Coursed

The Idea

Coursed is a purpose-built booking and guest ops platform for underground supper clubs, pop-up dinner operators, and chef collectives. It replaces Instagram DMs + Venmo + Google Forms with a branded seat-booking page, Stripe ticketing, dietary restriction intake, automated SMS/email reminders, and a returning guest roster — built entirely around the tasting-menu dinner format no existing tool understands.

The Problem You Solve

Pop-up dinner operators are running real businesses through the wrong tools. A chef hosting a 12-seat tasting dinner at $150/head collects money via Venmo, manages dietary restrictions via DM, sends reminders manually, and has no record of who attended or what they said they can't eat. Every event is a logistical scramble. They want the professionalism of a proper reservation system without the restaurant POS overhead — and nothing built for them exists. Eventbrite takes 6–8% and treats them like a concert. Tock and Resy are built for brick-and-mortar restaurants. The underground dining community is large (hundreds of active operators in every major city), tight-knit, and completely underserved.

Core Features (MVP)

• Operator profile + branded event listing page (custom slug, cover photo, menu description, seat count)
• Timed-release ticketing with hard seat cap (e.g., "12 seats at $150 each, release Friday at noon")
• Stripe Checkout with deposit vs. full-pay split option (e.g., $50 deposit now, $100 at door)
• Guest intake form: dietary restrictions, allergies, plus-one names, occasion (birthday, anniversary), referral source
• Automated SMS reminders via Twilio: 1 week out, 1 day out, day-of with address/parking
• Automated post-dinner thank-you + short feedback prompt via SMS
• Guest roster CRM: full history per guest across all events, dietary notes, attendance count, birthday
• Operator dashboard: revenue summary per event, seat fill rate, waitlist management, payout schedule

Pricing

• Free tier: 1 active event at a time, 5% platform fee on ticket revenue — zero friction to try
• Pro ($49/month): Unlimited events, 2% platform fee, full guest CRM, automated SMS flows, waitlist
• Studio ($99/month): Multi-operator support (chef collectives, rotating pop-up series), 1% fee, custom domain, co-host revenue splitting

Tech Stack

• Next.js + Supabase + Vercel (frontend + auth + database)
• Stripe Checkout + Connect (ticketing, payouts to operators)
• Twilio (SMS reminders and confirmations)
• Resend (transactional email)

How to Build MVP

1. Week 1: Supabase schema (operators, events, tickets, guests), Stripe Checkout integration, basic event listing page
2. Week 2: Operator dashboard, intake form builder, seat cap and waitlist logic
3. Week 3: Twilio SMS reminders pipeline, Resend email flows for confirmation + post-event feedback
4. Week 4: Guest roster CRM with dietary notes and history, Pro tier gating via Stripe billing
5. Week 5–6: Polish, dogfood with 3–5 real operators, fix edge cases before public launch

How to Get First Customers

• Search Instagram for #supperclub, #popupdinner, #undergrounddinner, #chefstable — hundreds of active operators post here weekly
• DM 50 operators: "I built a free tool for pop-up dinner seat booking — no Venmo chaos, automatic dietary collection, SMS reminders. Want early access before I charge for it?"
• Post in culinary communities: r/KitchenConfidential, r/finedining, chef Facebook groups, Culinary Agents
• Target chef collectives in dense cities (LA, NYC, Chicago, Austin, Portland, SF) — they host multiple events per month and have the most pain
• Offer 3 launch partner operators free Pro for life in exchange for honest feedback and a testimonial

Revenue Math

• 50 operators on Pro ($49/month) = $2,450 MRR
• 10 operators on Studio ($99/month) = $990 MRR
• Platform fees: operators collectively sell $200k/month in tickets at avg 2% fee = $4,000/month
• Total at moderate scale: ~$7,440/month
• Path to $10k+: 100 Pro operators + natural ticket volume growth as operators host more frequently
• Path to $15k: Add catering/private event module; cooking class hosts, private chef dinners expand the TAM significantly

Why This Is Different

No tool is purpose-built for this format. The underground/pop-up dining community is tight-knit — operators know each other and talk. One power-user operator in a city becomes a word-of-mouth engine for the whole scene. The guest CRM with cross-event dietary history is genuinely valuable data operators have never had before and can't get from generic tools. The 5% free tier creates organic, zero-cost growth. Charging less than Eventbrite (2% vs 6–8%) while offering far better tooling is a straightforward wedge.

Path to Quitting Day Job

• Month 1–2: MVP live, 5 beta operators on free Pro
• Month 3–4: 20 paying operators, $1,500/month from subscriptions + fees
• Month 6: 60 operators across 5–6 cities, $4,500/month
• Month 9: 120 operators + growing ticket volume, $8–10k/month — this is the crossover point
• Month 12: Launch catering/private event module, push past $15k/month, consider city ambassador program

Risks & Mitigations

• Niche market ceiling: Supper clubs alone may top out at a few hundred operators nationally. Mitigation: cooking class hosts, private chef experiences, and pop-up cocktail bars all have identical workflows — same product, wider TAM.
• Seasonal churn: Some operators are seasonal or slow down. Mitigation: guest CRM data is sticky — operators won't want to lose their guest history and notes.
• Operator acquisition takes time: This is a manual outreach game at first. Mitigation: the free tier eliminates objections and each paying operator de-risks your time investment.

Why This Works for You Specifically

You can build the entire stack solo — Next.js, Supabase, Stripe Connect, Twilio, Resend. The customer acquisition path is Instagram DMs and Reddit, not enterprise sales cycles. Your interest in local food culture and community-based businesses means you understand the operator's world instinctively. Platform fees on ticket volume create passive revenue that grows without adding more customers. The free tier drives bottom-up adoption with zero paid acquisition budget.

First Action

Search Instagram for #supperclub right now. Find 5 operators with active event posts in the last 30 days. Read their bios and how they're currently handling reservations (almost always "DM to reserve" or a Google Form link). DM each one: "I'm building a free seat-booking tool for pop-up dinners — handles payments, dietary intake, and SMS reminders automatically. Would you try it free?" Confirm real demand before writing a line of code.