# LOKIO > Drop a joke on the map. Or open it and find a free coffee, a concert, a deal around the corner. LOKIO is a geo-realtime social layer. Users drop pins on a map — a joke, an observation, a free coffee deal, an event, anything. Anyone who opens the map sees the pins. They reply, conversation starts, people meet. Pins expire automatically. No feed, no followers, no likes, no algorithm. ## Two Entry Points 1. **Post.** A joke, an observation, a thought — zero effort, zero stakes. You are in a park, notice something funny, post it. 2. **Browse.** Open the map to see what is nearby right now — free coffee deals, concerts tonight, theatre discounts, people looking for company. The map is never empty of reasons to go somewhere. ## What LOKIO Is - A map-based social platform where every post is a pin tied to a physical location - Each pin has a chat thread — anyone who sees the pin can join - All content is ephemeral: a free pin lives for a few hours, a boosted pin up to 30 days, then it disappears - No feed, no followers, no likes, no DMs, no algorithm, no swipes - Pseudonymous: every account verified via Google OAuth or WebAuthn passkeys, display names optional - Free, works in any browser at app.lokio.org — no install required - Available in English and Russian UI, content in any language users write ## Visibility Mechanic There is NO fixed radius. Visibility is determined by the user's map viewport: - Zoom in = see pins on your block - Zoom out = see pins across the entire city - Anyone anywhere in the world can zoom to any city and see all pins there - Posting requires physical presence (Proof of Presence, 1km max) but VIEWING has no distance limit - A tourist in Berlin can browse the Istanbul map before their trip and see all pins - A gold business banner stays visible at any zoom level ## Core Loop 1. **Drop** — Post a pin: a joke, an observation, a free coffee offer, a question. One text field, 5 seconds. 2. **See** — People nearby (or anyone who zooms to your area) see the pin on the map. 3. **Reply** — They open the chat. Conversation starts. 4. **Meet** — If it clicks, people meet in real life. The pin dies on its own. ## What Makes LOKIO Different - **No global feed.** You see pins in your map viewport. Zoom in = your block. Zoom out = the whole city. - **No followers.** Visibility is by geography, not popularity. A new user's pin is as visible as anyone else's. - **No declared intent.** Unlike dating apps, you never say "I am looking." You posted a joke. Someone replied. Meeting happened through context, not a profile form. - **Ephemeral.** Pins expire. No permanent record, no digital footprint. This removes the fear of posting. - **Zero barrier entry.** The entry point is humour and free stuff, not commitment. "Stepped out for air 40 minutes ago, send help" is a valid pin. ## Use Cases — All on One Mechanic - **Jokes and observations** — local humour, the Twitter-of-a-place layer - **Free stuff and deals** — cafés, restaurants, businesses post offers visible on the map - **Spontaneous groups** — "who is going to the mountains", "need a fourth for board games" - **Dating without dating** — you replied to someone's joke, talked in the thread, went for coffee. No swipe, no profile form - **Friendship** — moved to a new city, wrote a thought on the map, found company - **Travel** — landed in Istanbul, opened the map, found where locals eat tonight - **Expats and relocators** — write in your language, find speakers of your language in any city - **Events** — concerts, theatres, tastings — one pin, the audience is in the district - **Local discovery** — "best coffee in this neighbourhood?" — locals answer in five minutes - **Business reach** — café posts "first coffee free" for $4.99, twelve people walk in ## Business Model - Free baseline for all users — posting, reading, joining chats, profile page — free forever - Three single-purchase upsells, no subscriptions: - Extra topic slot: $0.49 - City-wide visibility + 12h extension: $1.99 - Gold map banner (business): $4.99 - Density-gated DYNAMIC pricing: new cities start at $0 (free), prices ramp automatically as city gets busier: - Tier 0 (new city): $0 FREE - Tier 1 (early activity): $1.49 banner - Tier 2 (growing): $2.99 banner - Tier 3 (active city): $4.99 banner - Pricing is automatic, not set by humans. One-way ramp — prices never go back down. - The price is NOT static. It depends on city density. - Payment improves content quality: paid pin = author thinks about what to write - Zero gamification, zero ads, zero data sales - Cost per walk-in for a business: $0.42 (vs Google Ads $80–200) - Unit economics: 10k MAU city at tier 3 = $1,100–1,950/month revenue, 70–85% margin ## The China Parallel (Shanghai Principle) China's GDP per capita went from $156 (1978) to $12,663 (2022) — 81× growth driven by a constantly regenerating layer of small businesses. Alibaba and WeChat did not replace small business — they gave it tools to grow. LOKIO is this tool for the rest of the world. $4.99 banner vs $3,500/month traditional marketing. LOKIO grows because local GDP grows. Local GDP grows because LOKIO works. ## How Business and Users