Hierarchy Of Marketplaces
- 297 installs
- 43 repo stars
- Updated March 7, 2026
- pmprompt/claude-plugin-product-management
hierarchy-of-marketplaces is a Claude PM skill that applies Sarah Tavel's Hierarchy of Marketplaces framework to evaluate supply, demand, liquidity, and trust for developers scoping two-sided product mechanics.
About
hierarchy-of-marketplaces is a Claude skill from pmprompt/claude-plugin-product-management that implements Sarah Tavel's Hierarchy of Marketplaces framework from Benchmark. The skill helps developers and product leaders sequence supply and demand, diagnose chicken-and-egg problems, and plan GMV growth mechanics for two-sided platforms. It triggers on marketplace strategy questions covering liquidity, tipping points, and defensible network effects. Developers reach for hierarchy-of-marketplaces when scoping incentives, launch sequencing, or trust layers before writing marketplace code. The framework progresses from focused launch tactics to market dominance patterns used in day-to-day PM work.
- Supply-demand balancing
- Liquidity milestones
- Trust and safety layers
- Side seeding strategy
- Transaction loop design
Hierarchy Of Marketplaces by the numbers
- 297 all-time installs (skills.sh)
- +11 installs in the week ending Aug 4, 2026 (Skillselion tracking)
- Ranked #906 of 3,282 Productivity & Planning skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
- Data as of Aug 4, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
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| Installs | 297 |
|---|---|
| repo stars | ★ 43 |
| Last updated | March 7, 2026 |
| Repository | pmprompt/claude-plugin-product-management ↗ |
How do you solve the marketplace chicken-and-egg problem?
Evaluate marketplace maturity—supply, demand, liquidity, and trust—to scope two-sided product mechanics, incentives, and launch sequencing.
Who is it for?
Product managers and backend developers scoping a two-sided marketplace who need a structured framework for supply, demand, and liquidity sequencing.
Skip if: Single-sided SaaS products or API-only services with no buyer-seller network effects to model.
When should I use this skill?
A user asks about marketplace strategy, chicken-and-egg problems, liquidity, tipping a marketplace, GMV growth, or Sarah Tavel marketplaces.
What you get
Marketplace maturity assessment, supply-demand sequencing plan, liquidity strategy, and incentive mechanics recommendations.
Files
Domain Context
This skill implements a proven product management framework. The approach combines best practices from industry leaders and is designed for practical application in day-to-day PM work.
Input Requirements
- Context about your product, feature, or problem
- Relevant data, research, or constraints (recommended but optional)
- Clear articulation of what you're trying to achieve
Hierarchy of Marketplaces
What It Is
The Hierarchy of Marketplaces is a framework for building defensible marketplace businesses. The core insight: GMV is a vanity metric. Happy GMV is what matters.
Most marketplace founders race to grow GMV as fast as possible, spreading resources thin across markets and categories. This is backwards. The path to a dominant, profitable marketplace requires working through three levels in sequence:
1. Focus - Constrain your market to a "thimble" and achieve minimum viable happiness 2. Tip - Reach saturation in your focused market until it tips in your favor 3. Dominate - Only then expand to adjacent markets and categories
The key shift: Move from asking "How do we grow GMV?" to asking "How do we make both sides of our marketplace so happy they retain?"
When to Use It
Use the Hierarchy of Marketplaces when you need to:
- Launch a new marketplace and decide where to focus
- Diagnose why growth is stalling despite increasing GMV
- Decide when to expand to new markets or categories
- Evaluate marketplace health beyond top-line metrics
- Compete against incumbents with more resources
- Raise funding and demonstrate real marketplace value
- Choose between depth and breadth in your growth strategy
When Not to Use It
- You're building a product without two-sided network effects
- You have unlimited capital and no competition (rare)
- The market has no potential for winner-take-most dynamics
- You're optimizing a mature, already-dominant marketplace
Resources
Posts by Sarah Tavel:
- Hierarchy of Marketplaces series on Medium
Books:
- Platform Revolution by Parker, Van Alstyne, and Choudary
- The Cold Start Problem by Andrew Chen
Further Reading
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Pick hierarchy-of-marketplaces over generic product-scoping skills when the product is explicitly two-sided and liquidity or network-effect sequencing is the core decision.
FAQ
What framework does hierarchy-of-marketplaces use?
hierarchy-of-marketplaces implements Sarah Tavel's Hierarchy of Marketplaces framework from Benchmark. The skill progresses from focused launch tactics through liquidity and trust to market dominance for two-sided platforms.
When should developers invoke hierarchy-of-marketplaces?
Developers should invoke hierarchy-of-marketplaces when scoping marketplace supply-demand sequencing, chicken-and-egg problems, liquidity gaps, or GMV growth incentives before building two-sided product mechanics.
What marketplace problems does hierarchy-of-marketplaces address?
hierarchy-of-marketplaces addresses supply-demand imbalance, liquidity shortfalls, trust deficits, and tipping-point strategy for two-sided marketplaces. The skill outputs sequencing recommendations for incentives and launch order.