Kawan

1. Product Evolution: From WhatsApp Community to Native Mobile App

As a solo founder with no external funding, I built Kawan in phases to reduce risk and validate demand before investing in technology.

The journey started with research and user interviews, where I discovered that many people skip concerts and events simply because they have no one to go with. To test whether this problem was worth solving, I launched a WhatsApp community instead of building an app right away. The community grew to over 700 members across the Netherlands and successfully helped people find event companions.

After validating the demand, I designed the end-to-end user experience, hired a remote development agency, and led the development of the first MVP as Product Manager. To keep costs low and move quickly, we launched as a web application. This proved that the behaviour and interactions happening in WhatsApp could successfully be translated into a digital product experience.

The web app as an MVP to validate product experience

Following the MVP launch, I used AI-assisted development tools to rapidly iterate and improve the product, significantly increasing user activation and engagement. I later built and launched the native iOS app myself, transforming the experience from a web-based MVP into a polished mobile product.

2. Discovering a High-Intent User Base Through Rapid Iteration

When Kawan first launched, only around 8% of users used the product's core feature: creating a buddy request for an event. Most users registered but never took the next step.

By analysing user behaviour and feedback, I identified several friction points in the onboarding and activation experience. The biggest improvements did not come from redesigning entire flows, but from dozens of smaller iterations: refining microcopy, improving trust and marketplace perception, making existing groups more visible, and helping users better understand how the platform worked.

As a bootstrapped founder, I could no longer rely on a development agency for every update. To move faster, I learned how to work directly with the codebase using AI-assisted development tools, supported by my fractional tech advisor. This allowed me to rapidly test, ship, and validate improvements without spending a dime on development costs.

The result was a significant increase in activation and engagement. Profile completion reached 80%, activation increased from 8% to 48%, and 40% of activated users created a buddy request within one hour of registering.

Three steps to get matched with others to attend concerts and parties

3. Building a Fragmented Network-Effect Marketplace

Kawan operates in a uniquely challenging marketplace environment. Unlike traditional marketplaces where demand is concentrated around a single product or category, my users are looking for companions for a specific event, in a specific city, at a specific time. This challenge is amplified in the Netherlands, where hundreds of concerts, festivals, parties, and cultural events take place every day. Rather than competing for a single pool of demand, the platform must create matches across a constantly changing landscape of events.

As the platform grew, users submitted hundreds of buddy requests across hundreds of events. This created a significant liquidity challenge because, in the beginning, I was not matching people successfully.

For the product to actually work, people need to be matched for the same event. I deliberately focused growth efforts on the biggest concerts and festivals in Amsterdam before expanding to other cities. By concentrating supply and demand within specific geographic and interest clusters, I was able to increase marketplace liquidity and successfully match people into more than 100 groups of up to 4 people.

The Kawan experience