Our unbelievable story

Most people think asking for help makes you weak. That needing others means you're not ready.

"What if asking for help isn't weakness, but a superpower?"

"What if one good question is the spark that starts everything?"

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How it started: Lost in the Crowd

November 2024: 100,000 people in town for Web Summit the biggest tech conference in the world. But Stuart was struggling to meet people. He posted online:

"Anyone feel the same and want to help build a solution?"

Portrait of a man with short dark hair and a neutral expression on a white background with the name Stuart.
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BEGINNING

100 Strangers Said "I Can Help"

Within 24 hours, they appeared. Developers from Brazil. Designers from Portugal. Marketers from the US. Strangers from countries at war. They didn't know each other. They didn't know Stuart. But they knew the problem was real. 24 hours later: a working app.

100 people. One mission.
Collage of professional chat messages addressed to Stuart, discussing help, connections, and collaboration opportunities.
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Headlines, Money, and a Choice

The news loved it. Investors offered $1 million in 24 hours. Fast validation. Clear path forward. We said no, because we needed to prove something first. Could strangers build a real company together? Could mission attract the right team before money did? Our success depended on one thing: building with missionaries, not hiring mercenaries!

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The Real Work

After the headlines faded, the real work began. 100+ people kept building, at night, between jobs. Office space appeared when we needed it. SaaS companies handed over free subscriptions. Across time zones. No salaries. No promises. Just belief. They stayed because they found something rare:work that meant something.

Mobile app interface on left showing a tech question about making money as a developer, connected by arrows to multiple wireframe screens on the right illustrating app question navigation flow. Grid view of a virtual meeting with nine participants, six visible on camera and three using avatars or dark screens. Three men sitting at a wooden table, working on laptops in a bright, casual office setting. Four men collaborating in an office setting, with two seated typing on laptops and two standing in conversation, a screen displaying text in the background. Two people sitting at a table with a laptop, tablet, notebook, and water bottle, engaged in discussion in a bright office.

The Meetball Recipe

Our recipe is simple: If you believe in the mission, you can join. You contribute what you can. You share in what we create. That's the playbook. It's not secret. It's just different.

It's a new playbook for building startups that matter.
Learn More
Yellow book titled 'meetball RECIPE' by Stuart Cerne with subtitle about a playbook for building startups where work has meaning and solves real problems.
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Today: Real Startup

Those strangers became collaborators. Then family. A core team emerged, empowered by 100s of contributors. We solved the problem we had. Now we're sharing the solution with everyone else.

Launching at Portugal Tech Week and Web Summit 2025, the place where it all began.
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What We Learned

You don't need a ton of money to challenge billion-dollar companies.
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You need people who believe
You don't need to do it alone.
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You just need to ask: "Can you help?"

Prove It First

Our investor pitch was written before we even started:

Look at this amazing app.
This incredible team.
This impressive traction.
We did it all with belief in the mission.

Now we're ready to raise the funds we need to scale, with traction that proves it works.
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Super Secret Master Plan

(not so secret anymore)

Nail the basics

Make asking for help feel safe, offering help feel rewarding, and never forget your connections.

Chat bubbles with profile pictures; Anna says waving hand emoji and 'Me too', Kathrine says 'We met'.

Turn "I Can Help"

into the most powerful force for human connection.

Dialog bubble with a yellow hand holding a red heart emoji and text saying 'I can help' with a red notification circle showing the number 8, on a grid background.

Take Meetball everywhere

Events, communities, coworking spaces, neighborhoods. Any place where strangers could become collaborators.

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Build the social network humanity deserves.

Open, community-powered, and designed around our best instincts instead of our worst.

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Join Us

Meetball is a startup anyone can join. If this resonates, lean in. Contribute, or simply say hello.Because every connection starts with someone asking, "How can I help?"

Join Us
Built by 100+ strangers who became family. Launching where it all began.
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