15 Companies with Marketplace Business Model
Learn from founders and CEOs who have built successful businesses using a Marketplace business model

Chris Best
Co-founder & CEO
In this interview, Substack co-founder and CEO Chris Best discusses the challenge of AI slop, the premium on human attention, and Substack's new transparency tooling. Best shares insights on the rise of generated long-form content, the integration of Pangram text detection, and the dynamics of co-writing with large language models. He critiques platforms that automate authorship, applying economic models like Baumol's cost disease to predict how value shifts when content production becomes free.

Ritesh Agarwal
Founder & Group CEO
In this interview, Ritesh Agarwal discusses why global tourism is entering a new growth era driven by AI, rising prosperity, and increased travel demand. He explains OYO's international expansion, the need for smarter tourism regulations, Europe's opportunities, India's growing tourism economy, and the importance of resilience, entrepreneurship, and long-term thinking when building global businesses.

Jeetu Patel
President & Chief Product Officer
In this interview, Cisco President and Chief Product Officer Jeetu Patel discusses the AI-driven networking supercycle, the future of software development, workforce transformation, and the massive infrastructure demands created by AI agents. He shares insights on innovation, productivity, AI adoption, India's opportunities, and why businesses must move quickly to remain competitive in the AI era.

Gabe Karp
Co-Founder
In this interview, VryfID co-founders Gabe and Aiden Karp discuss a recent antisemitic incident that emerged during their internship hiring process. They share how the experience reinforced their commitment to building an inclusive company while highlighting the importance of standing against discrimination and creating opportunities for people from all backgrounds.

Fabricio Bloisi
CEO
In this interview, Prosus CEO Fabricio Bloisi shares how he built billion-dollar technology businesses through relentless innovation, strong culture, and entrepreneurial leadership. He discusses scaling iFood, creating technology ecosystems across Latin America, India, and Europe, and why AI will transform companies faster than most people expect.

Garrett Lord
Co-founder & CEO, Handshake
In this interview, Garrett Lord discusses the journey of building Handshake into a leading career network serving millions of students and employers. He shares lessons on resilience, hiring exceptional talent, and evolving as a leader while scaling a fast-growing organization. Lord also explains why strong culture, high performance standards, and long-term conviction are critical for building enduring companies, particularly in an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.

David Baszucki
Founder & CEO, Roblox
In this interview, David Baszucki discusses the evolution of Roblox from a simple physics experiment into one of the world’s largest user-generated gaming platforms. He shares insights on trusting intuition, building for long-term growth, and navigating major product and business challenges. The conversation highlights creator economies, platform innovation, user safety, AI-driven development, and how continuous reinvention, resilience, and a decades-long perspective can help build enduring technology companies.

Mati Staniszewski
Co-founder & CEO
In this interview, Mati Staniszewski discusses the rapid rise of ElevenLabs and the future of voice AI. He shares insights on building responsibly at the frontier of artificial intelligence, empowering creators through voice cloning and AI agents, and scaling a high-growth technology company. The conversation highlights innovation, ethical AI development, creator monetization, user-focused product design, and why AI literacy will become an essential skill for individuals and businesses alike.

Hayes Barnard
Founder & CEO
In this interview, Hayes Barnard discusses the journey of building GoodLeap into a leading fintech platform for sustainable home solutions. He shares insights on overcoming adversity, making ethical decisions during challenging times, and creating long-term value in competitive markets. The conversation highlights resilience, disciplined leadership, customer-focused innovation, and the importance of purpose-driven growth, demonstrating how perseverance and strong values can help entrepreneurs navigate uncertainty and build enduring businesses.

Steven Rinella
Founder & CEO
In this wide-ranging conversation, Steve Rinella reflects on the journey from magazine writer to founder of MeatEater, sharing lessons on storytelling, entrepreneurship, family life, and raising children with curiosity and resilience. He discusses the importance of following opportunities that naturally make sense rather than chasing dramatic career pivots, the value of persistence in creative work, and why people often become too attached to a single idea instead of exploring new possibilities. The interview also explores parenting, outdoor experiences, media authenticity, and the role enthusiasm plays in shaping a meaningful life.

Indra Nooyi
Former CEO
In this interview, former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi shares the leadership principles that guided her rise from India to leading one of the world's largest companies. She discusses the importance of understanding a business from the ground up, making bold career decisions, developing future leaders, navigating corporate politics, balancing ambition with family responsibilities, and why great leadership requires both performance and purpose.

Mike Cahill
Founder
In this interview, Pyth Network founder Mike Cahill explains how decentralized finance is transforming access to financial data through blockchain technology. He discusses the challenges of delivering real-time market information on-chain, the future of DeFi infrastructure, and why transparent, reliable data is essential for building the next generation of financial applications.

Luca Martini
Founder & CEO
In this interview, the founder of a YouTube marketing agency shares how he built the business from scratch and grew it into a team of 15 through SEO and content marketing. He discusses client acquisition, scaling a service-based business, building systems, hiring the right people, and the strategies that helped generate consistent growth in a competitive digital landscape.

Jim Keyes
Former CEO of 7-Eleven and Blockbuster
This conversation features Jim Keyes, who shares lessons from leading two iconic companies through major transformations and financial crises. He explains why debt—not Netflix—ultimately caused Blockbuster's downfall, reflects on growing up in poverty, discusses innovation at 7-Eleven, and shares his philosophy on learning, resilience, leadership, and overcoming fear. The discussion also covers entrepreneurship, franchising, AI, education, social media, and personal growth.

Mark Shapiro
President and CEO
Mark Shapiro discusses his leadership role with the Toronto Blue Jays, modern baseball operations, player development, analytics, organizational culture, team-building philosophy, and the challenges of leading a Major League Baseball franchise.