13: Ways to nail your product positioning: Insights from Sjoerd Handgraaf, chief marketing officer at Sharetribe

How do you determine your product's market value beyond its features? 

In today's episode, Alan and Sjoerd Handgraaf, Sharetribe's chief marketing officer (CMO), discuss Sharetribe's origins, product evolution, and how Sjoerd's team identified its ideal product positioning by evaluating the true value it provides to marketplace founders. Sjoerd shares insights into the unique dynamics of building and branding two-sided marketplaces and explains how a "give first, ask later" philosophy has helped Sharetribe develop trust and lasting relationships with its community.  

Sjoerd grew up as a do-it-yourself (DIY) punk rocker in a steel town in the Netherlands. He originally planned to become an English teacher, but love brought him to Finland, where he discovered the startup world. With his DIY background, Sjoerd joined Sharetribe as the first marketing hire in 2016 and became CMO in 2020. Sharetribe is a software as a service (SaaS) solution that aims to democratize the sharing economy by empowering marketplace founders with a no-code platform builder.  

 

Key quotes: 

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