RefLink — Builder's Notebook

Working notes · MVP not started · May 2026

Building RefLink —
a referral portal
that doesn't suck.

This is the working reference document for RefLink. It captures the problem we're solving, the product we're building, the stack we've chosen, and the exact 3-week plan to get to launch. Honest, practical, and updated as we go.

3 wks

Target build time

₹2.5k

Monthly burn (MVP)

Bubble

Stack for validation

Personas to nail first

01 · Problem & Market

Why this needs
to exist.

The referral process in India is completely unstructured. Both sides of the equation — referrers and applicants — are underserved by every existing tool. Here's the honest breakdown.

What the applicant actually goes through

If you're job hunting and want a referral right now, your only options are:

Search LinkedIn for employees

Manually hunt for people at target companies. No structure, no way to know if they refer people at all.

Send cold InMails

Pay for LinkedIn Premium or write cold DMs that get ignored 90% of the time. Awkward by design.

Wait and follow up blindly

No confirmation, no status tracking, no polite way to follow up. Just silence.

Repeat until exhausted

The process repeats for every company, every role. Emotionally draining with no structural improvement.

What the referrer actually goes through

Employees who want to refer people are equally stuck:

LinkedIn posts get buried in 48 hrs

No structure. No application flow. Just a flood of DMs they can't manage or track.

DM overload with no shortlisting

80+ messages with varying quality, no way to compare, no place to track who they've responded to.

The gap we're filling

→

There is no neutral, structured platform where referrers can post openings and applicants can apply and track their referral — outside of a company's internal HR tool. That's the exact gap RefLink fills. Not adjacent to it. Exactly it.

Market context (honest take)

India has one of the fastest-growing professional workforces globally. Employee referrals are consistently the highest-quality hiring channel — yet the tooling around them is entirely ad hoc. The proof is behaviour: referral LinkedIn posts routinely get hundreds of comments. People are desperate for structure here. We're not creating demand, we're channelling existing behaviour.

India workforce

500M+

formal sector workers

Referred hires quality

hiring channel by retention

Existing structured tools

community-first, public

02 · Competitive Landscape

What's out there.
Why it's not this.

Honest look at who's in the space. Nobody is doing exactly what we're doing — but that's not a reason to be complacent. Here's why the gap exists and how long we have.

Platform	What it does	Key gap	Threat level
Refer.me	Connects job seekers to employees for paid referrals	Pay-to-refer model; not community-first; US-focused	Medium
GetMeReferred	Professional networking for referrals (India/US)	Relationship-first; slow process; no structured apply flow	Medium
ERIN / Boon / RolePoint	Enterprise HR tools for referral programs	B2B only; employees cannot post independently	Low
LinkedIn Posts	Manual referral posts by employees	No structure, no tracking, no application flow, buried in 48hrs	High — but fragile
Topmate / Peerlist	Individual professional profile pages	No referral-specific flow or two-sided matching	Low
RefLink	Structured two-sided referral marketplace	—	This is us

What makes this different (our actual bets)

Individual referrers, not companies

Referrers are employees acting independently — not HR departments. This makes the platform community-powered and impossible to replicate with an enterprise tool.

Structured apply + tracking

Applicants get a form, a confirmation, a tracking link, and status updates. Referrers get a dashboard. No cold messages required on either side.

No cold messaging required

This is the core product insight. Every interaction that currently happens over LinkedIn DMs is replaced with a structured, trackable workflow.

Community-first positioning

Closest analogy is "ProductHunt for Referrals" — open, discoverable, and community-rated over time. This is a moat that can't be bought.

03 · Product Vision

Who we're building for.
What they actually need.

Before writing a single line of Bubble logic, we need to be extremely clear on the two people this product exists for. Everything in the MVP flows from understanding them.

Riya — The Referrer

3 years at Swiggy · Senior SDE

Gets a job opening from her HR/manager. Wants to refer a good candidate but doesn't want to manage 80 DMs from her LinkedIn post. Needs a clean form to post the job, receive structured applications, shortlist, and refer the best one — with minimal effort on her part.

Posts the opening Receives structured applications Shortlists & refers Zero DMs required

Arjun — The Applicant

2 years experience · Actively job hunting

Sees Riya's referral post on LinkedIn or WhatsApp. Wants to apply without the awkwardness of cold messaging. Needs a simple apply form, confirmation his application was received, and a way to check status without being annoying.

No cold messaging Structured application Status tracking link Always gets an answer

Trust model

The most important early decision is how to verify that referrers are genuine employees. RefLink's recommended approach for MVP:

✓

Decision: Work email verification via LinkedIn OAuth. One-click sign-in. No manual review. Instantly filters out random people posting fake openings. We'll add community ratings and reputation scores in v2 — but for MVP, LinkedIn OAuth is good enough and fast to ship.

