Since the day I arrived, I have been surrounded by the kind of people and experiences I envision CoClub bringing together.
The atmosphere has been incredibly welcoming, with a beautiful garden, a very international group of people and a constant flow of conversations, activities and shared experiences.
CoClub is a platform being built around coliving, so spending several months immersed in one felt like the most practical way to develop it. And it has been exactly that.
One of the first challenges I encountered was getting people to actually use CoClub as part of their weekly routine. I wanted it to become a place where people could check the weekly plans, upload photos and preserve memories from their stay. But I quickly saw that having a feature available and getting people to form a habit around it are two very different things.
That observation directly influenced the product. For example, rather than expecting people to manually upload every photo, I built a feature that allows them to connect a Google Photos link and sync their photos automatically. It was a good reminder that sometimes the better product solution is not asking users to behave differently, but adapting the product to the behaviour they already have.
Another major focus during the first half of the exchange has been refining CoClub’s value proposition. I have been continuously questioning what problem the platform is solving, what makes it valuable for travellers, and why someone would choose CoClub instead of booking directly with a coliving.
This is where the EYE programme, and my host and mentor in particular, have been particularly useful. My host suggested organising a feedback and brainstorming session with the other guests at the coliving. Since they are very close to the target audience I am building for, their feedback was extremely relevant.
We discussed everything from making the main CoClub action more visible and explaining the credit system more clearly, to improving the booking experience and showing users how much they save compared with booking directly. We also questioned some of my existing assumptions, including whether a monthly membership is always the best model or whether credit packs could make more sense for certain users.
Not all of the suggestions will necessarily become part of the product. That is not the goal either. What has been valuable is having the opportunity to put ideas in front of real people, hear their reactions, discuss them with my mentor and then decide what is worth testing.
The exchange has also given me a much better understanding of the experience from the other side. As a community manager, I have joined many of the activities organised at the house and around the area: trips to Sozopol and Nessebar, wine tastings, salsa and bachata classes, boat trips, music and food festivals, volleyball and ping-pong tournaments, and many evenings cooking together and sharing food from different cultures. I even met two people from Sweden, where I normally live.
There have been some practical challenges too. Participating in so many activities, restaurants and trips while also investing my own time and money into an early-stage company has sometimes made me think twice. But those experiences have also been useful for understanding what people actually value when they choose to live and work in a coliving community.
This is where I feel the objectives of the EYE programme are really coming together for me. I am developing CoClub, but I am also learning from an experienced entrepreneur, testing ideas in a real environment, receiving direct feedback and seeing how other people approach running a business.
For the second half of the exchange, I want to build on what I have learned rather than simply continue with the original plan. I will focus on testing the ideas that came out of these conversations, simplifying the CoClub experience and making its value clearer to both travellers and coliving partners.
That is exactly what I hoped an exchange like EYE would give me: the opportunity to build, test, learn and adapt while being surrounded by people who can challenge the way I think about my business.