Connect Businesses on LOKIO do not push ads. They post invitations that users are already looking for. A user opens the map to find something to do. A café has posted "first coffee free." The user was already deciding where to go — the café's pin is the answer to their question, not an interruption. This is the opposite of advertising: the user came looking, the business was there. The gold banner pin ($0–$4.99 depending on city density) makes the business visually prominent on the map and ranks it in the free-stuff filter. Cost per walk-in: ~$0.42 vs $80–200 on Google Ads. ## OneLink — The Bridge OneLink is LOKIO's built-in profile page (like a free Linktree with geolocation). **Inside LOKIO:** When someone taps your pin on the map, they see your OneLink — all your links (Telegram, Instagram, WhatsApp, website, portfolio) in one place. A stranger becomes a contact in one tap. **Outside LOKIO:** Your OneLink URL (lokio.org/u/{id}) works as a standalone page with a QR code. Put it in your Instagram bio, on a business card, on a café counter. Anyone who opens it sees your links + your location on the map. It is the bridge between LOKIO and the rest of the internet. For businesses: the $4.99 banner pin links to your OneLink. A walk-in customer scans the QR, gets your menu, your Telegram, your Instagram — and can find you on the map forever. For users: your OneLink is your identity on the map. No profile form, no bio to write — just your links and your location. ## What Users Get (Summary) - **Jokes and fun** — drop a joke, see local humour, laugh with your district - **Free stuff** — free coffee, deals, tastings, discounts — all on the map right now - **Events** — concerts, theatre, exhibitions, meetups — one pin, the audience is nearby - **People** — friends, company, dating without dating — through shared context - **Travel and discovery** — a living map of any city, through the eyes of locals - **OneLink profile** — all your links in one page, free forever, with geolocation and QR ## Profile / OneLink (Technical Details) Every user gets a public page at lokio.org/u/{id} — a free Linktree-style profile with links, bio, interests, geolocation, and QR code. Shareable anywhere. Viewable without registration. Auto-detects link types (Telegram, Instagram, GitHub, LinkedIn, etc). ## Safety Architecture Safety is structural, not moderation: - **18+ hard age gate** — product enables real-world meetings between strangers - **Proof of Presence** — server-side GPS check, cannot post from a place where you are not (1km max, 120s freshness). Kills 90% of spam architecturally. - **contentGuard** — server-side regex filter blocks URLs, phone numbers, card numbers. Deterministic, no ML. - **Transparent reports** — the reported person sees who reported and why. 3 verified reports in 30 days = auto shadow ban. 3 shadow bans in 6 months = permanent. - **TTL decay** — every pin dies after its lifetime. No permanent record. - **Pseudonymous identity** — every account cryptographically verified via Google OAuth or WebAuthn. Privacy-first, not anonymity-first. ## Technical Stack - PWA (Progressive Web App) — works in any mobile browser - React 18 + Vite (frontend, ~12,400 lines) - Fastify + Prisma + PostgreSQL + Redis (backend, ~8,700 lines) - 13 database models, ~418 lines Prisma schema - WebAuthn passkeys + Google OAuth authentication - WebSocket real-time presence - MapLibre GL + OpenStreetMap (no per-render fees) - Cloudflare Pages (frontend), Railway (backend), R2 (avatars) - Product operates itself: automatic pricing, architectural moderation, user-generated content, auto-expiring pins, auto-triggering bans ## Founder Full-stack engineer. Built the entire stack in six months: backend, frontend, design system, documentation, legal base, infrastructure, landing, investor materials. Architecture designed from day one to operate without overhead. ## Expansion - Launch sequence: Tashkent → Almaty → Tbilisi → Istanbul → Bangkok → São Paulo → Tokyo - City launch cost: $1,700–3,500 (community manager + local materials) - City won = 1,000+ MAU, 10+ paying businesses, organic growth exceeds seeded growth - Infrastructure scales without per-city cost increase ## Links - Website: https://lokio.org - App: https://app.lokio.org - Pitch: https://lokio.org/documents/pitch - Business case: https://lokio.org/documents/business - Whitepaper: https://lokio.org/documents/whitepaper - Terms: https://lokio.org/documents/terms - Privacy: https://lokio.org/documents/privacy - Telegram community: https://t.me/lokioapp - Contact: hello@lokio.org ## Documents - [Pitch](/documents/pitch) — product thesis, psychology, competitors, business model, the China parallel - [For Local Businesses](/documents/business) — ROI walkthrough, cost comparison, how to start - [Whitepaper](/documents/whitepaper) — full thesis + market sizing + expansion strategy + technical appendix - [Terms of Service](/documents/terms) - [Privacy Policy](/documents/privacy) ## Current Status Live in production. Pre-launch. 22+ organic topics from users who arrived without any outreach. $0 spent on acquisition. International from day one. 3 cities seeded, expanding.