Cody’s Playbook for Building a Managed Marketplace in a Traditional Industry

Discover how Cody built trust in commercial real estate by creating a managed marketplace. Learn how they transformed from a simple platform to a full-service solution for flexible workspaces.

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Cody’s Playbook for Building a Managed Marketplace in a Traditional Industry

Cody’s Playbook for Building a Managed Marketplace in a Traditional Industry

Building a marketplace in commercial real estate isn’t just about connecting supply and demand – it’s about fundamentally changing how an entire industry operates. In a recent Category Visionaries episode, Cody CEO Christelle Rohaut revealed how they evolved from a simple platform to a managed marketplace that’s transforming commercial real estate.

Beyond Simple Matchmaking

Cody realized early that simply connecting landlords and companies wouldn’t be enough. As Christelle explains: “You can define Cody as like the office as a service platform or like a managed marketplace. We do connect companies who want flexibility, ease, speed with spaces that are underutilized across the city. But then we do manage the spaces.”

Managing the Complexity

The key insight was recognizing that the real value lay not in the connection, but in managing the operational complexity. “When you get a direct lease or sublease, you think only on the base rent, right? But then you have utilities and then the deposits and all the upfront cost of purchasing furniture, and then cleaning and coffee and tea… There’s a lot of hidden costs and fees in running your own office.”

Building Trust Through Service

Rather than just facilitating transactions, Cody took responsibility for the entire experience. “It’s kind of like the WeWork model of you come in and you have nothing to figure out. It’s moving ready, it’s managed, you have the cleaning, the coffee, you don’t have to worry about anything.”

Solving for Both Sides

The managed marketplace model addressed critical pain points for both parties:

For Companies:

  • Eliminated the complexity of traditional leasing: “You don’t have all the hassle and headache of going through brokers and landlords and the 15 page lease”
  • Reduced risk: “That type of commitment, it killed a lot of companies during the pandemic because it’s not appropriate, the risk is way too high.”
  • Provided flexibility: “You can start with just one day a week, if that’s what your workplace policy is.”

For Landlords:

  • Reduced default risk: “One year typically companies will not default. But five years, a lot of landlords got burned through the pandemic with a lot of tenants defaulting.”
  • Created new revenue streams: “We’re seeing office space being utilized for that regular twice a week use. But also the bigger offices utilize only for offsites.”

Evolving with Customer Needs

The managed marketplace model also allowed Cody to evolve with their customers. “We have other clients that have grown from a part time hub in just San Francisco to then wanting a full time hub in New York City because that’s where they had most people after having period of time,” Christelle shares.

Key Lessons in Building a Managed Marketplace

  1. Take Responsibility for the Experience Don’t just connect parties – manage the entire relationship.
  2. Solve Hidden Problems Look beyond the obvious transaction to find additional value opportunities.
  3. Build for Growth Create solutions that can evolve with customer needs.
  4. Reduce Risk for Both Sides Find ways to make the relationship safer and more predictable for all parties.

The Future Vision

Looking ahead, Cody sees even more opportunity in the managed marketplace model. “I’m really bullish about the Timeshare office model where company A gets a space a couple of days a week and company B the other days. And so I would hope that this model would be mainstream and would be our core product.”

For founders building marketplaces in traditional industries, Cody’s journey shows that success often requires going beyond simple matchmaking. The real opportunity lies in understanding and managing the complexity that keeps markets from operating efficiently, then building solutions that make it easy for both sides to participate with confidence.

The key is not just to connect supply and demand, but to deeply understand and solve the operational challenges that keep traditional markets from evolving. By taking responsibility for these challenges, you can build trust and create value that goes far beyond the initial transaction.

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