THE RIGHT 15 CxOs OF B2B MARKETPLACES
BROUGHT TOGETHER
No cookie cutter
Hypermatched = Hyperefficient
In order to have the right common ground to discuss: How have you solved this in the past? How are you dealing with VCs? How would you handle this in your company?
We also make sure that the 15 CxOs brought together in the same Circle complement each other’s expertise and experiences. We use the application process to get to know you better, to understand who you would need in your Circle, and also what you could give to your Circle.
Currently, 70% of Circle members are founders, and half of them are serial founders. 60% of us are CEOs, and then we have (in order of representation) COOs, CPOs, CMOs, Chief of Staff, CTOs and CIOs.
The overwhelming majority of our members’ companies are international; our members are themselves based in 10+ countries: USA, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Germany, Lebanon … 11% of Circle members are women and we are looking for more!
This is to make sure that we can benchmark, dive quickly into into deep conversations and get actionable insights.
If certain further specificities (Sector, Web3, remote companies, self-managed, B Corp … ) are relevant to you, let us know during the application process. We also hypermatch certain companies inside our already hypermatched Circles depending on our members’ needs.
We look at 2 different aspects here, to match members of our Circles individually: Where your company currently is – your revenue, northstar metric, number of FTEs, funding round (or bootstrapped equivalent) – and its growth profile – your next goals, incl. timeline.
Our minimum requirements for all of our Circles are: Your companies should already have found product market fit and have at least 10 FTEs.
We have a special policy for founders and CxOs from underrepresented background. See “Our commitments to DEI” in our FAQ.
THE RIGHT 15 CxOs OF B2B MARKETPLACES
Brought together
In a closed Circle
For open discussions
In order to have the right common ground to discuss: How have you solved this in the past? How are you dealing with VCs? How would you handle this in your company?
We also make sure that the 15 CxOs brought together in the same Circle complement each other’s expertise and experiences. We use the application process to get to know you better, to understand who you would need in your Circle, and also what you could give to your Circle.
Currently, 70% of Circle members are founders, and half of them are serial founders. 60% of us are CEOs, and then we have (in order of representation) COOs, CPOs, CMOs, Chief of Staff, CTOs and CIOs.
The overwhelming majority of our members’ companies are international; our members are themselves based in 10+ countries: USA, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Germany, Lebanon … 11% of Circle members are women and we are looking for more!
This is to make sure that we can benchmark, dive quickly into into deep conversations and get actionable insights.
If certain further specificities (Sector, Web3, remote companies, self-managed, B Corp … ) are relevant to you, let us know during the application process. We also hypermatch certain companies inside our already hypermatched Circles depending on our members’ needs.
We look at 2 different aspects here, to match members of our Circles individually: Where your company currently is – your revenue, northstar metric, number of FTEs, funding round (or bootstrapped equivalent) – and its growth profile – your next goals, incl. timeline.
Our minimum requirements for all of our Circles are: Your companies should already have found product market fit and have at least 10 FTEs.
We have a special policy for founders and CxOs from underrepresented background. See “Our commitments to DEI” in our FAQ.
Take the test!
“WHAT Is YOUR simple formula to Cut the cake?!”
” We just secured €5+m in fundings, with the …
… intention of bringing in 50% more salespeople in. Having the right incentive structure will be essential. I am not happy with what we have currently, but there is no size fits all, from what I can see. I was curious to hear from the others: Do you have a simple, easy to maintain, great formula?”
My fave session: Incentive Structure. What has worked for you? What has not?
My takeaways: “First of, it was comforting to see that we all at some point struggled with this. In our Circle, we had very diverging opinions on the topic, and very different formulas, even if we all have quite similar businesses! Also, for most of us, it stays an ongoing topic of improvement, which showed me that I should rather find a good enough solution for now and review it as we grow, instead of looking for forever perfect. One of us had a parallel model for new markets, with a huge individual commission, no fixed. Seeing their results on that was inspiring. On the topic of the right % for fixed and commission, it became clear that growing in 5 different countries, we will need to have different models to adapt to the different cultures in place, unfortunately. My last take away on how to deal with larger deals, done by several people: A fellow CEO let his teams decide on how they wanted to cut the cake, which created the right buy-in. Something I will be considering too for specific initiatives.”
Alex,
Co-founder & CEO
B2B Marketplace Circle Member
At BABLE
BABLE is a business to government (cities and regions) marketplace, accelerating change toward smart & climate-neutral cities in the EU.
“WHAT Is YOUR simple formula to Cut the cake?!”
Alex
Co-founder &
CEO at BABLE
B2B Marketplace Circle Member
BABLE is a business to government (cities and regions) marketplace, accelerating change toward smart & climate-neutral cities in the EU.
My fave Circle session
“We just secured €5+m in fundings, with the intention of bringing 50% more salespeople in. Having the right incentive structure will be crucial. My takeaways: It was comforting to see that for most of us, it stays an ongoing topic of improvement. This showed me that I should rather find a good enough solution for now instead of looking for forever perfect. One of us had a parallel model for new markets, with 100% individual commission, no fixed. Seeing their results was inspiring.”
