EM Group Chat #096: Building & Scaling Whatnot With Grant LaFontaine

Recording of the Everything Marketplaces Group Chat #096 (4/26) with Grant LaFontaine, who’s the Co-founder & CEO of Whatnot. Whatnot is a marketplace that's redefining how people are buying & selling collectibles. They've been mentioned as the fastest growing US based marketplace and have raised over $225M+ from top investors like Y Combinator, a16z, CapitalG, and more. Grant was also previously the Co-founder of Kit.com (acquired by Patreon). 0:05 Intro 1:20 Grant's background 2:30 Key learnings from Kit.com 9:10 The first steps for starting Whatnot as a marketplace 13:39 An overview of Whatnot as a marketplace for buying & selling collectibles 15:00 How Whatnot started with one niche category & expanded 18:56 How Whatnot founder product market fit before expanding 21:31 How Whatnot initially solved the cold start problem & jumpstarted growth 25:54 Tips for early stage marketplace founders 26:56 Group Q&A on how Whatnot cross-posted listings 31:57 Group Q&A on fundraising journey from initial friends & family checks to raising $225M+ 36:04 Group Q&A on how Whatnot expanded categories & at what stage 43:17 Group Q&A on the stage Whatnot hired a head of growth 45:18 Group Q&A on being the CEO of the fastest growing marketplace 51:13 Group Q&A on how timing has played a part of the success with Whatnot Grant on Twitter:   / grantlafontaine   Whatnot: https://www.whatnot.com Join other marketplace founders & all of our group chats: https://www.everythingmarketplaces.com