:21 Group Q&A on building community & offline events for Fora advisors
‍35:09 Group Q&A on the role AI plays at Fora
‍37:45 Group Q&A on the Fora name & branding
‍40:52 Parting marketplace advice
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Evan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanbfrank
Fora: https://www.foratravel.com
Mike (Yoroomie) on Twitter/X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.x.com/yoroomie⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Mike (Yoroomie) on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoroomie
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You can also find this group chat in audio format as an episode on our Everything Marketplaces podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also connect with marketplace founders & leaders from our group chats in the Everything Marketplaces community.