One of the biggest challenges with people starting a new #marketplace from scratch has to do with organization - how do I setup the company so that all the different parts fit together.

One question I like to start with is this:

• Imagine you're not a marketplace, let's pretend you're just a retailer, how would you setup the company? The reason I like to start here is sometimes I notice the organization is already setup, is not even optimized for being a retailer, much less a marketplace.

A marketplace is just a specific breed of retailer, one without inventory - so none of the COGS or your own operations, one which does not recognize all of the revenue on a transaction!

• Have you physically written out all of your customer service and operational processes? where does a call or email go first? what happens in various situations?

This also helps you define your organizational structure because you are forced to think through the many dependencies between your internal organization and your sellers - each answer might give you a completely different buyer experience.