Muni Marketplace

Muni is a web-based marketplace platform designed to bring professionals, businesses, and organizations together inside structured public and private markets. By combining blind contract bidding, escrow-backed payments, and community-driven market rooms, Muni enables faster hiring, higher-quality matches, and reduced marketplace noise.

Key Outcomes

• 2,000+ users onboarded
• 100+ markets created
• 1,000+ contracts posted
• 3-month MVP delivery

Quick Facts

• Industry: Marketplace / Professional Networks
• Platform: Web (Single-brand SaaS)
• Tech Stack: React JS, Redux Toolkit, Tailwind CSS, Node.js, PostgreSQL
• Services: Product Strategy, Marketplace Architecture, Contract & Escrow Logic, Community Systems

Background

Professionals and businesses searching for collaborators were relying on fragmented tools—generic marketplaces, social networks, forums, and direct outreach. While platforms like Upwork or LinkedIn offered reach, they lacked structured, industry-focused markets, leading to spam, low-quality bids, and inefficient hiring.

The client envisioned Muni as a purpose-built marketplace where:

• Markets could be curated and private
• Contracts were structured and escrow-backed
• Trust, reputation, and community engagement were first-class features

Challenge

Business Challenges

• Generic marketplaces failed to deliver high-quality candidates
• Hiring was slow due to noisy bidding and unstructured discovery
• No clear way to create exclusive, paid-access professional networks
• Lack of trust mechanisms beyond basic profiles

Product & Technical Challenges

• Designing a marketplace flexible enough for any industry
• Supporting blind bidding while maintaining fairness
• Implementing escrow-backed contracts for fixed-price and hourly work
• Enabling users to participate in multiple markets simultaneously
• Balancing contracts, community interaction, and social impact in one platform

Solution

Stackup Solutions built Muni as a structured, scalable marketplace platform that combines contracts, communities, and credibility.

Platform Architecture

• Web-only SaaS, branded as Muni
• Open signup with admin verification to prevent spam
• Central Super Admin dashboard for moderation and governance
• Modular market system supporting both public and private networks

Contract & Bidding Engine

At the core of Muni is a secure contract workflow:

• Users create fixed-price or hourly contracts
• Contractors submit blind bids, preventing price anchoring
• Project owners evaluate candidates via profiles, reviews, and internal notes
• Contracts are locked after posting to ensure fairness
• Payments are protected through an escrow system, increasing trust on both sides

This structure directly addressed the client’s KPIs: faster hiring, better candidates, and reduced spam.

Markets: Public & Private

• Any user can create a market
• Public markets enable open discovery and collaboration
• Private markets are invite-only and require a one-time entry fee, ideal for exclusive networks
• Markets define their own rules, participants, and privileges

Community & Engagement

Each market includes a Market Room, a hybrid between a forum and a social feed:

• Members post updates, comment, and like
• Discussions build trust before contracts are posted
• Community interaction improves match quality and engagement

Trust, Reputation & Social Impact

• Reviews are tied strictly to completed contracts
• Admin-led verification reduces low-quality or fake users
• Integrated charity support allows members to donate to admin-verified charities
• Aligns professional success with positive social impact

Implementation Process

Phase 1 – Product Definition

• Defined core marketplace flows: markets → contracts → bids → escrow
• Identified trust and structure as key differentiators

Phase 2 – MVP Build (3 Months)

• Built React-based frontend with real-time responsiveness
• Implemented Node.js backend with PostgreSQL
• Developed blind bidding, escrow logic, and role-based permissions

Phase 3 – Community & Governance

• Added market rooms and social interactions
• Built Super Admin moderation and verification tools
• Optimized performance for concurrent users and markets

A lean 3-person team delivered a fully functional MVP without sacrificing scalability or product clarity.

Results

Quantitative Impact

• 2,000+ users actively using the platform
• 100+ markets created across industries
• 1,000+ contracts posted with blind bidding
• Faster hiring cycles and improved candidate relevance

Qualitative Outcomes

• Reduced spam compared to generic marketplaces
• Higher trust through escrow-backed payments and verified reviews
• Stronger communities formed around shared markets, not just transactions