Hi Product Hunt! I'm Kedar, the solo founder and developer behind RidgeHQ — an AI-powered operating system for activity businesses. After nearly 20 years in software engineering, I found myself at a turning point in March 2026 when my last contract ended. The technology landscape was changing rapidly, especially with the rise of AI and agentic development. Instead of waiting for the next opportunity, I decided to create one. I challenged myself to build a complete, production-focused SaaS platform using modern engineering practices, AI-assisted development, and agentic workflows. That's how RidgeHQ was born. The Problem We're Solving Dive centers, surf schools, kitesurf schools, outdoor operators, and rental businesses often manage their daily operations across disconnected tools: - Spreadsheets for scheduling - WhatsApp for communication - Separate calendars for instructors - Paper forms and waivers - Different systems for bookings and payments - Manual tracking for equipment and resources The problem isn't simply accepting bookings. It's everything that happens after someone makes a booking. Which instructor is available? Is the equipment ready? Has everyone signed their waiver? Are the weather conditions suitable? Has the customer paid? When these answers live in separate systems, operators spend valuable time coordinating information instead of running their businesses. What I Built RidgeHQ brings these operations into one connected platform. It includes: - Booking & Scheduling — Online bookings, activity calendars, session management, and resource allocation. - Staff & Equipment Management — Instructor assignments, equipment availability, maintenance, and operational planning. - Customer Management — Participant profiles, certifications, digital waivers, and booking history. - Payments & Operations — Point of sale, Stripe payments, financial tracking, and operational reporting. - Marine Intelligence — Weather, wind, waves, and tidal conditions connected to activity planning. - 0% Commission on Direct Bookings — Operators keep their direct booking revenue, apart from standard payment processing fees. What Makes RidgeHQ Different? I didn't want to build another booking system with a chatbot added to it. I wanted AI to become part of the actual operational workflow. RidgeHQ includes an AI Copilot that understands business context and can help operators: Identify scheduling conflicts and resource shortages. Check equipment availability and maintenance requirements. Review bookings, outstanding balances, and unsigned waivers. Suggest scheduling adjustments based on operational conditions. Create or reschedule sessions with appropriate human confirmation. We also support Model Context Protocol (MCP), allowing operators to connect supported assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT directly to their RidgeHQ account. Security and control matter: AI actions respect staff permissions, meaningful changes require confirmation, and actions are auditable. The Journey One of the most interesting parts of this project has been learning how to combine traditional software architecture with modern AI-assisted development. I approached RidgeHQ not just as a coding exercise, but as a real SaaS product — thinking through multi-tenancy, database security, booking workflows, infrastructure, integrations, and deployment. Building independently has taught me a great deal about what AI can accelerate and where human engineering judgment remains essential. And I'm still learning every day. Where We Are Today RidgeHQ is an early-stage, bootstrapped product. I'm looking to collaborate with dive centers, watersports schools, rental businesses, and outdoor activity operators who want to help shape the platform through real operational feedback. I'm especially interested in understanding what operators struggle with beyond the booking itself. I'd Love Your Feedback! I'd love to hear from the Product Hunt community: If you could automate just ONE repetitive task in running an activity business, what would it be? Scheduling instructors? Managing bookings? Tracking equipment? Handling customer communication? Your feedback could directly influence what we build next. ridgehq.app Thank you for checking out RidgeHQ and being part of this journey! — Kedar Founder, RidgeHQ

RidgeHQ App

Run your entire activity business from one HQ

Run your entire activity business from one HQ