6 Go-to-Market Lessons from REPOWR’s Journey Building a B2B Marketplace

Most B2B marketplace founders focus on either supply or demand. But when 97% of trailers are owned by just 3% of fleets, conventional marketplace wisdom might not apply. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, REPOWR co-founder Patrick Visintainer revealed key lessons from building a marketplace that’s achieved 200% year-over-year growth by taking a different approach.

1. Reverse Traditional Marketplace Strategy When facing the classic chicken-and-egg problem, REPOWR discovered that starting with demand created better traction. “We started off trying to find the supply, and then we realized that the supply needed to have demand, so we actually kind of reversed it,” Patrick explains. They approached potential suppliers with existing demand: “We have these carriers, these renters that want to use your assets. Do you have any not being used?”
2. Target Enterprise Customers Who Can Provide Both Supply and Demand Rather than treating supply and demand as separate challenges, REPOWR found success by targeting large enterprise fleets that could provide both. As Patrick notes, “Today we found that we can go after these large enterprise fleets who make up the majority of our supply… Not only their drivers, but they have asset light side that has third party carriers they work with.”
3. Leverage Market Timing to Your Advantage REPOWR’s launch timing proved crucial to their early success. “Coming out of Covid-19 everything was dead. And then in 2021, the economy went crazy,” Patrick shares. During this period, manufacturers couldn’t produce trailers fast enough, creating an opportunity for REPOWR to help companies rebalance their trailer pools and generate revenue from idle assets.
4. Build Product Through Customer Collaboration Instead of leading with technology, REPOWR prioritized customer relationships and feedback. “We never started REPOWR to just say here’s our technology. Here’s how you can use it. But instead we spent early and every month time with our customers,” Patrick emphasizes. This approach helped them develop a product that truly addressed market needs.
5. Adapt Sales Messaging to Problem-Solution Fit REPOWR’s sales strategy evolved beyond traditional pitching to focus on problem-solving. “We’re not selling just hey. Here’s what we’re doing at REPOWR. But we get the opportunity to ask questions to our customers and say what problem are you trying to solve today?” This consultative approach helped them identify and address specific customer pain points.
6. Maintain Strategic Relationships Beyond Transactions The company’s growth wasn’t just about customer acquisition. Patrick emphasizes maintaining relationships with investors and partners even when not actively fundraising: “Even the people that we’ve talked to that haven’t invested in REPOWR and they’re not a capital partner. They’ve been helpful introducing us to customers.”

These strategies have helped REPOWR build significant market presence, now working with 18 of the top 25 largest asset-based fleets and over 10,000 carriers on their platform. Their API-first approach focuses on “collaboration and connecting people to feel like they’re in a community,” demonstrating how technical solutions can foster stronger industry relationships.

For B2B marketplace founders, REPOWR’s journey offers a valuable blueprint: success comes not just from connecting supply and demand, but from deeply understanding industry dynamics and being willing to challenge conventional marketplace wisdom. As Patrick advises other founders, “Don’t wait. A lot of times you have the idea, you have to gather the research, the data and things like that. But I’m a big believer in testing things out, whether you have what you need in place or not.”