PlayNet
Pre-Seed
Private deck
←→
Lobby before the lobby
Mutual friends only · No algorithmic feed

PlayNet is the lobby before the lobby
for gamers who actually stack.

Tonight stack cards + squads/guilds + cross‑game identity. Private by default. Built to replace Discord sprawl and LFG roulette - without followers, public profiles, or ads.

180k
gaming IG audience
40M+
views / 90 days
6M+
interactions / 90 days
90
days to ship v1

TL;DR:

  • Problem: Gamers juggle Discord/DMs/in‑game LFG just to figure out who they can actually play with tonight.
  • Solution: PlayNet is the cross‑game "lobby before the lobby" with a Tonight screen and stack cards across all your games.
  • Raise: $750k pre‑seed for 18-24 months of runway; $75k of that powers the first 90 days to ship v1 and prove 1k core stackers + identity monetization.
Founder: Parachute CTO / skunkworks operator (VC "SWAT" fixer). Ex rank‑#1 WoW PvP. 20+ years shipping and rebuilding production systems across social, fintech, ecom and AI.
Thesis
The unit is the stack

The highest‑value behavior in gaming is not "joining a server" - it's forming a durable squad that keeps playing across games.

Every play session starts with the same bottleneck: "Who's on, what are they queueing, and can we fill the right roles fast?" PlayNet is designed to own that pre‑game decision point.

What we believe

  • Coordination is the real choke point: Discord and in‑game tools are chat/match layers, not a "session start" product.
  • Private beats public: gamers want low‑drama, friends‑only spaces - not follower economies and engagement bait.
  • Stack cards are the primary object: the feed is context; Tonight is the home screen.

v1 focus (measurable)

Prove a small, fanatical cohort: open PlayNet before you play → pick a stack card → launch a session.

Why now

Players are paying for identity and coordination

  • Subscriptions are normalized (Discord‑style). Ads aren't required.
  • Cross‑game identity is still broken: status, achievements, and squads don't persist.
  • Open APIs exist for key PC ecosystems - enabling verified profile/trophy sync where users authorize it.
Tonight
LIVE
Valorant Ranked · 3/5
Needs: Controller NAE · Now
Join
WoW Raid · 19/20
Needs: Healer Fri · 8PM
Confirm
Apex Ranked · 4/5
Needs: Support EU · Now
Join
Problem
Fragmented · noisy · low trust

Before you play, you open the wrong apps.

  • Friends are split across Steam, PSN, Xbox, Battle.net, Riot, and Discord servers - none show a single "who's actually down tonight?" view.
  • LFG is roulette: wrong skill, wrong vibe, wrong time zone, flaky sessions, then you do it all again tomorrow.
  • Organizers do unpaid ops: leaders fill roles, ping channels, reconcile calendars, and rebuild rosters every new season/game.
  • Public social is misaligned: followers and algorithms optimize for clout, not coordination and trust.

The moment that matters

Players don't need "more content." They need a fast, reliable answer to:
"Who are we stacking with tonight?"

Why incumbents don't solve it

  • Discord is server-first: chat and communities are great; structured session starts across your graph are not.
  • Platforms are siloed: they optimize for their ecosystem, not cross‑game identity and squads.
  • In‑game tools reset: matchmaking fills a slot once; it doesn't build durable squads or social memory.

A wedge that can win

Own the pre‑game decision point:

a private "Tonight" screen that reliably creates sessions.

Market
High frequency · subscription-native

The opportunity is the social layer on top of games.

PlayNet doesn't compete with games - it compounds them. The value grows as players rotate titles, because squads, identity, and history persist.

Why this can be big

  • High session cadence: the best time to win habit is before every play session.
  • Identity spending is proven: gamers already pay for cosmetics and status.
  • Organizers are "B2B-like" buyers: a minority drives most sessions - and will pay for better tools.

Simple upside math (illustrative)

If a fraction of engaged organizers pay ~$8-12/mo for identity + coordination, revenue scales without ads.

100k
paying users
$10
ARPU / month
~$12M
ARR

Pre‑seed success is not "mass scale." It's proving a small, fanatical core that uses PlayNet as the default lobby.

Who we start with (v1)

  • Core stackers: organizers playing 3+ sessions/week.
  • Open‑API PC ecosystems: Riot / Battle.net / Valve, where we can verify identity/activity when authorized.
  • Squad-based genres: shooters, arenas, MMOs, co‑op raids.
Product
Private by default

PlayNet is a mutual‑friends gamer graph built around Tonight stack cards.

No follower economy. No algorithmic content discovery. Profiles are private - you only see content from mutual friends, squads, or guilds. v1 focuses on open‑API PC ecosystems for verified identity/activity where users authorize it.

Tonight

Pre‑game decision screen

A short, curated list of live and scheduled stacks from close friends and guildmates - optimized for time‑to‑stack.

Identity

Cross‑game player card

Unified identity across authorized platforms: games, roles, ranks, achievements, and play schedule - visible only to mutuals/squads.

