abellminded2019 – 2023
Lunchpool
An interest-based community platform. The idea that shared interests are the foundation of real relationships, and that technology should make it easier to find the people who share yours.
The idea.
Most social platforms are built around who you know. Lunchpool was built around what you care about. Find people who share a specific interest, in a specific place, and give them a reason to actually meet. The name came from the literal concept: go to lunch with someone who shares your passion for something. Real connection over a real meal.
What happened.
Bootstrapped from the beginning. Turned down venture money more than once, because the strings always led somewhere the company did not want to go. Navigated COVID, which is not a small thing for a platform built around in-person connection. Kept it running and kept iterating for four years.
Why it ended.
Not because it failed. Because the version of it that would have worked required a scale of resources that did not exist, and taking that capital would have meant surrendering the principles that made it worth building. Lunchpool closed in 2023. No fire sale. No acqui-hire. No pivoting into something unrecognizable. Shut down with the same values it started with.
What it left behind.
Everything learned about community, network effects, the gap between connection and belonging, and the problem with platforms that own what users create. Those lessons are in everything Abellminded builds. Pools is the next chapter. The idea is still alive.