Recording of the Everything Marketplaces Group Chat #219 (9/29) with John Koelliker, who’s the Co-founder & CEO of Leland. Leland is a leading career platform that helps individuals & teams build AI skills to achieve their career & education goals. Leland has raised over $20M in capital from top investors like Forerunner Ventures, FJ Labs, and Marketplace Capital.

0:04 Intro
‍0:58 John's background
‍2:28 The founding story & first steps for starting Leland
‍4:29 How Leland solved the cold start problem
‍6:15 How Leland has evolved & scaled
‍9:47 How Leland launched a B2B offering
‍12:01 How Leland is leveraging AI
‍15:03 Examples for how Leland is leveraging AI
‍18:02 Where AI is having the biggest impact
‍19:14 The future of Leland in the age of AI
‍21:50 The pace of building with AI
‍24:01 How Leland raised $20M+ from top investors
‍26:50 Tips for marketplace founders
‍28:40 Group Q&A on metrics for raising a Series A
‍31:37 Group Q&A on personal AI agents
‍34:26 Group Q&A on vetting coaches & preventing disintermediation
‍38:22 Group Q&A on customer intent for Leland
‍41:02 Group Q&A on network effects for Leland
‍42:34 Group Q&A on the role community plays for Leland
‍44:07 Parting marketplace advice
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John on X: htps://www.x.com/johnkoelliker
John on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-koelliker
Leland: https://www.joinleland.com
Mike (Yoroomie) on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.x.com/yoroomie⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Mike (Yoroomie) on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoroomie
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This group chat is also an episode on the Everything Marketplaces podcast, available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also connect with marketplace founders & leaders from our group chats in the Everything Marketplaces community.