CxOs B2B MARKETPLACES
AHA MOMENTS
Jonathan,
Co-founder & CEO
Michelle,
Co-founder & Board Member
Daniel,
Co-founder & COO
Ofer,
C. Product Officer
Niels,
Co-founder & CEO
“The others already know what I am talking about, and ask the right questions. It made me review how we measure marketplace liquidity. ‘How we put real metrics behind it’ is one of my recent takeaways.”
“I was impressed by one of us who grew to 250 employees in 2 years, leveraging distribution partners. It was a cautionary tale too: Must carefully manage to ensure the value prop. remains.”
“We have a seasonal business. Seeing how others tackle this confirmed that we are going about it the right way, testing new categories and building communities to lower reactivation costs.”
“Brainstorming which SaaS services we could add to our B2B marketplace, seeing what has worked for others, and what has not. On a more personal side, discussing self-organisation with the other C-levels.”
“The tendency with P2P marketplaces is to go broad quickly. Seeing the challenges that others face, made me realise once again how crucial it is to start from a deep understanding of one’s customer.”
CxOs’ B2B MARKETPLACES
AHA MOMENTS
Michelle,
Co-founder & Board Member
“I was impressed by one of us who grew to 250 employees in 2 years, leveraging distribution partners. It was a cautionary tale too: Must carefully manage to ensure the value prop. remains.”
Ofer,
Chief Product Officer
“Brainstorming which SaaS services we could add to our B2B marketplace, seeing what has worked for others, and what has not. On a more personal side, discussing self-organisation with the other C-levels.”
what you get in your circle
on what matters to you most
Your pain points, ideas, questions secured …
… on top of our agenda. We meet online up to 2 times per month for 90 minutes (depending on your availability).
From the great Ray Dalio: “(B)eing maximally effective is the most important thing a “leader” must do. It is more practical to be honest about one’s uncertainties (…). It is also more important to have good challengers than good followers. Thoughtful discussion and disagreement is practical because it stress-tests leaders and brings what they are missing to their attention.”
to exchange in-between
Avoid reinventing the wheel …
… in-between sessions. Get the blueprint, template, contacts, providers; everything you need whenever needed, by checking our CxOs repository or quickly asking your fellow Circle members in our closed Slack.
Also, some conversations require a different level of privacy. Follow-up after sessions with fellow CxOs.
for results-oriented sessions
Meet your coach! Hi! I am …
.. Cécile, executive coach for C-level. Lovely to meet you! Our coach ensures that we prioritise the right topics, that we stay on topic, and gently pushes us out of our comfort zone, to accelerate our company’s growth journey and our evolution as leaders.
bringing us all together
Open conversations only happen …
… when we experience a sense of belonging. That is just natural, we are humans after all ;).
This is why we have a ‘No-first-timer-policy!’: Even before you join your first session, we make sure that you already know who you will be meeting in your Circle and feel home.
Also, each Circle has its own professional coach to bring us together. No silly games, no meet & greet networking awkwardness, simply great hosting, connecting us together.
what you get in your circle
on what matters to you most
Your pain points, ideas, questions secured …
… on top of our agenda. We meet online up to 2 times per month for 90 minutes (depending on your availability). We also have a private Circle-Slack to exchange in between: Get the blueprint, template, contacts, providers; everything you need whenever needed, by checking our CxOs repository or quickly asking your fellow Circle members in our closed Slack.
From the great Ray Dalio: “(B)eing maximally effective is the most important thing a “leader” must do. It is more practical to be honest about one’s uncertainties (…). It is also more important to have good challengers than good followers. Thoughtful discussion and disagreement is practical because it stress-tests leaders and brings what they are missing to their attention.”
for results-oriented sessions
Meet your coach! Hi! I am …
.. Cécile, executive coach for C-level. Lovely to meet you! Our coach ensures that we prioritise the right topics, that we stay on topic, and gently pushes us out of our comfort zone, to accelerate our company’s growth journey and our evolution as leaders.
FAQ Application
How does the application process work?
We have a limited number of memberships available in each of our Circles. We want to ensure it’s a perfect fit, for you, as well as for the other CxOs joining.
The application takes about 3 minutes, and the next step would be an short interview to understand you, your needs, expertise, and company better, as well as to answer all your questions.
The application deadline is Feb 25th for our B2C/P2P Marketplace CxO Circle. We are already accepting new members.
What about my competitors? And sponsors?
Our discussions must be 100% candid. Therefore we cannot allow competing companies under any circumstances. We’ll manage this through the application process.
That’s also why we have a non-solicitation-policy. We understand that the power of a strong founder community naturally leads members to doing business with each other, and we encourage this connection across our whole network. It is, however, critical that each Circle remains a trusted space for each member. Therefore we do not allow proactive sales or marketing efforts for the sole purpose of driving future business in our Circles.
Our commitments to DEI
Our Circles are places where everyone can grow and support one another. We want to be a driver of positive change. Therefore, we are reserving 1 membership per Circle for earlier stages founders/CxOs with underrepresented backgrounds. Once your company enters your next growth-phase (6-18months after), you will be considered a regular member, which will enable a new early stage marketplace founder/CxO from an underrepresented background to benefit from your former spot.
