jump starting a marketplace - “the chicken and egg problem”

every marketplace starts with the same standoff. buyers won't show up until there's something to buy. sellers won't show up until someone is buying. no demand without supply, no supply without demand, and a founder standing in the middle wondering which side to bribe first.

the usual advice is to pick a camp. "always seed supply." "no, demand is king." people say it like it's a law.

it isn't. which side you grow first isn't a principle you import, it's a property of the specific market you're serving and the thing you're selling. a ride-hailing app is dead without drivers on the road, so you pay to put them there. a marketplace for something scarce and high-value can flip entirely, where one motivated buyer is worth courting a hundred sellers for. the right move in one is the wrong move in the other.

so the honest answer to "which side first" is another question. in your market, for your product, which side is harder to get, trusts you least, and won't move without a reason? start there. solve the side that's actually stuck.

the chicken and egg was never a riddle with one answer. it's a question you have to ask locally, every time.