Scaling Flynt to hundreds of users, from Alpha to Beta

Flynt started as an experiment to make professional connections feel more human. Instead of building another social platform obsessed with visibility, we wanted to create genuine one-to-one introductions between people who could actually learn from each other. That was Flynt Alpha. Twenty early users. A lot of hand-holding throughout the process. Reacting quickly to fixing bugs, and a lot of learning about what makes professional connection meaningful. Now we’re moving from Alpha to Beta. Turning that small, handcrafted experiment into something that can support hundreds of users whilst keeping the same sense of care and quality. We now scale Flynt to hundreds of people because dozens have told us this solves a real problem in their lives.

Learning from what Alpha taught us

The past two weeks have been all about stability and reliability. Alpha surfaced a few bugs and user issues. From performance hiccups to calendar invites landing in spam folders. We’ve spent this time fixing those problems and refining the bits of the product that matter most, so every interaction feels smooth and dependable. One thing we’ve learned, once people have a match, they get it. The experience itself is strong enough that most forget the small bugs entirely. Alpha served its purpose, it made it possible for Ivan and I to prove that this a true need and solving it will make people's lives more rewarding in some meaningful way.

Features we added during Alpha

We've been reacting quickly to feedback and continuing to build on our vision for Flynt. In the three months we ran alpha, we both fixed things and shipped new features. Here are some of the features we introduced during Alpha:

• Calendar availability check — Users can find the right Friday and time to have their first meeting
• Company pages — Learn more about where your match is working, how many Flynt users work there
• Badges — Learn more about your matches based on achievements they've had on Flynt
• Challenges — Continue to grow and learn more about yourself as professional, share it with your matches
• Rich match profile — See more information about your match before you meet them
• Post match feedback — Share feedback about your match so we can learn more about your preferences
• VIP passes —invite others you really respect professionally to join Flynt and skip the waitlist
• Better onboarding — Enrich your profile quickly and thoughtfully when you join Flynt
• Match prep emails — We'll email you information to help you prepare for your match ahead of it hapenning

The list is longer than this, but these feel like the most significant to highlight.

Building the foundation for scale

We know with certainty that people want to use Flynt. Beta is now about taking that insight and building something that can scale without losing what makes it feel special. We’re creating a platform that can handle growth reliably and intelligently, whilst keeping its human core intact. We’re already onboarding dozens of new users each week. By the end of November, Flynt will be running at full Beta pace, matching hundreds of professionals every month.

Developing smarter, more personal matching

Matching is the heart of Flynt. In Beta, we’re continuing to invest in our in-house machine learning system, built by my co-founder Ivan. It learns from every introduction, picking up on the traits and timing that make great matches work. We're also finding the right balance between what should be powered my machine learning versus boosted by a large language model. While Flynt is an AI product, there are various shapes of intelligence underneath the surface. We're building a robust infrastructure and business around cutting edge technology. This lets us scale thoughtfully. Each new user helps Flynt understand people better and makes the whole network more intelligent with every match. Whilst maintaining costs at a healthy level, enabling us to scale quickly and keep Flynt accessible to most people for as long as we can.

Making onboarding simpler and more welcoming

We’ve iterated on the experience when people join so it feels clear, quick and human. Better onboarding means higher match quality and a smoother experience for everyone coming in each week. As we grow, this helps new members understand what Flynt’s about, set their intentions and connect with people who genuinely align. Importantly, we're going to be handling more data, so we want to be as rigorous as we can with the information we hold. When people join Flynt, we'll make clear what our commitment to them is and what we expect from them as members of our community too.

Strengthening performance and reliability

Behind the scenes, we’ve been evolving parts of Flynt’s infrastructure. These improvements make the platform faster, more stable and ready for hundreds of active users, matches, thousands of updates, notifications across the whole user base. Reliability is fundamental for scaling. A reliable platform means we can focus on making Flynt better. Every message sent, match made, piece of feedback, they will all helps us refine how Flynt performs in the real world.

Bringing conversations inside Flynt

One of the features we're building next is user messaging. Many of our users want to be able to contact their match before they meet, in case they're running a bit late or to stay in touch after their meeting has taken place. This will let people keep their conversations going directly within the platform rather than jumping to other tools. Messaging is an important step towards Flynt becoming a complete space for professional connection. Where discovery, conversation and collaboration all happen in one place.

Preparing for what’s next

The shift from Alpha to Beta is more than just a milestone. It’s the foundation for how Flynt will grow in the months ahead. Personally, I'm also really proud of the confidence it's given us to know that we have permission to keep building a generational company and product that we believe people will love. By the end of November, Flynt will be fully in Beta. Onboarding, matching and supporting hundreds of professionals in meaningful one-to-one conversations. We’re not scaling for the sake of numbers. We’re scaling to prove that technology can support connection that feels personal, valuable and real.

Join the Flynt movement

If you believe professional connection can be more than a numbers game, we’d love to have you in Beta. Flynt is growing week by week, with new members joining from across design, technology, science, and entrepreneurship. Join the waitlist, explore Beta, and help shape the future of a more human kind of professional network. Each new member helps Flynt get smarter, stronger, and closer to its goal: making meaningful connection simple again.