talks.
The team's operating system.

One place to understand the product, the plan, and how we operate. Whether you're onboarding, running a campaign, writing code, or closing a partnership — start here. Pick a section below to go deep.

Foundation

Core beliefs, brand voice, and the framework behind every decision. Read this before contributing to any campaign or product work.

The WHY

"University spirit shouldn't be confined to private circles. Students deserve a place where the inside joke includes everyone — where culture is shared across the whole school, one big click. Not just the urgent stuff. The real stuff. The funny, the controversial, the honest."

Every decision we make — product, marketing, partnerships — traces back to this: if something doesn't fit, it doesn't ship. talks. drives community at universities by integrating and mirroring their own culture. Everything we build serves one goal: the projection and growth of university life.


Non-negotiable product beliefs

Anonymity is a feature, not a gimmick
Alias identity is earned — users develop and keep their persona. The option to stay fully anonymous is always available and never taken away.
Features must exploit our USP
Only build things that work because everyone in the app = your university. The Frame, sub-communities, Talks Match — these are impossible on global social media. That's the moat.
Campus feed is the core loop
The anonymous feed is what keeps people coming back. Everything else extends it — nothing replaces it.
Equality > clout — but participation > silence
No followers, no public scores, no naming names. But the culture score rewards people who show up and contribute.
Long-term: super app for university culture
WeChat-style. Once you're in one university's talks., being in all of them is inevitable. Community feed, matching, events, culture — all in one place.

Golden Circle

WHY — The belief

University spirit shouldn't be confined to private circles. A place where the inside joke includes everyone, where culture is shared by the whole school. One big click.

HOW — The mechanism

Anonymous by default — always. Features that can only exist because everyone in the app is at your university. Anonymity removes clout → people say what they actually think. Equality is one pillar, not the whole thing.

WHAT — The product

A real-time digital pulse for universities. The raw feed of collective campus thought — trending topics, student-to-student storytelling, the culture of your university reflected back at you.


Brand voice

The Feeling

Disruptive. Honest. Unfiltered. Student-built. Energetic. Confident. Says what people actually think. Not a template, not a formula — a feeling that runs through everything we make.

Do

Raw and real. Confident without being arrogant. Say the thing people are already thinking. Homegrown, campus-first tone. Energy that feels student-made.

Don't

Clout-chasing. Influencer aesthetics. Overly polished. Corporate language. Promoter voice. Anything built to appeal to everyone everywhere.


Marcus Collins framework — Culture-First Marketing

How every campaign is built
1
Identify the networkUniversity students — who they are, how they move, the unwritten rules that govern their social life on campus.
2
Find the unwritten rulesAt IEU: promoters own social. WhatsApp groups are spam. No campus-centralized communication. Students are isolated in their own bubbles by design.
3
Speak their beliefs back to themPreach what they already feel — they just haven't heard anyone say it out loud.
4
Break the schema, then restore it with meaningTake experiences that feel normal, make them different, then bring it back: "this is who we actually are." That's the hit.
5
Become an unwritten ruletalks. becomes so embedded in university culture that it's just what you do here. You don't explain it. You're just on it.

Where We Are

App status, the team, what's live in production, and what still needs work. Updated April 2026.

The team

Samer
Founder · Lead Dev
Building the product end-to-end
Jose Murillo
Developer
Senior-level, equal to Samer technically. Joins May 5. UI, architecture, code review, ideas.
Victor
Algorithm (TBD)
Potential help on Talks Match matching logic, summer.
Renata Amores
Comms
Original team member, there since launch. Content, editing, brand, filming.
Gilberto Cardinali
Comms
Content, editing, brand, filming.
Christian Hava
Comms
Content, editing, brand, filming.
Marta Bermejo
Logistics & Partnerships
Proposals, budget management, partnership outreach.

Live in production — v1.9.2+23

Feature Status Notes
Feed (trending / top / latest / controversial)LiveCore loop. Trending score via epoch-time formula + Remote Config params.
PostsLiveAnonymous + alias. Word filter in Cloud Functions.
VotingLiveUp/down vote. Drives trending score.
Comments with GIFsLiveTenor GIF integration.
Bookmarks (Saved Vault)Live
Algolia SearchLiveProduction index. Env controlled via ALGOLIA_INDEX dart-define.
Push Notifications (FCM)Live
Gamification — Culture ScoreLiveScore earned through voting, posting, commenting.
Lore TimelineLiveNotable campus moments, curated.
Alias ProfilesLiveEarned identity. Anonymous option always available.
AnnouncementsLive
Admin Panel (in-app)LiveModeration queue, manual review. Replaced by standalone backend in summer.
Moderation / ReportingLiveWord filter + manual queue. No CV yet.
Sub-communities v3In ProgressBranch done, not yet shipped. Shipping as-is to keep things fresh.
Private Post Replies (anon DMs v1)In ProgressPost-level only. Only post creator sees the reply.
The FrameExploratoryPossible week-long event before end of year. Full feature is summer.
Images in PostsSummerBlocked until CV moderation is ready. With UI rework.
Talks MatchSummerReal profiles (not anonymous). Ranked pool of 5, ELO-style. Summer dev.
Full UI RedesignSummerThreads/X inspired. No partial redesign before summer.
Admin Backend Panel (standalone)SummerWeb-based. Replacing Firebase console manual workflow.

