Today Whatnot (W20) is a lively platform where collectors can buy, sell, go live, and geek out with other like-minded people across a wide variety of

First Five Launches with Whatnot

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2022-09-29 21:00:33

Today Whatnot (W20) is a lively platform where collectors can buy, sell, go live, and geek out with other like-minded people across a wide variety of product categories. But, like every startup, the founders of Whatnot began with only an idea. YC’s Anu Hariharan sat down with the co-founder and CEO of Whatnot Grant LaFontaine to discuss their first five launches.

To build a great marketplace experience, both sides of the Whatnot marketplace had to be built out. Buyers would come, but only if sellers listed inventory. In the early days, the founders would list products on Whatnot that they didn’t have (i.e. fake listing), and when the item would sell, they’d purchase it on eBay.

Whatnot launched with only a website and found it was not engaging enough for consumers to visit frequently. To solve this, they developed an app and a growth channel to push traffic to the app, called Whatnot Drop. Whatnot Drop was a raffle for Funko Grail, and consumers could load up on raffle tickets by sharing referral code and content assets that would draw people back to Whatnot.

Whatnot worked with a Funko Pop influencer who was trusted by the Funko Pop fanbase. The influencer created a Youtube video talking about their experience on Whatnot, which helped the audience trust Whatnot as a reputable marketplace for collectibles.