Around The Corner started as a hobby in 2023: every week after the pandemic, I met two strangers for coffee. I found them through anonymous writing on social media, and in just three months there were 150+ people on the waitlist.

I realized this shouldn’t be limited to 1:1 coffees with me. It could be a platform where people discover each other through their stories. I spun up the first version with Google Forms and Sheets, then in 2024 invited one of those strangers to join as my technical co-founder. Together, we launched our first website in January 2024.

By September 2025, Around The Corner had grown organically to 2,500+ users across California with 38% three-month retention. We partnered with five hospitality and F&B businesses, ran 30+ group events, and most of them sold out with ~93% attendance and very low no-show rates. We’d validated product–user fit, but hit the limits of our initial platform design to reach true product–market fit and extend our runway.

In September 2025, we made the hard decision to wind down that version of the product and rebuild Around The Corner from scratch.

The first version of Around The Corner was a writing-first community where people introduced themselves through their lived experiences and turned those stories into in-person coffee chats in their city.

New members joined through an application with five long-form prompts. Each prompt was designed to help people describe who they are through experiences rather than labels—no self-staged photos, and no focus on age, gender, job title, or ethnicity. Profiles allowed one faceless photo that captured an everyday moment or something personally meaningful.

Once accepted, members could deepen their profiles through ongoing journaling. Using their writing, we used AI to generate thoughtful follow-up questions that helped them expand their stories. We built the journaling experience using GPT-3.5 and Claude Sonnet 4.

We also hosted monthly gatherings—Silent Reading Parties, coffee tastings, and other small events—to bring the community together offline. To explore B2B opportunities, we partnered with five local hospitality and F&B businesses across the SF Bay Area, Greater Los Angeles, and Orange County.

Around The Corner now has one open co-founder seat. Come check out our latest update at: www.aroundthecorner.today

• All founders should know how to sell.
• True attitude can be seen through actions, not through words.
• Most of ideas can be launched without products.
• Rejection is redirection.