ZIGG

Here’s a link to the landing page for ZIGGURAT: getzigg.com

The app is no longer listed on the iOS App Store or the Google Play Store. The web app is still up. But the app was originally created targeting just the mobile platforms (iOS and Android) and before Flutter’s support for the web. So it is not an optimal experience.

My responsibiilites at ZIGGURAT can be broadly categorised as Software Engineering and Product Management.

Product Management

• Launched ZIGG, a product that helped manage communities by building online social layers over offline events.
• Hiring
• Supervised 3 technical and 3 business interns to work on developing and launching the product.
• Presented the product at Manipal Entrepreneurship Summit 2022.
• Launch:
  • Gained 300+ active users after launch.
• Growth
  • PLG
    • Onboarding
  • Improved user onboarding based on user feedback

Software Engineering

• Created Android and iOS apps along with a progressive web app (PWA) using the Flutter framework with features like user auth, push notifications, event organization, messaging, etc.
• Programmed the back-end RESTful server in Go to perform CRUD operations to a MongoDB Database.
• Designed the database schema for fast retrival and quick iteration cycles.
• Set up an nginx loadbalancer to distribute traffic to the various server instances.
• Containerized the backend using Docker and hosted it on a Digital Ocean virtual machine.

Tech Stack

• Flutter
• Go
• MongoDB
• Firebase
• Docker
• Digital Ocean

Shutdown

We had to shut down the startup as our original plan was to raise capital after gaining a solid userbase. But due to the pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns, we could not get the needed userbase in time and so had to cease operating.

What I would have done differently

1. I would not have started with a mobile app. The era of using the app stores for distribution is over. The average number of apps a person installs a month is zero.
2. Time-to-value: I would have provided value and solved user’s problems before they signed up for the app.
3. I should have started Zigg as anaggregrator of Whatsapp groups focused around offline hobbies.
4. Created a single player tool (a personal CRM) before the multiplayer network.

Artifacts

ZIGG Instagram