Product Manager
Analytical
hard
What's a good north-star metric for a two-sided marketplace like Urban Company?
Asked at
Urban CompanyOlaUberAirbnb
Framework
outcome × cadence × quality
Model answer
Successful matched bookings per active week — it captures liquidity (supply meets demand), quality (booking completed, not cancelled), and cadence (recurring value). Revenue is a lagging outcome of this metric.
What great candidates actually do
- GMV is a vanity number for marketplaces — it hides cancellations and refunds.
- Two-sided marketplaces need TWO leading indicators (supply-side and demand-side).
- The north-star should predict long-term retention 90+ days out.
Traps to avoid
- Naming the solution before the problem — always restate the goal in one sentence first.
- Answering without structure — pick a framework out loud, then execute it.
- Skipping the trade-off — every strong answer names what you would NOT do and why.
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