Squads & guilds

Organization that persists

Roster + roles, calendar blocks, recruitment, private forums/feeds, and templates that post stack cards in one tap.

Core loop
Tonight · Stack cards

Default loop: open before you boot → pick a stack → play.

The primary object is the stack card (session invite), not a generic post. If Tonight isn't valuable, nothing else matters.

Default player loop (v1)

  • Open PlayNet before launching a game.
  • Tonight shows 3-10 live/scheduled stack cards from close friends, squads, and guilds.
  • Tap a stack card → request/join in under 30 seconds (ready check + quick chat/voice).
  • Launch session → optional recap/clip/achievement context, still friends-only.
Tonight
WAVE 1
Valorant Ranked · 3/5
Needs: Controller NAE · Now
Join
WoW Raid · 19/20
Needs: Healer Fri · 8PM
Confirm
CS2 · 5‑stack · 4/5
Needs: 1 EU · Now
Join
Soft hooks: if nobody posts, Tonight can suggest "3 friends solo queueing right now → tap to spin up a stack."
v1 proof plan
Testable, not vibes

In 3-6 months, success = a small, insanely engaged stacker core.

v1 success metrics (core stackers)

  • 1,000 core stackers (create or join 3+ sessions/week).
  • ≥70% of weekly active stackers hit Tonight 3+ times/week before launching a game.
  • ≥25% of Tonight stack cards shown convert into a launched session with 2+ players.
  • Cohort targets: D7 ≥ 50%, D30 ≥ 35%, DAU/MAU ≥ 60%.

Measurement honesty

We track verified session starts where platforms allow signals, and use engagement proxies (ready checks, joins, time‑in‑stack) where APIs are limited.

Why this de‑risks retention

  • We're proving habit where intent is highest: pre‑game.
  • Organizers create stack inventory; casual players join through the same Tonight screen.
  • If Tonight→session doesn't work, we don't scale distribution - we iterate until it does.

What "win" looks like

"PlayNet becomes a reflex: open before every session, find the right stack instantly, repeat across games."

Wedge & launch
Owned distribution

We don't have a cold start problem. We have a conversion + retention problem - and we can instrument it.

The IG audience is a launchpad to seed the first cohorts and prove the Tonight loop before scaling.

Distribution wedge

  • 180k gaming IG followers.
  • 40M+ views in the last 90 days.
  • 6M+ interactions in the last 90 days.
  • Launch: invite waves + creator squads + full‑stack onboarding into Tonight.

90‑day post‑close targets (directional)

  • 8-10k registered users from owned distribution and cohorts.
  • ~5k MAU with a focus on depth over vanity.
  • Prove 1k core stackers hitting the v1 metrics (Tonight frequency + session conversion).

Why this is credible

Founder has shipped social‑scale infrastructure solo before and is optimizing for extreme cost efficiency - the real bottleneck to launching new networks.

Monetization
Identity infrastructure (no ads)

We sell what gamers already buy - but at the social layer: identity and status that travels across games.

Monetization is native to the Tonight loop: better‑looking stacks and recruitment pages without pay‑to‑win mechanics or algorithmic reach bait.

Core monetization thesis

  • AI‑powered guild & player branding: make squads/guilds look like pro orgs (banners, logo/crest systems, themes).
  • Pro Player Cards: profiles that feel like a premier‑league / TCG card (ranks, roles, animated achievements).
  • Social gear for organizers: stack card skins + richer layouts for recruitment pages that stand out without buying wins.

Important line

Premium improves identity + coordination, not matchmaking outcomes. No "pay to win," no global discovery feed to buy your way into.

Pricing (deck-simple)

$8-12/user/month for the 20-30% who organize

  • Individual premium: $9.99/mo (Discord‑native price point).
  • Team/Guild plans: seat-based or org-based pricing to cover shared branding, recruitment, storage, and tooling.
  • ARPU expansion: add‑ons (highlights, seasonal assets, verified org badges).

Why it works

  • A minority drives the majority of sessions; that minority already spends on identity and status.
  • "Pro org" presence used to require a designer and a web dev - premium removes that friction.
  • Identity surfaces directly where attention is: Tonight stacks, squads, and recruitment.
Defensibility
Compounding social memory

Features are copyable. A habit + compatibility graph is not.

Compounding advantages

  • Compatibility graph: who reliably shows up, who plays well together, role fit, and schedule fit - across games.
  • Persistent squads: groups survive title rotation; switching costs rise naturally.
  • Identity assets: squads/guilds invest in branding and history that lives inside PlayNet.
  • Trust-by-design: mutual friends only and private profiles change behavior - hard to bolt onto public systems.

Why Discord / Steam / Epic don't "just eat it"

  • Discord: optimized for servers/channels; re-architecting around a private identity graph and session-start UX conflicts with server-first incentives.
  • Platforms: walled gardens are structurally misaligned with a true cross‑platform social layer.
  • Timing: once Tonight becomes the reflex and squads accrue history, displacement is much harder.

