Our community spotlight usually features a developer building something on Lunch Money. This month, we’re doing something a little different. I wanted to recap our recent Toronto meetup so you can feel like you were there, because these gatherings have become such an important part of how we’re building the Lunch Money community.
On Friday, June 19, we hosted our third-ever user meetup, and our second in Toronto. Forty of you joined us on the 15th floor for pizza, presentations, plenty of Lennies, and a beautiful summer evening.
We took over a venue in the heart of downtown, decorated it with Lennies, laid out pizza and snacks, and set out stickers, magnets, and pens for everyone to take home. After people grabbed a slice and caught up, we pulled everyone into a room for the part we’d been most looking forward to: catching up as a community.
💛 How far we’ve come
I opened the night by reflecting on how much has changed. Two summers ago, I hosted the first Toronto meetup on my own, just as the team was beginning to grow. This time, I got to stand up and share just how far Lunch Money has come:
- An official mobile app
- A dedicated team behind the product (including someone who joined us from that very first Toronto meetup)
- Our new budgeting feature
- 18 developers spotlighted in the community
- 6,700+ members in our Discord
🚀 The team took the mic
With the catch-up done, I handed things over to the rest of the team, and each of them shared what they’ve been building.
Lunch Money for Organizations (Dan, Marketing)
Dan introduced Lunch Money for Organizations, which had launched just hours before the meetup. It gives companies a new way to offer Lunch Money as an employee financial wellness benefit, similar to a gym membership or a therapy app.
The story behind it is classic lean product development. We surveyed customers first and got a lukewarm “maybe,” so we didn’t write a single line of code. Then a customer reached out asking for exactly this. This was the validation we needed. Two companies signed up before launch, and it’s now available for self-service.
We finally got the subreddit (Din, Community & Customer Success)
After a three-year battle, we finally took control of the Lunch Money subreddit and set it up live during the meetup. Everyone who attended could claim a special flair to mark the occasion. The excitement around the subreddit has been incredible, and we’re excited to watch it continue growing.
V2 API is in alpha (JP, Developer)
JP walked through the new V2 API and gave a live demo of our interactive documentation. Developers can make API requests directly from the developer portal and even interact with a mock server to see how the APIs work without impacting their real data. Members of our developer community are already upgrading their apps, and we’re seeing entirely new apps built on V2. If you build on Lunch Money, we’d love to have you. The new V2 API and Developer Portal are now live!
Founder content, out in the open (Jen)
I wrapped up the presentation by sharing that I’m now creating content on TikTok, Instagram, and LinkedIn for other bootstrapped founders. I share stories, tips, and resources from my journey of building Lunch Money, because the bootstrap path isn’t talked about nearly enough. Whether someone ever becomes a Lunch Money user or not, I hope the lessons are useful.
🎤 The Q&A got real
We opened the floor for questions, and a few of them really stuck with us.
“How are you thinking about AI?”
Today, we use AI to speed up our internal workflows and support community projects, including several MCP servers and community-built apps. But there aren’t any AI-powered features inside Lunch Money itself. If we ever build something that interacts with your financial data, it will always be opt-in, not opt-out. That’s our promise.
“Jen, what’s your endgame?”
My honest answer: I’m exactly where I want to be. Lunch Money’s first few years were fully solo; this new phase, with a team, means moving faster and doing more. It’s close to what I’d want to be doing even if I were “retired.” There’s no exit on my mind. I’m not building this to sell it off for millions. If I ever do move on, I’m more likely to open-source it and hand it back to the community. It’s a question I invite people to ask every year, because my answer keeps evolving.
🙌 Come find us
As everyone mingled, we gave each team member a topic they’d love to chat about, so no one had to wonder how to break the ice. If you were there, you might have caught one of these conversations. If not, we’d still love to hear from you. Reach out to any of us directly:
- Din: your favorite Lunch Money tips, tricks, and hacks (or ask him for his)
- Dan: creators, companies, and partnerships
- JP: anything V2 API or development related
- Wilson: How do you want to connect AI to Lunch Money?
- Jen: solopreneurship, Lunch Money, or the digital nomad life
🌆 As the sun went down
The conversations kept going long after the presentations ended. We took a great group photo and watched a beautiful summer sunset over the city from 15 floors up. A dedicated few even stayed with us past 10 p.m., and helped us clean up (thank you, we noticed).
Afterward, we crossed the street to the Drake Hotel and kept the conversations going until 1 a.m.
Want to see what the evening looked like? Check out this Instagram Reel for a quick visual recap:
✈️ Come to the next one (or bring us to you)
These meetups are the best part of what we do: great conversations, real connections, and a genuinely fun night. If you missed this one, I hope we’ll see you at the next!
Want us to visit your city? Request a Lunch Money meetup near you!
Now for organizations! 🏢
Financial stress shows up at work, even when nobody talks about it. That’s why we created Lunch Money for Organizations.
Whether it’s your company, nonprofit, book club, volunteer group, or even your pickleball club, you can now offer Lunch Money as a financial wellness benefit to employees or members through discounted bulk licenses!
Giving your team access to Lunch Money provides a simple, meaningful benefit that helps them feel more organized and confident with their finances, without ads, upsells, or confusing financial jargon.
Follow my bootstrapping journey 👋
I’m now creating content on TikTok, Instagram and LinkedIn for other bootstrapped founders. I share stories, tips, and resources from my journey of building Lunch Money, because the bootstrap path isn’t talked about nearly enough. If that’s your thing, come say hi or just follow along!
Call for community spotlight nominations 🗳️
Have a story you’d like to share with the community? It doesn’t have to involve building an app. We’d also love to hear how you use Lunch Money or how it’s made an impact in your life.
If you have a story you’d like to share, please fill out this quick form:
From the blog! 📝
AI can help you make a plan for your money, but it can’t stop you from blowing your food budget on takeout. So how can AI actually improve your finances?
In this blog post, we share a few AI prompts to help you understand your spending and develop a money strategy. We also cover how you can pair Lunch Money with your AI assistant to manage your finances even more effectively. 🤖️
Refer a Friend, Earn Credit 💸️
Love using Lunch Money? Share it with a friend to grant them a 60-day trial, and earn 10% of their subscription cost as account credit every time they pay!
Connect with us on social media! 📱
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