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I built a search engine for an industry that didn't have one
Everyone's building AI wrappers right now so let me be clear this is not that
There's a whole world of aviation most people don't know about. Smaller jets, private terminals, no security lines, you just walk on. It's been growing fast and the people who fly this way are obsessed with it. The experience genuinely ruins commercial for you
The crazy thing is there's been no way to search for these flights. Every airline has its own website and that's it. No aggregator, no comparison tool, nothing. In 2026. For an industry doing millions in revenue
So I built @Aviato . One search across every semi-private airline. Real prices, real flights, click and book. The Kayak for an industry that never had one
Month 1 update: 2K visitors, real bookings, still stuck on growth
Quick recap if you missed it: semi-private airlines don't show up on Google Flights or anywhere. I built the only search engine that aggregates all of them in one place. One person, no funding.
Here's where I'm at after month one:
Over 2,000 people have visited the app. Multiple people have clicked through and actually booked flights through the airlines. Revenue model is CPC so I get paid on those click-throughs. The product clearly works. When people find it they use it.
But growth is still my biggest challenge. Most of that traffic came from posting on here and a couple other communities. I don't have a repeatable channel yet. SEO is slow, paid ads feel risky for something this niche, and I'm still figuring out whether to go directly to the airlines for partnerships or focus on content.
I fly a lot and commercial has genuinely ruined flying for me so I built something
ok real talk
I travel constantly and at some point flying just became dreadful? Like airlines will tell you a flight is $180 and then by the time you add a bag, pick a seat that isn't a middle seat in the back next to the bathroom, and god forbid try to bring your dog, you're at $300+ and you haven't even gotten to the airport yet
and then you GET to the airport. two hours early. Shoes off. water confiscated. elbow war with a stranger for three hours. even first class can't save you from that part. You're still in the same chaotic terminal as everyone else just with slightly better snacks
Anyway, I stumbled onto semi private flying a while back and I genuinely could not believe it was real. You pull up, park for free literally outside the door, walk in, board in 15 minutes, and suddenly you're on a small beautiful plane getting served champagne with your dog sitting next to you
Flying used to be cool. We're helping bring that back.
Flying used to be an event.
People dressed up for it. The seats were wide. The food was real. You walked across the tarmac and up the stairs and felt like you were doing something kind of glamorous. Even if you were just going to Cleveland.
Now? Now you pay $400 to sit in a seat designed by someone who hates the human body. You board by group number like cattle. There's a fee for your bag. A fee for picking your seat. They'd charge you to breathe the cabin air if they could figure out how to meter it. The whole experience has been engineered to extract the maximum amount of money while delivering the minimum amount of dignity.
I got tired of it. So I started looking into alternatives and discovered something that genuinely shocked me: semi-private flights exist, they fly 40+ routes across the US, and some of them cost $200.
Aviato - Compare semi private flights all in one place
Job hunting is brutal right now - let’s talk about it
Being unemployed or between jobs is tough enough, but interviews can make it even harder: unclear processes, long waits, or unfair treatment. That s why I created LinkedOut - a place to vent, share stories, and hold companies accountable.
If you re in the job hunt phase now, what s one thing you wish companies would do better?


