The 3 Platform Problems I Keep Helping Founders Solve

If you’re building a platform or marketplace, here are the three challenges I keep seeing—and how I’ve helped founders overcome them.

These aren’t surface-level problems. These are the real, recurring blockers that slow down even the most promising platforms. The ones that show up when traction is flat, trust is low, and everything feels harder than it should.

Let’s go:

1. Cold-Start Paralysis

One founder I worked with had an amazing platform. Clean UX, working payments, smooth onboarding.

But no one was using it. Zero traction.

Why? The classic chicken-and-egg problem. No users → no vendors. No vendors → no users.

We changed the approach:

→ Narrowed the use case to one specific job in one specific area

→ Partnered with a niche Facebook group to seed demand

→ Offered heavy incentives to the first 50 suppliers

And it worked.

Momentum followed clarity.

Chris Do would say: “Who is this really for? Solve one person’s problem clearly, not everyone’s vaguely.”

2. The Trust Gap

I’ve seen founders do everything “right,” and still fail - because their platform didn’t feel trustworthy.

People don’t want to risk their money or time unless they feel protected.

So we made a few key changes:

→ Only verified vendors could list

→ New reviews carried more weight than old ones

→ Payments were held in escrow until both sides were happy

Suddenly, users relaxed. And when users feel safe, they start engaging.

Trust isn’t a feature. It’s the entire experience.

3. Going Global Too Soon

Ambition is great. But going global before you’re ready? Chaos.

One founder came to me trying to launch in 5 countries at once—each with their own tax rules, currencies, and compliance needs.

Here’s what we did instead:

→ Focused on one local market first

→ Added region-specific onboarding (including VAT fields)

→ Brought in a part-time local advisor to navigate regulations

This slowed things down - but in the best possible way. It gave the platform time to work.

Chris Do talks a lot about clarity and outcome-driven design.In platforms, that means building for real people, in real places, who need real protection.

If any of these challenges sound familiar, I’d love to help you figure out the next move.I work with early-stage platform founders every week.