How to Build Disruptive Multi-Million Dollar Marketplaces

Matt is the co-founder and CEO of Hired, a two-sided marketplace that matches high-quality technology talent with the right job opportunities. Previously, Matt co-founded 99Designs, the #1 marketplace for crowdsourced graphic designs. He also co-founded Flippa.com, an online marketplace for buying and selling websites, domains and apps. And if that wasn’t enough, Matt also co-founded SitePoint.com as a teenager and grew it into a profitable multi-million dollar company without any venture capital or outside funding. And in 2011, Forbes nominated Matt to the “30 under 30” list.

Key Talking Points

- How Matt started his first business at 15 years old with $70 of his allowance and grew it into a multi-million dollar business.
- How Matt and his co-founder Mark spotted the opportunity to create a new marketplace by carefully observing their users.
- What Matt and Mark did to grow 99Designs into a multi-million dollar business and how they handled the haters along the way.
- What Matt's process is for building successful marketplaces and how he's managed to do that three times.
- How Matt systematically validates new business ideas and is always prepared to walk away from a business idea or opportunity.
- What Matt and his co-founders at Hired did to overcome huge resistance from tech companies and find a breakthrough.
- How Hired is being disruptive in an industry that spends $124 billion a year in the US alone.

Success Quote

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
“To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.” – Mark Twain

How to Build Disruptive Multi-Million Dollar Marketplaces – with Matt Mickiewicz [019]