Project Overview
CoFoundersLab is a social platform designed to connect entrepreneurs, advisors, and investors worldwide. It functions as a LinkedIn-like network, providing a space for founders to collaborate with advisors, share insights, and grow their businesses. With features such as social networking, communication tools, and meeting booking, the platform serves as a one-stop solution for professional networking in the startup ecosystem.
Our team worked on both the frontend and backend of the platform, focusing on delivering a seamless user experience and ensuring the platform could scale with its growing user base.
The Challenge
Building a platform that bridges the gap between founders and advisors posed several challenges:
Complex Social Interactions: Facilitating meaningful connections between users required a robust social media-like structure.
Scalable Communication Tools: The platform needed real-time communication features, including chat and notifications, to keep users engaged.
Efficient Meeting Management: Founders needed a way to schedule meetings with advisors directly through the platform, with integrated payment handling.
Backend Limitations: Initially, the platform used Strapi for the backend, but it soon became apparent that a more robust solution was needed to handle increasing complexity and scale.
Our Solution
We built a modern, scalable platform that addresses these challenges by leveraging the latest web technologies and best practices.
Technologies Used
Frontend
Next.js: For building a fast, SEO-friendly, and dynamic user interface.
TailwindCSS: To ensure a modern, responsive design with rapid UI development.
Redux Toolkit: For efficient state management across the platform.
Backend
Strapi (Initial Phase): Used to kickstart the backend development. However, it was later replaced due to scalability concerns.
NestJS: Migrated to a more robust backend using NestJS to handle the platform's growing complexity and ensure better performance and maintainability.
MongoDB: Utilized for flexible and scalable database management.
AWS: Hosting the platform on AWS for reliability and global scalability.
Key Features Implemented
Social Media:
User profiles, posts, and feeds to facilitate community engagement.
Connection features for users to follow and interact with each other.
Communication Tools:
Real-time chat for direct communication between founders and advisors.
Notifications to keep users informed about updates, messages, and meeting reminders.
Meeting Booking:
A streamlined process for founders to book meetings with advisors.
Integrated payment system to handle advisor fees for consultations.
Calendar synchronization and automatic reminders to ensure meetings are not missed.
Admin Controls:
Development Approach
We followed a structured development process to ensure the platform was built efficiently and could scale with its user base:
Agile Methodology: Regular sprints and continuous feedback loops allowed us to iterate quickly and incorporate user feedback.
Component-Based Architecture: Reusable components ensured consistency and streamlined the frontend development process.
Backend Migration: After identifying the limitations of Strapi, we migrated to NestJS, ensuring the platform could handle complex business logic and scale effectively.
Performance Optimization: Focused on optimizing both frontend and backend performance to ensure a smooth user experience.
Key Lessons Learned
Our work on CoFoundersLab provided valuable insights into building and scaling social platforms:
User Engagement is Critical: Providing social media-like features keeps users engaged and coming back.
Scalability is Essential: Choosing the right backend technology from the start can save time and resources in the long run.
Seamless Communication: Real-time chat and meeting booking tools enhance the user experience and add value to the platform.
Conclusion
Our contributions to CoFoundersLab helped transform it into a scalable, feature-rich social platform connecting founders and advisors worldwide. By focusing on social networking, communication tools, and efficient meeting management, we delivered a comprehensive solution that simplifies professional networking in the startup space.