It worked.Then a massive rebuild sent us into a tailspin.

9.5M

trades

$35M

in transactions

175K

active users

$1.6M

revenue, from $0

THE MODEL

Flip the marketplace: wants are public, senders compete to fill them, and every card sent earns points to spend on your own wants.

THE FAILURE

We didn't build the critical point-sinks until it was too late.

POINTS MINTED vs POINTS SPENTmintedspent

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Illustrative, not to scale

DECISIONS & COST

Massive site rebuild

WHYAmbitious product goals.

WHAT IT COST18 months of dev. Premature, buggy launch.

Launched without point-sinks

WHYEarly on, more points were needed, not fewer.

WHAT IT COSTEconomic policy inertia. We took our eye off the ball.

Points for sale

WHYNew revenue stream.

WHAT IT COSTEroded trust from users.

CARRIED INTO TRADEMAGIC

Design the sinks before the faucets. Measure circulation weekly, not yearly.