9 stages, from the first conversation to a business that repeats. 4 are key milestones: if you do not beat them, nothing else counts. Each stage says how to know it is done and what to do this week.
Goal: Knowing which of the two sides, those who offer or those who look, is harder to win, and starting with it.
Where to start: Talk to five people on each side and ask what would make them join. Start with the side that finds it hardest to say yes.
Goal: Having enough on offer in one area or category for anyone looking to find what they need.
Where to start: Gather the supply for one neighbourhood or one category by hand and see whether anyone looks for it.
Goal: Both sides being able to find each other in your product without you stepping in.
Where to start: Let ten people on each side use it on their own for a week and write down every time you have to help them.
Goal: Having real searches or requests on the platform, not just sign-ups.
Where to start: Bring your first customers into a single category and count how many requests they make in the first week.
Goal: Someone paying someone else through your platform.
Where to start: Walk the first ten requests through by hand until a payment goes through, and note where the others drop off.
Goal: A request getting an answer in a time the customer finds reasonable.
Where to start: Measure how long a request takes to get its first answer in your busiest area.
Goal: The same users buying or booking again without you giving them an incentive.
Where to start: Check what share of last month’s buyers have bought again, and ask those who have not what they used instead.
Goal: Charging a fee both sides accept and that covers what it costs you to win them.
Where to start: Try the fee in one small category before applying it everywhere, and check that transactions hold steady.
Goal: A second area or category taking off faster than the first.
Where to start: Open the second with what you learned in the first and compare how many weeks it takes to reach the same activity.
Inside Madrid Ventures the path becomes your day: your AI CEO turns the stage you are at into missions for each person, and every proof you get raises your FounderSeal.