Incubate your early customers (and start with the suppliers). A startup’s initial customers help it enormously, and their relationship with the company is extremely fragile. One slip, and customers vanish. If they stay, as happened with Uber, Airbnb, and Etsy, they will help you attract more users, creating a powerful and indirect network effect as an engine for growth. If you are launching a two-sided marketplace, focus on acquiring supply-side customers before going after the demand side.
