Recording of the Everything Marketplaces Group Chat #195 (7/22) with Jason Meltzer. Jason was previously the Co-founder & CEO of Wag, which is a marketplace for on-demand dog walking, sitting, and related pet care services. Wag has notably raised over $300M+ in venture capital and scaled to become one of the largest pet care marketplaces. Jason has also more recently started Live Work Pet, which is a rental marketplace specifically catered to pet families.

‍0:05 Intro
‍1:08 Jason's background
‍3:59 How Wag solved the cold start problem
‍7:10 How Wag built initial supply
‍9:27 How Wag built trust with customers
‍11:19 How Wag launched new markets
‍13:06 The new market launch & expansion playbook for Wag
‍15:28 How Wag evolved & scaled
‍17:34 Marketplace disintermediation
‍20:43 How Wag raised $300M from SoftBank
‍21:57 Competing with other startups in the pet care space
‍24:53 Jason's key learnings from Wag
‍26:38 Starting Live Work Pet
‍28:08 Tips for early stage founders
‍30:13 Group Q&A on marketplace trust & safety
‍32:11 Group Q&A on how Wag standardized their marketplace experience
‍34:16 Group Q&A on challenges with local service marketplaces
‍37:07 Group Q&A on team building & hiring
‍39:01 Parting marketplace advice
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Jason on Twitter/X: https://www.x.com/MeltzerJason
Jason on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasondmeltzer
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.