MTCHMKR
0→1 Brand partnerships platform
2025
I co-founded a startup with two partners that helps brands discover each other for marketing collaborations. I designed and built the product entirely with Lovable and Claude Code.
01 — The problem
Finding the right partner.
My partners, both marketers, saw many organizations struggle to access brand partnerships because they lack resources and established best practices. The biggest hurdle is simply finding and reaching the right partners. And once contact is made, the conversation often stalls at a vague “let’s collab” instead of clear objectives, shared value and measurable outcomes.
02 — The approach
One month.
One builder.
To launch an MVP in a month, I was the sole product manager, designer and engineer, thanks to AI-assisted coding. Weekly rituals took us from early wireframe builds to dialing in the brand and details, with live research alongside potential customers. In parallel, we built a waitlist of several hundred people who became real, paid user testers giving us feedback in real time. Everything below is from the production beta at mtchmkr.io ↗︎
- 30
- days from PRD to consumer-grade product
- Top 1%
- of Lovable users globally in 2025
- 1
- fractional designer / dev / PM (me)
- 2
- non-technical co-founders who can run the business
- LLC
- fully incorporated and registered
03 — Discovery
Discovery & serendipity.
The home page prioritizes activity on the platform, from new brands and listings to activity on your own listings. Users can check out signals of industry partnership activities, browse the member directory and directly connect with brands, or review and respond to active listings for partnership opportunities.
04 — Intelligent matchmaking
Match
made.
Members fill out profiles that explain their asks, offers and brand attributes so others can find a match. AI adds industry insight to what they provide, making search and matchmaking more powerful.
To encourage connections, brands post listings and other members respond directly through in-product chat.
05 — Mobile-first design
Mobile
first.
Half our traffic is mobile, so the site is fully responsive.
06 — Streamlining operations
Glanceable
for everyone.
I built robust admin tooling to keep the business glanceable for my non-technical co-founders. Bug triage, waitlist management and analytics are built right into the UI for users with admin roles.
07 — An evolving brand
Warmly retro.
Evolving the brand while defining the product is always a challenge. We aimed for a human, warmly retro feel that leans into the matchmaking concept.
08 — The outcome
Launched.
Growing.
MTCHMKR is live in beta, with active users engaging with the product. I handed it off to my non-technical co-founders, who continue to evolve it, and I remain an advisor. I also brought on a fractional product leader to help it keep scaling.
