Socialbnb is a marketplace for responsible travel alternatives. What started as a student initiative has grown into a platform supporting 500+ organizations across 45 countries. Nils Lohmann and Alexander Haufschild proved their marketplace concept through two years of manual operations before hitting the limits of their WordPress setup and bringing their idea to life as a full-scale marketplace with Sharetribe.

What you'll learn:

• The value of validating a marketplace idea by starting with manual operations and one project
• Why launching during COVID-19 taught the founders the value of "positive naivety"
• How they transitioned from a "Frankenstein's monster" WordPress site to a proper marketplace platform
• Why socialbnb chooses to curate hosts rather than allow open listings to maintain impact credibility
• How word-of-mouth and storytelling drive demand for authentic travel experiences
• A business model insight to align monetization with impact: only charge travelers, keep the platform free for communities
• Why starting "niche" often beats starting "big and global" for marketplace founders

Episode transcript: https://www.sharetribe.com/customers/socialbnb/

Where to find Nils Lohmann and Socialbnb:

• Nils's LinkedIn: [LinkedIn URL]
• Socialbnb: https://socialbnb.org/
  
  

Where to find Mira and Sharetribe:

• Mira's LinkedIn: [LinkedIn URL]
• Sharetribe's LinkedIn: https://fi.linkedin.com/company/sharetribe-ltd
• Sharetribe: https://www.sharetribe.com/

GearSource is a marketplace that helps rental companies sell professional audio and event production equipment they no longer need. Marcel Fairbairn built the company in 2002, which makes GearSource one of the oldest online marketplaces still in operation, alongside giants like eBay and Amazon.

What you'll learn:

• How a self-funded founder built one of the oldest surviving marketplaces on the internet
• How Marcel identified an “invisible inventory problem” that became an idea for a marketplace business
• The critical "aha moment" when Marcel realized his 16-year-old business was actually a marketplace, and how that changed everything in Marcel's approach
• Why lowering commission rates accelerated growth and scalability
• The painful lessons from three platform migrations before finding stability with Sharetribe
• How to transition from a high-touch service model to an automated marketplace
• Marcel's unconventional strategy: "Be aggressive on growing revenue, conservative on growing expenses

Where to find Marcel Fairbairn and GearSource:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcelfairbairn/
• GearSource: https://gearsource.com/ 

Where to find Sjoerd and Sharetribe:

• Sjoerd’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sjoerdhandgraaf/ 
• Sharetribe’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sharetribe-ltd/ 
• Sharetribe: https://www.sharetribe.com/