"So far, it's running on a $4 per month server." IT guy with 18 years of experience has created a platform for matching people based on interests for shared leisure. How Hvirtka works and who can join

Loneliness online as a stimulus

I felt for a long time that I needed such a platform. I started actively using the Internet about 25 years ago, and it was very different then from what it is now. Social networks had not yet appeared. But there were forums, chats and guest books. There was a lot of communication then, and people were very eager to get to know other people online, exchange contacts, start chatting, for example, on ICQ, and, if possible, offline too. But now it is often very difficult to get to know someone.

I think it’s time to change that. That’s why I decided to make hvirtka.

Solo project

I actually built this platform all by myself. At first, I thought I needed a team. I looked for people several times. There were over 100 people who wanted to work on the project — developers, designers, there was even a project manager. But it didn’t work. People were too used to enterprise development, they didn’t understand what it was like to run a startup. And they didn’t have enough experience, especially with the stack that I use, to do the job properly. It just wasn’t efficient.

In legal matters, I rely on Alex’s expertise.

How does hvirtka work?

hvirtka allows you to find those with whom you can do what you want. And here it is very important that you clearly see the intentions of the other person. That is, it is not only you who want to start communicating. You know that this person also wants to. And also hvirtka inspires people to try new things. And to find a partner in crime for this. I hope that many people will find friends in the near future.

You indicate your desires, for example, to play tennis, practice English, visit an exhibition, walk around the city, prepare for interviews, improve your resume, gossip… Other users see what desires you have indicated. And they can send a connection request if they are interested in getting to know each other.

We don’t use AI or machine learning at the moment. The site is Python, Django, JS, Vite and AlpineJS. Also PostgreSQL and Redis. So far it runs on a $4 per month server. But if there are many users, we will, of course, have to change to a more powerful one. Currently, we already have 100 registered users.

Money and users

Since I did everything myself, it turns out that I didn’t pay anything for the development. However, if I had to order it from someone, it would have cost about $20,000. Still, making a site like this takes several months, and it usually takes several people to do it.

Our target audience is people who are 18 years old and want to find friends. Or at least want to find people to do together what they want. There are already more than 200 different wishes on the site. Each user chooses what to indicate. But there will be much more. Anyone can suggest adding a wish. We now have 100 users. I’m counting only those who have filled out a profile. Now the number of people on the site is growing quite quickly.

We already have an open beta test. The project will be monetized in two ways — through the sale of premium accounts and advertising.

What’s next?

I would be glad if we could attract investment. The potential in the project is definitely there. Still, if there is a budget, you can move much faster. This is especially true for marketing. We have great conversion on the landing page, but we need people to get there. That is, it would be ideal if there was some budget for advertising. Our lawyer Alex wrote the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. It turned out, in my opinion, very cool.

I would also consider the option of working with someone on a partnership basis, if, say, a person can attract users organically. We have already come up with a lot of different features that could be implemented. Currently, you can only get to know specific people on the site, but potentially you could try a different format — the user creates an event and invites people to join. For some, such a format could be more interesting — because potentially then you get to know not one person, but a group at once, and for some it could be easier.

By the way, the We3 application has a slightly similar format: they specifically group their users into groups of three people. With

In general, it would be interesting to experiment with formats, research the audience, and add exactly the features that those who use the platform need. But for this, of course, the platform must first be used.

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