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Backfill a Marketplace by Hand to Fake Initial Supply

Backfill a Marketplace by Hand to Fake Initial Supply is a first users & traction tactic for getting your first users: To beat the chicken-and-egg problem, the founder manually entered 100+ real job listings scraped from the previous three weeks so the board looked active from day one, timed so the oldest seeded jobs would expire right as real postings arrived.

It's a strong fit for Marketplaces teams, and works especially well for marketplaces, directories, job boards. As a first users & traction play, plan for high effort and expect results to arrive at a steady pace, all grounded in 1 linked primary source.

First users & tractionHigh effortMedium

Why does first users & traction work for this?

An empty marketplace converts nobody; real-but-seeded supply makes it usable on the first visit.

The exact steps (4)

The full step-by-step this founder ran, what they posted, where, and in what order, plus the watch-outs, is part of the library.

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Sources

Works for
Marketplaces

Frequently asked

What kind of products does the "Backfill a Marketplace by Hand to Fake Initial Supply" tactic work for?
It is a good fit for Marketplaces — pick it when your product looks like that, since the play is shaped around how those users find new tools.
How is the "Backfill a Marketplace by Hand to Fake Initial Supply" tactic verified?
It is drawn from 1 primary source — a real founder write-up or interview, not generic advice. It is linked in the Sources section above so you can read the original account yourself.
How much effort is it and how fast are results?
It is high effort, and results tend to be medium.
Where can I see the exact step-by-step?
The full step-by-step a founder ran, documented via Source — IndieHackers, is in the paid library.

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