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Sapphi

Pre-product validation and experiential launch for a queer dating app.

Strategy
Experiential
GTM
Cultural
Sapphi — Pre-product validation and experiential launch for a queer dating app.
Outcome

Generated 300+ attendees within one week of promotion, timed to Pride, amplifying cultural relevance and community turnout

What I owned
01

Translated brand values into a real-world community moment ahead of product launch

02

Negotiated and managed venue partnership directly with club management, coordinating logistics and contracts on behalf of the founder

03

Spearheaded pre/post research synthesis to shape the product roadmap

The business challenge

Lesbian and non-binary users see existing hookup apps as unsafe and misaligned with how they actually want to meet people.

Launching cold, with screenshots, would have inherited that distrust.

Sapphi campaign in the wild, supporting still
Sapphi — work in context 1
Sapphi — work in context 2
The strategic insight

Trust and privacy matter as much as desire.

Before product adoption, the brand needed validation through lived experience.

The solution

De-risked the launch through Pre-Product Validation, proving the brand promise of trust, safety, and belonging in the real world before the app shipped.

Impact

Architected the queer-forward Brooklyn Fruit Exchange to centre community over conversion. Music, space, and visible safety infrastructure mirrored what the product would deliver, making trust and belonging tangible before the app existed. Booked a roster of queer and trans DJs whose presence made the space feel culturally specific.

200+

Qualified leads in one week

300+

Attendees with one-week lead time

Direct

Insights shaping the product roadmap

In their words
Pei has a brilliant mind for creative, both digital and in-person. She's great at developing partnerships and sees her strategic vision through to the very end.
Christopher Chang, Founder, Sapphi