Principle

Own the pre‑game decision point and the persistent squad, and you own the habit.

Competitive landscape
Different organizing principle

Most tools are optimized for servers, platforms, or one‑off matches. PlayNet is optimized for repeat squads and session starts.

Product What it's great at Where it breaks for players PlayNet wedge
Discord Chat & communities; voice; ubiquity Server sprawl; low structure; not a "Tonight" session-start product Tonight + stack cards + squad memory across games
Steam / PSN / Xbox Platform-native friends & presence Siloed ecosystems; weak cross-platform continuity Unified identity + cross‑platform squads
In‑game LFG Fills a match quickly Resets each session; low trust; no persistence Durable squads + scheduling + history
Generic social Reach & content distribution Clout dynamics; low trust; not play‑intent-driven Mutual-friends-only graph intentionally rejects followers and discovery feeds
Go to market
Cohorts · Organizers · Events

Start with organizers in open‑API PC ecosystems. Prove retention. Then scale.

Launch sequence

  • Wave-based private alpha seeded from IG: invite stack leaders, raid leaders, IGLs, and recruiters first.
  • Start concentrated: 1-2 ecosystems (Battle.net / Riot / Valve) to maximize density and session starts.
  • Bring whole squads: invite links are designed to onboard groups, not solo tourists.
  • Recurring events run through PlayNet (scrim nights, raid blocks, creator stacks) to keep Tonight stocked.

Why this GTM works

  • We replace a universal pre-game pain with a single screen, not "another social app."
  • Organizers create stack inventory; casual users consume it - the same loop serves both.
  • Wave rollouts let us fix activation and Tonight frequency before scaling.

Distribution philosophy

Earn growth by making sessions start consistently. If stacks don't start, growth is wasted.

Roadmap
Build → prove → scale

Execution plan designed for speed and iteration.

0-90 days post‑close

  • Ship v1: Tonight, stack cards, identity sync (open‑API), squads/guild MVP, secure chat.
  • Private alpha waves from IG; instrument Tonight → join → session start.
  • Iterate until v1 proof metrics are met (not "feature complete").

3-6 months

  • Expand to additional titles after density is proven.
  • Monetization v1: pro cards + org branding + stack card skins.
  • Creator cohort playbook + recurring events cadence.

6-12 months

  • Scale cohorts via referrals + creators; optimize retention loops.
  • Deeper guild tooling where it increases session starts (roster analytics, attendance, VOD/strats).
  • Explore deep links / studio integrations as upside - not a dependency.

North star

"PlayNet is the reflex pre‑game screen: open, join a stack, play - across every title."

Team
Founder-led execution

Parachute CTO with uncommon reps in high‑scale systems and consumer product rescue.

Founder

  • Skunkworks / "SWAT" operator for VC portfolios: rebuild teams, architectures, and products under pressure.
  • Built social infrastructure that handled extreme load with extreme cost efficiency (e.g., 100k RPS on a $20 VPS in 2016).
  • Reverse‑engineered private mobile APIs to build a real‑time commerce engine (millions of SKUs scanned, real‑time repricing).
  • Solo-built Humanyze Pulse: a low‑friction, self‑serve product complement to an approvals‑heavy enterprise platform.
  • Ex rank‑#1 WoW PvP for 7+ years; deep lived understanding of guild dynamics and organizer psychology.

What this de‑risks

Build speed, infra cost discipline, and iteration velocity. This round funds polish + cohort GTM - not a bloated team.

What we add post‑close

  • Consumer product design to maximize activation and repeat Tonight usage.
  • Community/growth ops to run cohorts without degrading retention.
  • Selective senior help on platform integrations and security as needed.

Operating style

Build lean, instrument everything, prove the loop, then scale. No wasted headcount.

The raise
Pre‑Seed SAFE

Raising to ship v1 in 90 days, prove Tonight, and validate identity monetization.

Round

  • Target: $750k pre‑seed on a SAFE (flexible up to ~$1.2M for high‑leverage partners).
  • Target cap: $6-7.5M (range based on partner value).
  • Runway target: 18-24 months while staying lean.

Use of funds (what the money buys)

  • Ship + iterate v1: Tonight, stack cards, squads/guild MVP, identity sync, secure chat.
  • Activation + retention: onboarding, notifications, and Tonight ranking tuned for repeat sessions.
  • Cohort GTM: wave rollouts + creator squads + recurring events to keep Tonight stocked.
  • Infra + security: scalable, efficient backend and safety.

Milestones to earn the next round

  • Hit v1 proof metrics: 1,000 core stackers (3+ sessions/week) with D7 ≥ 50%, D30 ≥ 35%.
  • Prove Tonight → session conversion with verified signals where possible.
  • Validate monetization: first paying users for pro cards / org branding at ~$8-12/user/mo.

Next step

If this matches your thesis (consumer social + gaming + subscriptions):

Contact: gjore@coder.band
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