Recording of the Everything Marketplaces Group Chat #169 (8/27) with Joanna McFarland, who’s the Co-Founder & CEO of HopSkipDrive. HopSkipDrive is a transportation service & marketplace for kids that’s used by over 10,000 schools and has scaled nationwide. HopSkipDrive has also raised $100M+ in capital from top investors.
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0:06 Intro
‍1:14 Joanna's background
‍1:48 The founding story & first steps for starting HopSkipDrive
‍3:18 How HopSkipDrive pivoted from being a consumer marketplace to a B2B marketplace
‍5:13 An overview of HopSkipDrive as a leading transportation service & marketplace for kids
‍7:11 How HopSkipDrive is reaching schools & scaling demand
‍8:18 The markets that HopSkipDrive operates in
‍10:07 The HopSkipDrive new market launch & expansion playbook
12:20 How HopSkipDrive is onboarding & scaling care drivers
‍14:04 Learnings from operating in highly regulated markets
‍16:02 The HopSkipDrive team
‍16:44 Tips for team building & hiring
‍18:35 The fundraising journey & learnings after raising $100M+ from top investors
‍20:44 Group Q&A on overcoming objections from investors when fundraising
‍22:57 Group Q&A on marketplace seasonality
‍24:44 Group Q&A on how HopSkipDrive vets & onboards care drivers
‍27:12 Group Q&A on how HopSkipDrive prioritizes trust & safety as a marketplace
‍32:26 Group Q&A on how HopSkipDrive found product-market fit
‍35:57 Group Q&A on tips for selling to businesses for B2B marketplaces
‍37:50 Parting marketplace advice
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Joanna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannamcfarland
HopSkipDrive: https://www.hopskipdrive.com
Mike (Yoroomie) on Twitter/X: https://www.x.com/yoroomie
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You can also find this group chat in audio format as an episode on our Everything Marketplaces podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also connect with marketplace founders & leaders from our group chats in the Everything Marketplaces community.