Bronix

We’ve been comparing a few niche communities with stronger habits, clearer problems, and better market signals. Here, Soon...

Last week, we shared that Walkable’s CPI tests gave us a pretty clear signal: this probably isn’t the direction we should force. Since then, we’ve been exploring a few new directions around niche communities with very specific real-world behaviors. Some are built around tools, movement, and outdoor decision-making. Some are tied to expensive hobbies where trust, safety, and routine matter a lot. And some are about people who take preparedness much more seriously than the average person. Different worlds, but the same pattern: strong habits, clear pain points, and communities that already spend money to solve problems. This week is about narrowing the field, talking to the right users, and understanding which problem has the strongest pull...

Not every idea survives the test. Walkable didn’t pass the CPI benchmark, but it helped us narrow the next move down to three promising audiences. Back to building.

Well… the CPI tests humbled us a little 😭 After spending the week analyzing the numbers, we realized something pretty quickly: instead of forcing this app idea further, it probably makes more sense for us to move on to a new one entirely. And honestly? That’s not even a bad feeling. One thing Growth Lab is teaching us fast is that getting attached to an idea is dangerous. Sometimes the best outcome from testing is simply realizing: “okay… this probably isn’t the one.” The fun part is that we’re already discussing new concepts that feel way more exciting from both a product and growth perspective. Nothing finalized yet, but the conversations this week were genuinely some of the best we’ve had so far. So for now, more chaotic whiteboard sessions...

This week was a big one for Walkable. We officially launched Walkable V2, redesigned parts of the routing system, and kept pushing the app closer to what we originally imagined it could feel like. One of the biggest updates was around lighting data. We built a new dataset focused on street lighting across supported cities, then used it to improve how Walkable Scores are calculated. Turns out lighting changes the feeling of a route a lot more than we expected. We also updated route recommendations to better match different situations: sometimes you want the fastest route, sometimes you just want the route that feels better. So routes are now split into Comfort and Time modes. We also shipped a bunch of map UI improvements after reading through user feedback (keep it coming pls 🫶) And on the growth side, we started running CPI tests for Version 1 together with Scate AI, which has been both exciting and slightly humbling 😄 Still a lot to improve. But Walkable is starting to feel more and more real every week.

Updats from the last week: - Version 2 went live - Lightning data is added to the dataset for each city - Scoring mechanism now includes and is affected by lightning data - Routes are categorized as the Fastest and Comfortable - UI improvements based on the user feedbacks - High CPI observed, team is running new ideation

Big update from our side! Our first official campaign is now live, and the traction has been amazing. Right now, we’re analyzing onboarding flows and paywall conversions to improve the user experience and reduce churn. We’ve expanded our coverage to 27 cities across 15 countries in Europe, with 100+ cities now live in the US as well. A lot more coming soon. 🌍

One thing we’ve learned very quickly: building the product is only half the job. Understanding how people actually move through it is the other half. Over the past week, we’ve been spending a lot of time watching user behavior, testing assumptions, and identifying where people feel friction inside the app. Some things worked exactly how we imagined. Some definitely didn’t 😄 That’s probably the most exciting part of this whole process. We’re also continuing to scale the infrastructure behind Walkable. Our map database now covers 250+ cities, and we’re constantly improving how routes are evaluated and surfaced across different regions. A lot of the work right now is invisible to users but it’s the kind of work that makes the product stronger long term. Until next time!!!

We added heatmap integration. Ran AI on street-level data. Built a full dataset. Now we cover most of the US, and major cities in Europe. All integrated into the map. Better routes, Better scores, Better UX!

It’s been around 8–9 days since Walkable went live, and we’ve been in full iteration mode since then. We’ve been focusing on improving the experience, listening closely to user feedback, and preparing the next set of updates. We’ll also be sharing a video of what we worked on this week, a bit more behind the scenes on what’s been going on 👀 Next up: shipping updates based on our latest tests ❤️ Also… we may or may not have printed Walkable t-shirts this week. (felt cute might delete later?) More to come!!!!

What if your route wasn’t just faster, but safer? 📍 We built Walkable, a safe route planner designed for moments when getting somewhere isn’t the only priority. Whether you’re in a new city, walking late at night, or just want to feel more comfortable on your way, Walkable helps you choose routes that feel right, not just the quickest ones. This is the idea we brought to the championship — and it got us into the top 6 and into the Growth Lab phase. Right now, we’re focused on improving, testing, and scaling Walkable with real user feedback. It’s still early, but we think navigation can be more than just getting from A to B. Walk safer, not just faster. 🟢

We spent most of this week making things actually work. Set up the SDKs, connected subscription methods, and had our fair share of back-and-forth with Apple along the way. Walkable is now live (on the second try… which we’ll take 😅). We also had our first growth session with Scate AI. Lots of ideas, lots of “okay we need to rethink this”. Meanwhile, we’ve been working on new updates in the background. Planning to ship a new version next week, pretty excited about that 👀