Your success is our success.
How does the application process work?
We have a limited number of memberships available in each of our Circles. We want to ensure it’s a perfect fit, for you, as well as for the other CxOs joining.
The application takes about 3 minutes, and the next step would be an short interview to understand you, your needs, expertise, and company better, as well as to answer all your questions.
The application deadline is Feb 25th for our B2C/P2P Marketplace CxO Circle. We are already accepting new members.
What about my competitors? And sponsors?
Our discussions must be 100% candid. Therefore we cannot allow competing companies under any circumstances. We’ll manage this through the application process.
That’s also why we have a non-solicitation-policy. We understand that the power of a strong founder community naturally leads members to doing business with each other, and we encourage this connection across our whole network. It is, however, critical that each Circle remains a trusted space for each member. Therefore we do not allow proactive sales or marketing efforts for the sole purpose of driving future business in our Circles.
Our commitments to DEI
Our Circles are places where everyone can grow and support one another. We want to be a driver of positive change. Therefore, we are reserving 1 membership per Circle for earlier stages founders/CxOs with underrepresented backgrounds. Once your company enters your next growth-phase (6-18months after), you will be considered a regular member, which will enable a new early stage marketplace founder/CxO from an underrepresented background to benefit from your former spot.
Your success is our success.
How much does a membership cost?
We have two different kinds of memberships.
Joining our broad community of CxOs Marketplaces is fully free. This is your place to gather with other marketplace CxOs, join community specific webinars, and access free resources that accelerate the growth of your company.
You want to join? It’s easy: Click APPLY! Once your profile is validated during the short interview – CxOs only, marketplaces only, awesome people only! – you will get your private access to our community.
From there on, you will also have the opportunity to discuss joining one of our closed discussion Circles, and upgrade your membership, if we currently have memberships available for your specific profile.
Join us! Click APPLY!
Do we offer a trial?
Real, open conversations only happen … when we experience a sense of belonging. That is just natural, we are humans after all ;). To make sure that our members feel free to share the real reality of their business, their challenges, numbers, fears, hopes, vision, and competitive advantages in their trusted Circle, we do not allow for trials.
Notice: If you happen to change your mind for any reason after having joined 3 consecutive Circle-sessions, you’ll get an 80% refund, no questions asked. (Though we are sure that you will love it, as we make sure everyone’s a great fit via the application & interview process).
Can I bring my head of marketing too?
Great question! We completely understand that you succeed … when your leaders do too. We are currently building a company version of your Circle, which is itself C-level only.
Let’s discuss during the interview process, we are happy to co-create! Here is what we are currently thinking of: In addition to you having your own closed CxOs Circle, we would also match 3 of your heads-of with the 3 relevant heads-of from 10 relevant companies in their own peer-to-peer groups.
More ownership, autonomy, and retention thanks to peer-to-peer development and support: 1x per month live session (60 mins online expert-roundtables) for them to synergize: We discuss what currently matters most to your leaders. Our sessions are run by professional facilitators for result-driven conversations. Private Heads-of Slack Channel, for them to quickly share templates, ideas, and solve their pain points in between.
How much does a membership cost?
We have two different kinds of memberships.
Joining our broad community of CxOs Marketplaces is fully free. This is your place to gather with other marketplace CxOs, join community specific webinars, and access free resources that accelerate the growth of your company.
You want to join? It’s easy: Click APPLY! Once your profile is validated during the short interview – CxOs only, marketplaces only, awesome people only! – you will get your private access to our community.
From there on, you will also have the opportunity to discuss joining one of our closed discussion Circles, and upgrade your membership, if we currently have memberships available for your specific profile.
Join us! Click APPLY!
Do we offer a trial?
Real, open conversations only happen … when we experience a sense of belonging. That is just natural, we are humans after all ;). To make sure that our members feel free to share the real reality of their respective business, their challenges, numbers, fears, hopes, vision, and competitive advantages in their trusted Circle, we do not allow for trials.
Notice: If you happen to change your mind for any reason after having joined 3 consecutive Circle-sessions, you’ll get an 80% refund, no questions asked. (Though we are sure that you will love it, as we make sure everyone’s a great fit via the application & interview process).
Can I bring my head of marketing too?
Great question! We completely understand that you succeed … when your leaders do too. We are currently building a company version of your Circle, which is itself C-level only.
Let’s discuss during the interview process, we are happy to co-create! Here is what we are currently thinking of: In addition to you having your own closed CxOs Circle, we would also match 3 of your heads-of with the 3 relevant heads-of from 10 relevant companies in their own peer-to-peer groups.
More ownership, autonomy, and retention thanks to peer-to-peer development and support: 1x per month live session (60 mins online expert-roundtables) for them to synergize: We discuss what currently matters most to your leaders. Our sessions are run by professional facilitators for result-driven conversations. Private Heads-of Slack Channel, for them to quickly share templates, ideas, and solve their pain points in between.
CxOS ALREADY FEEDING OFF OF EACH OTHER IN CIRCLES