Budget

Monthly spend tracking — Firebase, Algolia, and any other active services. Managed by Marta Bermejo.

Budget Google Sheet link TBD — Marta to provide.


Known tech debt

No standalone backend

Firebase is managed manually. The in-app admin panel is the current workaround. A proper web-based backend panel is planned for summer.

No computer vision moderation

Images in posts are blocked until CV is in place. Word filter + manual queue handles text for now.

No storage strategy

No Firebase Storage + CDN + compression pipeline yet. Needed before images ship.

Website outdated

thetalksapp.com doesn't reflect current product state. Lower priority — app is the focus.

Marketing

What we're posting, what campaigns are live, and who we're working with. Primary audience: Renata, Gilberto, Christian, Marta.

Content cadence — recurring formats

These three formats are always running. Campaign content and other posts fill in around them.

Talk to Us
Target: 2× per week
Reel format. Core recurring series that drives engagement and community feel.
Talkin Questions
Target: 1× per week
Q&A format reel. Recurring series alongside Talk to Us.
Best-of Carousel
When no video reel
3 popular posts pulled from the app. Runs whenever there's no video reel to post. Use Canva template →

Active campaigns

Jade Collab  Active
Opening delayed — TBD ~Apr 30+  ·  Contact: Paula Rojas
+

Collaboration with Jade, a matcha gallery opening in Madrid. Opening was originally April 23rd but delayed due to a miscalculation on their end — now TBD, estimated around April 30+. Contact is Paula Rojas.

"Art galleries are usually quiet, but we talk." — written specifically for this activation. Not a permanent brand pattern.

  • Wait on confirmed opening date from Paula Rojas
  • Film taste test video at Jade once open
  • Pitch Talks-flavored secret menu item (first visitors get it free)
  • Explore opening-day programming: DJ, giveaways — pitch around what they're missing
Sub-Communities Launch  Planned
Video in next 2 weeks  ·  Starting Instagram account
+

Freshers-facing rollout campaign when sub-communities ship. Launching a dedicated Instagram account as part of the campaign rollout.

  • Ship sub-communities v3 (branch is done, pending deploy)
  • Video 1: Hook — why sub-communities matter
  • Video 2: Feature explainer — how to use them
  • Set up and launch dedicated Instagram account
Freshers Week 2026  Summer
September activation  ·  IE student-first
+

talks.' own presence during Freshers Week September 2026. On our terms — not becoming a promoter. Comms team (Renata, Gilberto, Christian) + Samer manage the Instagram and WhatsApp community. Marta handles promoter contact and partnership logistics.

  • Define freshers strategy — own brand activation vs. selective promo collab
  • Freshers Bucket List: in-app challenge list with video uploads
  • IE Freshers 2030 onboarding structure (potentially with student government)
  • Evaluate promotion company partnerships — on talks.' terms only (Marta to lead)

Open question: Fresh Talks by Talks — freshers-focused Instagram account. Culture-first positioning or intro-account style? Samer's position: talks. has enough culture to be the destination for real campus life, not another intro/promo account.


Partnerships

PartnerTypeStatusNotes
Jade (matcha gallery)Brand collabActiveOpening delayed ~Apr 30+. Taste test video + possible secret menu item. Contact: Paula Rojas.
Puro RoyoThe Frame incentiveExploratoryCandidate for The Frame reward (e.g. free meal for longest-standing photo). No approach yet.
Promotion companiesFreshers Week collabSummerOn talks.' terms only. Not becoming a promoter.
Universidad EuropeaExpansionSummer+Thoughts so far — no formal approach yet. September+ expansion target.

Roadmap

The north star, what we're shipping now, and what's coming next. Everything on the roadmap serves the vision below.

North Star
Super app for university culture

Like WeChat, but for campus life. Once you're in one university's talks., you need to be in all of them. Community feed, matching, events, lore — everything campus-related in one place. The goal isn't to be a good app. It's to become so embedded that you can't imagine campus life without it. An unwritten rule.

