There’s a standard playbook for launching a tech startup. You build an MVP, you set a budget, and you pour money (loads....! Arghh) into targeted digital ads. It’s a clean, data-driven process that happens from behind a screen.

We’re not doing that.

Instead, in a few weeks, I’m getting on a plane to Bangkok with a very limited budget. The mission? To launch our new solo travel app, SoloBudd, in pThe Myth of the "Perfect User"erson. This might sound inefficient, maybe even a little absurd. But it’s a decision born from a deep, and often overlooked, understanding of the psychology of the very people we’re trying to serve.

The solo travel market is booming, projected to be worth over a trillion dollars. The dominant demographic is a tech-savvy 18-35 year old but progressive and liberal. On paper, they look like the perfect target for a digital ad campaign. But this assumption misses a crucial variable: their mental state.

A solo traveller who has just landed in Bangkok after a 15+ hour flight is not in a normal consumer mindset. They are in a "high excitement bubble." Their senses are overloaded, their social anxiety is peaking, and their brain is firing on all cylinders trying to navigate a new environment. They are not calmly browsing their phone looking for new apps to download. They are looking for a friendly face at the hostel check-in desk (smile check in people - it helps! :P).

The idea that a digital ad can effectively break through that intense, real-world experience is a fallacy based research. For a traveller with only two to four precious weeks of holiday, the friction of downloading a new app, creating a profile, and learning how it works is too high. Their reaction is often, "You should have told me earlier; I don't have time for this now."

The Network Effect Imperative

This leads to the second, even bigger challenge. For a social app like ours, the network effect is everything. The app is only useful if there are other people on it, in the same place, at the same time. A standard digital launch would give us one user in London, one in Berlin, and one in Manchester. They would open the app, see an empty map, and delete it. It would be a complete failure.

Our success hinges on igniting a "critical mass" in one high-density location. We need to "fertilize" a community in a "honeypot" and let it spread organically. Our research shows that Bangkok is that honeypot, the "ground zero" for solo travellers starting their journey on the predictable "Banana Pancake Trail."

The Human Onboarding Process

So, if digital ads are inefficient and the network effect is essential, how do you solve the problem?

You (Moi) becomes the onboarding process.

The trip to Bangkok isn't about marketing in the traditional sense. It's a strategic mission to act as the "human catalyst" for our first users. It’s about being there in person to build trust, explain the "why," and reduce the friction of joining to zero. It's about hosting that first meetup where a "free drink" isn't just a gimmick; it's the catalyst that turns 50 individual downloads into one active, real-world community.

This is why we're choosing to invest our limited budget not in impressions and clicks, but in a plane ticket and a small, on-the-ground team. It’s a calculated gamble, but it’s one based on a deep and empathetic understanding of our users. We believe that to build a platform for real human connection, you have to start by showing up in person.

The hard work continues, but the real journey is about to begin - do checkout our page SoloBudd and but importantly be a founding budd/member and help us improve and test! by joining beta/waitlist on https://solobnudd.com