How We Find Like-minded People to Do things With

Have you ever imagined what it would be like to work at a tech startup, building strong friendships, and feeling a deep sense of community, only to be suddenly hit with mass layoffs? Well, you probably didn’t imagine or dream of layoffs. Unfortunately, for many, this is not just a nightmare scenario, but a harsh reality. In the first half of 2023 alone, hundreds of thousands of tech workers have found themselves laid off and locked out of companies that had been their main source of income and social community.

As someone who has experienced this firsthand, I know the feeling of being suddenly cut off from everything you know and care about. In my case, it all started in 2018, when I read “5 Dysfunctions of a Team”. The book was supposed to help me become a better team player and employee at my startup, but it ended up opening my eyes to the fact that I needed to leave my eight-year relationship. By the end of 2019, she had moved out, and I was facing a difficult time in my life. But little did I know, things were about to get much worse.

Just a month later, I received an unexpected 1:1 invite from my manager on a Monday morning. The company was going through its third round of layoffs, and this time, I was one of the casualties. In a matter of minutes, I was locked out of everything, and my sense of community was shattered. The company I had been at for ~6 years, that had preached non-stop about community and family had shown me that at the end of the day, it was just a job.

As if this wasn’t enough, COVID hit just a month later, and I found myself struggling to keep in touch with friends and family. Then, I got sick. Not with COVID, but with an autoimmune disease I had been battling since I was 14. I was at my lowest point, in the hospital about to start immunosuppressants during a pandemic, unemployed, and alone.

But with time, I managed to pick myself up. I found a new job that paid almost double my previous salary, and my new medications had me feeling stable. I was eager to rebuild my community, and I started by re-engaging on social media and reaching out to friends and family. When I felt ready, I tried dating apps, hoping to find someone to connect with. However, I found them to be isolating and exploitative. I just wanted to find someone to do things with, but every platform seemed to fall short.

Why was it so difficult to find like-minded people to do things with? 

I started with some research and apparently, it’s a common experience that many people can relate to. According to a recent study by the American Psychological Association, loneliness and social isolation are on the rise, with nearly 1 in 4 adults in the U.S. reporting feelings of loneliness. And it’s not just a problem in the U.S. A global survey by the BBC found that over 40% of respondents felt lonely “often” or “very often.”

That’s when my search for a better platform began. If a problem this big exists then there has to be countless great platforms with impactful solutions. But there aren’t any, or any good ones. The ones that claim to be the exact thing I look for are either clear scams or half baked ideas backed by serious VC money. 

With my background in data engineering and my experience at a well-backed startup, I knew exactly what users like myself were looking for and what pitfalls to avoid.

So I got to work, and with the encouragement of a few friends, I created Owting – a platform that puts the focus on in-person connections and helps people go out and do things with old and new friends. 

Check out Owting on the Apple and Google stores. Ditch the online interest groups and pen-pals, make real in person connections with us!