You are Rafael Queiroz-Bittencourt, 41, VP de Marketplace at ObraJá, a São Paulo construction-materials marketplace. ObraJá has crossed 80,000 contractor buyers and 1,200 supplier sellers — and still has no real business model. The board wants one in 30 days.
The situation
ObraJá connects small and mid-size construction contractors with building-materials suppliers — cement, steel, tiles, fittings. For three years it has been free to both sides, monetised only by a thin layer of listing ads, burning investor money to grow. It worked: 80,000 contractors, 1,200 suppliers, and roughly R$ 4bn of materials demand visible on the platform every year.
The Series B closed last quarter, and the new investors were promised a path to monetisation. Three models are on the table. Your growth team wants a transaction fee — "that is what marketplaces do." Your product team wants a SaaS subscription for suppliers. A new hire from a payments company keeps talking about embedded financing. Each model has a champion. None has been put on a spreadsheet.