The First 50 Days: Bringing Pree to Life

On May 7th, I deployed the first working version of Pree - a platform I’d spent months conceptualising but just 50 days (so far) actually building.

I had:

• No prior tech experience.

• No budget.

• No team.

Just a clear vision, a background in research and entrepreneurship, and a deep commitment to building something that solved a problem I’ve seen over and over again, and that had been confirmed by the 100+ surveys during early research - the disconnect between people at events and the lasting, intentional relationships they actually want to form.

So I taught myself what I didn’t know and started building.

The Beginning: Pree Goes Live

In the week leading up to that first deploy, I barely slept. It was a bank holiday weekend and I didn’t leave my home office for three days. I worked through the nights and took three short naps total. Not because I was trying to “grind”, but because I couldn’t stop until something existed.

The version I launched on May 7th wasn’t perfect. It was held together by placeholder data, rough logic, and early layout screens. There was no live backend. Group chat existed visually, but didn’t store any messages. Users could sign in but not stay signed in. It was, in every sense, a shell.

But it functioned enough to walk people through the journey - and that changed everything.

After months of planning, reports, strategy decks, and spreadsheets, Pree finally had form.

Early Feedback and the Turning Point

Even though the product wasn’t yet connected to real data, people began engaging with it. Friends, peers, and early testers walked through the user flow, clicked around the dashboards, opened group chats, and asked questions.

The feedback came in quickly:

• “What happens when someone refreshes the chat?”

• “Can I actually RSVP to this event?”

• “Is my profile visible to anyone?”

Their questions highlighted what mattered most and what needed to work next.

I started documenting everything. Then I got back to work.

Learning Firebase, Fixing the Foundations

Over the next few weeks, I began introducing Firebase into the build, step by step. I had never used it before. I had to learn how authentication, real-time databases, and data security worked on the go.

The more I learned, the more I replaced.

• Dummy data was stripped out.

• Real login authentication was implemented - attendees and organisers could now sign in and out securely.

• A working database meant information could be saved, retrieved, and updated.

• Events created by organisers could be discovered by attendees.

• The group chat, originally unstable and glitch-prone, began saving messages and became more reliable.

I built an early version of Pree Pods - topic-specific breakout rooms within the event group chat - and refined the core navigation to ensure attendees could move easily through the flow.

It was no longer a concept. It was starting to become an actual product.

Building Profiles, Connecting People

Once accounts were live, the next priority was ensuring that profiles were more than just editable fields - they needed to reflect the person behind the login.

I built a user onboarding flow so attendees could fill in key information: their job role, interests, and what they would like to gain from Pree. This data was then used to:

• Pre-populate their profile

• Auto-generate a brief introduction when they joined a group chat

• Support future discovery and filtering

Profiles became interactive and structured, not just display screens, but tools for connection.

And most recently, they became discoverable. Users can now view one another’s profiles, opening the door to meaningful engagement before, during, and after an event.

Connecting the Backend to Real UX

Once the core backend was in place, I focused on tightening the experience.

In the past two weeks alone, I’ve:

• Introduced QR codes for every user profile, so attendees can be discovered instantly by scanning

• Connected the notifications panel and inbox to Firebase so they reflect actual user interactions

• Improved the mobile responsiveness of key pages

• Introduced attendee counts on group chats and Pree Pods

• Added a simple but highly requested feature: a back button on every page

• Added a 'Starred Connections' feature that allows users to star attendees from the event they are attending with an option to write a note about them for their information.

Each change was informed by user feedback. Nothing was arbitrary.

The First 50 Days: What’s Live Now

Today, Pree includes:

• Secure login/signup for both attendees and organisers

• Live dashboards with role-specific flows

• A real-time group chat with structured intros and chat storage

• Pree Pods for deeper, more focused discussion

• Profile discovery, QR code integration, and onboarding

• Firebase-backed inboxes, notifications, and data persistence

• Live event creation and discovery

• Starred connections with notes feature

• A working MVP with structure, purpose, and momentum

What’s Next?

This is the first in a 5-part series documenting the journey of building Pree. Now that the foundation is set, I’m preparing to pilot the platform with real users and showcase it at Web Summit ALPHA next year!

Over the coming days, I’ll walk through:

• A full breakdown of the current MVP

• What makes Pree fundamentally different from other networking tools

• What I’ve learned from early testers and feedback

• Where I’m taking the product next

If you're building something alone - or just starting - I hope this gives you clarity and motivation. Progress doesn’t have to be loud to be powerful. It just needs to be consistent.

Let's Build Better Networking

If you’ve ever left an event thinking, “I met great people, but nothing stuck”, you’re not alone. Pree exists because we all deserve more than small talk and missed connections.

If you’d like to test Pree, explore partnership, or simply stay updated, I’d love to hear from you.

📩 Contact: info@preeconnect.com | 📸 Instagram: @preeconnect | 💼 LinkedIn: Pree on LinkedIn | 🌐 More at: www.preeconnect.com

Let’s make networking intentional - and lasting.