Start My Idea: Making Friends

Welcome to another edition of Start My Idea. This time, we're diving into the world of Making Friends.

Let's connect these ideas...

TODAY’S TREND
📈 Making Friends

People are searching for friends more than ever. There’s clear demand for tools that make it easy to meet new people, split bills, and co-plan trips. The real moneymaker: solo travelers - nearly half of global travelers often go alone (~55% Gen Z, ~51% Millennials). Translation: purpose-built, IRL-first friend products especially for solo travelers…have serious traction potential.

TODAY’S IDEAS
💡Ideas based on today’s trend

💡 Layover Linkups
Turn airport downtime into friend time by matching solo travelers on the same layover for 45–90 minute micro-meetups (walk-and-talks, lounge splits, photo scavenger hunts).

Where to Start: Launch WhatsApp/Telegram groups per major airport. Collect arrivals via a simple form (Typeform + Airtable). Post daily “meet windows”, provide icebreaker prompts, and offer optional shared lounge day-pass splits via Stripe Payment Links.

💡 Roomie Dinners
Partner with boutique hotels/hostels to host 12-seat, prix-fixe “friend tables” three nights a week. Guests opt-in at check-in; seats are mixed by interests (hiking, books, startups).

Where to Start: Start with one neighborhood. Use Eventbrite for tickets, a Google Form for interests, and a simple host script (name tags, table games, post-dinner group chat link). Hotels get upsell revenue; you take a per-seat fee.

💡 BuddyBoard Micro-Missions
A free community where members post 1-hour “micro-missions” (coffee walk, museum lap, pickup volleyball). The system pairs 2–3 nearby people for low-stakes hangs.

Where to Start: Spin up a Discord + Airtable workflow. Use Calendly links and pinned weekly “mission menus.” Monetize later with a $5/mo “Boost” (priority matching) and sponsored venue missions.

💡 SplitTrip Co-Planner
A lightweight co-planning board for small groups that bundles a shared itinerary, cost splits, and “who’s in?” commitments—great for new friends planning first trips.

Where to Start: Start with Notion/Google Sheets templates + Stripe Payment Links for IOUs. Offer a free template pack and charge $29 for “done-for-you” setups (you build the board for them in 24 hours).

💡 Third-Place Passport
A city card that unlocks weekly “friend slots” at curated third places—board-game cafés, climbing gyms, pottery studios, coworking day passes—with paired seating to nudge new connections.

Where to Start: Curate 10 venues, print QR cards (Vistaprint), and track check-ins with a simple landing page + QR. Run “Two-Seat Tuesdays” where solo visitors get matched on arrival. Sell early-bird passes for $15–$25/month.

Each of these ideas is simple to pilot and built for today’s friend-seeking, solo-travel market… start scrappy, keep it IRL-first, and layer in payments once the meetups become a habit.

Until next time,
Dwayne & Matt