In this session, Catherine and Chris are joined by Polly Applegate, ex-Head of Community at Depop and advisor to online marketplaces, community-led platforms and live streaming. Polly's role at Depop saw her scale her team from 20 to 200 employees globally to provide an exceptionally safe and engaging platform for its user base.

Polly talks about the influence online community-led platforms are having on well-established brands, shifting them towards trying new things, such as Zara offering a resell option and John Lewis providing a clothing rental service.

She highlights the importance of factoring in Trust & Safety early in the startup journey and how online communities foster and grow naturally in trusted environments.
'At Depop in the early days, we were growing mainly through word of mouth. Rather famously, they didn't spend very much on marketing in the first number of years.'