Wavely
Designing a smarter
coffee chat network
From cold DMs to weekly ripple conversations.
Networking started to feel pretty pointless
In my last years of school, I knew I was "supposed" to network. But every LinkedIn message felt cold and pointless. I opened LinkedIn, tried to reach out, and froze—who do I message, what do I say, and why would they reply? After a few unanswered DMs and hearing the same frustration from students, new grads, and busy professionals, I started Wavely as a way to redesign that experience.
How can I improve online networking?
Design goals
Make each coffee chat clearly scoped
and mutually valuable instead of vague.
Fit realistically into busy schedules
and fluctuating social energy.
Let one good chat naturally
trigger the next helpful connection.
Wavely is a weekly coffee chat network that cuts out cold DMs and endless feeds, matching you with one helpful person at a time and letting each good chat lead to the next.
Step 1
Complete onboarding survey: Ask + Give
Why it matters
During onboarding, users answer two core questions:
What do you want? and What can you offer?
Answers are used to match people based on mutual needs and strengths, so conversations start with clearer intent and feel more balanced.
Step 2
Weekly opt-in to join a chat
Why it matters
Traditional networking platforms are filled with pending messages and low reply rates.
Instead, Wavely requires users to actively opt in each week to join a chat.
This weekly opt-in creates clearer intent, reduces inbox pressure, and increases response rates—since each wave includes only one conversation.
Step 3
Get matched and see what you have in common
We surface shared interests and relevant ways your match can help, based on both profiles, to make starting the conversation easier.
Why it matters
Showing common ground upfront removes the "cold start" problem.
Users can begin conversations with context, leading to higher open rates and more natural first messages.
Step 4
Chat and refer to grow the ripple network
After a good conversation, users can refer their match to others in their network. It allows meaningful chats to naturally lead to new ones.
Why it matters
Every connection in the network is built on a real conversation first.
Unlike traditional platforms with shallow or inactive connections, referrals on Wavely are grounded in trust, familiarity, and shared context.
Search → Interact → Chat
Users search using keywords and tags. When no exact match exists, AI expands the search by matching related terms and synonyms.