Horizons — scroll to explore

← scroll →

H1
Now → July 2026
Finish the MVP
Sub-communities v3
Ship as-is (branch done). Degree / year / campus. Users see all, interact in their own.
Samer
Private post replies (anon DMs v1)
Post-level only. Only post creator sees the reply. Not a full DM inbox.
Samer + JM
The Frame — event activation
Possible week-long activation before end of year. Exploratory — not committed. Full feature is summer.
Samer + JM Exploratory
H2
Summer 2026
Full overhaul — working from Madrid office
Full UI redesign
Threads/X inspired. No-cards layout, bottom nav add-post button, minimal feel. No partial redesign before summer.
Samer + JM
Admin backend panel (standalone)
Web-based. Replaces Firebase console manual workflow. Stop relying on in-app admin panel.
Samer + JM
Images in posts
With UI rework. Requires CV moderation + storage strategy first.
Samer + JM
Talks Match
Dating/matching. Real profiles (not anonymous). Ranked pool of 5, ELO-style hidden scoring. No public scores.
Samer + JM + Victor
The Frame (full feature)
BeReal-style community photo. Everyone sees the same photo, replaced by someone uploading a new one. Leaderboard for longest-standing photos. Name TBD.
Samer + JM
Storage strategy
Firebase Storage + CDN + compression. Required before images ship.
Samer + JM
Raise investment
To expand to other universities.
Samer
H3
September 2026
Expansion
Freshers Bucket List
In-app challenge list for incoming students with video uploads.
Samer + JM
IE Freshers 2030 onboarding
Structured onboarding, potentially with student government.
Marta
Talks Match launch
~1 month after freshers week. Build MVP first, collect weekly match volume data, then pitch partners with proof.
Samer + JM
Universidad Europea expansion
Meetings already in progress. Second campus after IE.
Samer + Marta
Freshers Week brand activation
Own presence. Potentially in partnership with promotion companies — on talks.' terms only.
Marta

Parking lot — not now

Full anonymous DM inbox Video posts Talks Match double-date Restaurant reservation integration Student-voted advertising model Multi-university Talks Match

Engineering

Stack, dev workflow, coding standards, and branch strategy. Primary audience: Samer and JM.

Dev workflow

1
Idea → Spec Claude.ai writes the feature spec. Saved to Google Drive (talks. OS → Engineering).
2
Architecture review Claude Code reads the codebase and reviews the spec. Identifies existing patterns, flags risks.
3
Code — Cursor Agent Cursor Agent with a structured prompt (context → task → rules → output format). No cowboy coding.
4
Review Claude Code reviews the diff. Look for regressions, cost issues, security gaps.
5
PR + Merge Tested on staging. Only deploy backwards-compatible changes. Never touch production directly.

Stack

Frontend

Flutter · Riverpod 2.5 · iOS + Android

Backend

Firebase Firestore · Cloud Functions v7 (Node 22, TypeScript) · Auth · FCM · Remote Config · Analytics · Crashlytics

Search

Algolia · Production index · Env controlled via ALGOLIA_INDEX dart-define

Environments

ie-talks-staging — development
ie-talks — production


Standards — what we enforce

No monolithic widgets

Break UI into small, focused widgets. Business logic belongs in providers and services, not in build methods.

Comments on business logic

Non-obvious logic gets a comment. Not every line — just the parts that would confuse someone in 6 months.

Firebase cost discipline

No unbounded reads. Always paginate. No reads inside loops. Missing limits get flagged in review.

Staging is the dev environment

Always develop against ie-talks-staging. No local emulators required. Only deploy what's tested and backwards-compatible.


Branch strategy

BranchPurpose
mainProduction only. App Store + Play Store deploys.
feature/[name]All development work. Merges to main when tested on staging.
brainSecond brain site only. Claude commits here directly. Never merges to main.

Decisions

Open questions that need an answer, and finalized decisions with the reasoning behind them.

Open questions — needs an answer

What is the name for The Frame?
"The Frame" is a placeholder. The feature is BeReal-style community photo — everyone sees the same photo, replaced by someone uploading a new one. Leaderboard for longest-standing photo. Needs a better name before it ships.
Does student government have a freshers structure?
Before building the IE Freshers 2030 onboarding structure, we need to know if student gov already has something in place to build on or align with.
Fresh Talks by Talks — intros or culture-first?
The freshers Instagram account. Does it compete with intro accounts (introducing new students) or differentiate as culture-first? Samer's position: talks. has enough culture to be the destination for real campus life, not another intro/promo account.

Finalized decisions

Anonymous DMs v1 = private post replies onlyApr 2026

Not a full DM inbox. Private replies are post-level only — only the post creator can see them. The use case: "I have extra seats in my car to the ski slopes" → someone replies privately to connect.

Full DM inbox is pushed to post-summer. Too much complexity + moderation burden for now.

Sub-communities = degree / year / campusApr 2026

Users can see all communities, but can only fully interact (vote, post, reply) in their own. Verified by enrollment data.

Images in posts: summer only, with CV moderationApr 2026

Blocked until computer vision moderation is ready. Ships alongside the UI rework in summer. No broad image posting before that — no exceptions.

UI overhaul: summer only, no partial redesignApr 2026

Threads/X inspired redesign. No-cards layout, bottom nav add-post button, minimal feel. No partial redesign or incremental changes before the summer overhaul — do it all at once.

Talks Match: real profiles required, not anonymousApr 2026

Dating/matching requires real photos and profiles for trust context. Anonymous option is not available in Talks Match. Ranked pool of 5, ELO-style hidden scoring — no public scores.

No restaurant partner needed before Talks Match launchApr 2026

Build the MVP first, collect weekly match volume data, then pitch partners with proof. Puro Royo is a candidate to explore for The Frame (not Talks Match). No approaches before we have numbers.

Freshers strategy: own presence, selective promo collabApr 2026

talks. won't become a promotion account or introduction farm. Any collaboration with promotion companies is on talks.' terms only. We differentiate by being the destination for real campus culture, not another promoter.