How Whatnot Built a Global Marketplace

Whatnot co-founder Grant LaFontaine sits down with a16z General Partner David George to unpack how live shopping combines commerce, entertainment, discovery, and community in a way traditional e-commerce doesn't. They discuss how Whatnot grew from selling a single Pokémon card online in elementary school to a global marketplace with over 100 categories, enabling small businesses to thrive and scale with the help of AI.

The Origin Story: From Pokémon Cards to a Global Marketplace

Grant LaFontaine's entrepreneurial journey began at a young age with his first online sale: a holographic Pokémon card. He recounts how, in third or fourth grade, he discovered he could make money from his beloved Pokémon cards on platforms like eBay. This early experience, involving mailing a money order and shipping the card, highlighted the nascent trust and rudimentary infrastructure of early e-commerce. This formative experience, combined with a later realization that many of his life's experiences and previous jobs (like working at YouTube and Facebook Marketplace) were converging, laid the groundwork for Whatnot.

The idea for Whatnot solidified during a trip to Tokyo with co-founder Logan. After a night of drinks and brainstorming about marketplace businesses, they initially let the idea simmer for several months. It wasn't until October 2019, when both were ready for a new venture, that they revisited the concept. They observed friends getting back into collecting items like Funko Pops, comic books, and sports cards, and recognized a stagnant market ripe for disruption. They saw an opportunity in combining collectibles with social commerce, believing that if someone was going to figure it out, it might as well be them. This led to them quitting their jobs in December 2019 and launching Whatnot, initially focusing on authenticated Funko Pop collectibles.