Feature scope — what's in MVP vs later

Feature	MVP (v1)	Post-validation (v2)	Scale (v3)
LinkedIn OAuth sign-up	✓ Core	—	—
Create referral post with custom fields	✓ Core	—	—
Public apply form (no login)	✓ Core	—	—
PDF resume upload	✓ Core	—	—
Email confirmation + tracking link	✓ Core	—	—
Status updates (5 states)	✓ Core	—	—
One follow-up message (rate limited)	✓ Core	—	—
Referrer profile + reputation score	—	v2	—
Applicant login dashboard	—	v2	—
Search & filter by company/role	—	v2	—
Post boost (paid featured placement)	—	—	v3
Premium referrer accounts	—	—	v3
Analytics dashboard for referrers	—	—	v3

04 · User Flows

What the product
actually does, step by step.

These flows are the product spec. Every Bubble page, workflow, and data action in the build maps back to one of these. If a feature isn't in a flow below, it doesn't go in the MVP.

Flow A — Referrer posts a job

One-click sign-in. Name, company, and work email pre-filled from LinkedIn. Optional: verify work email for trust badge.

LinkedIn OAuthWork email verify

Create a referral post

Fill: company, role, JD link, description, deadline, max applications cap, notes to applicants. Add custom screening fields (e.g., "years of backend experience").

Dynamic form builderCustom fields

Get a unique shareable link

Platform generates /post/swiggy-sde2-riya. Riya shares it on LinkedIn and WhatsApp. She's done — no DMs needed.

Post liveUnique URL generated

Review applications in dashboard

Dashboard shows each applicant's card: name, current role, resume, LinkedIn, custom field answers. Actions: Shortlist / Reject / Ask for more info / Mark as Referred.

Email digestApplicant cards

Mark as Referred — loop closed

Chosen applicant is marked Referred. All other applicants receive a polite auto-email. Post is automatically closed. Zero manual messages sent by Riya.

Loop closedPost archived

Flow B — Applicant applies & tracks

Opens the referral link

Arrives via LinkedIn or WhatsApp. Sees the public post page — no login wall. Reads: role, company, referrer's notes, deadline, spots remaining.

No login required

Fills the apply form

Standard fields: name, email, phone, LinkedIn, current role, resume (PDF). Plus any custom fields the referrer added. Optional cover note.

Standard fieldsCustom fieldsResume PDF

Receives confirmation email

Instant email with a unique tracking link. No ambiguity — Arjun knows his application was received.

ReceivedTracking link

Tracks status anytime

5 status states shown on the tracking page: Received → Under Review → Shortlisted → Referred / Not Moving Forward. No login needed — just the link from the email.

One follow-up message (optional)

Rate-limited to one message per application. No spam, no awkward cold DMs. Gets a clear outcome either way — no ghosting by design.

Rate-limited: 1 msgAlways gets an answer

05 · Technical Architecture

Stack decisions
and why we made them.

MVP is on Bubble.io — chosen deliberately for speed, not because it's the best long-term tool. The migration path to Next.js + Supabase is planned from day one so we're not painting ourselves into a corner.

MVP stack — what we're using and why

Builder

Bubble.io

Full-stack no-code. Database, auth, workflows, hosting — all in one.

Auth

LinkedIn OAuth

Via Bubble plugin. One-click referrer sign-up with trust verification.

SendGrid

Free up to 100 emails/day. Transactional triggers via Bubble workflows.

Storage

Bubble S3

Built-in file hosting. Resume PDFs stored automatically, no config needed.

Spam

reCAPTCHA v2

Google plugin. Free. Prevents bot applications on the public apply form.

Analytics

Google Analytics

Free. Paste one script tag into Bubble settings. Track conversions from day 1.

Domain

Namecheap

~₹800/year. Connect via DNS CNAME to Bubble app.

Monthly cost

~₹2,500

Bubble Starter plan. All other services on free tiers at MVP scale.

Database schema

Table	Key fields	Purpose
`users`	id, name, email, linkedin_url, company, work_email_verified	Referrer accounts. Created via LinkedIn OAuth.
`referral_posts`	id, user_id, company_name, role_title, jd_url, custom_fields (JSON), deadline, status, slug	Each job opening posted by a referrer. Public via unique slug URL.
`applications`	id, post_id, applicant_email, resume_url, status, tracking_token (UUID), custom_responses (JSON)	Each application submission. Tracking token enables login-free status page.
`messages`	id, application_id, sender_type, content, sent_at	One-way follow-up messages from applicant to referrer. Rate-limited to 1 per application.
`notifications`	id, application_id, type, email_sent_at, status	Log of all outbound emails. Enables retry logic and delivery tracking.

Scale path — Next.js + Supabase

When RefLink reaches ~200 active users and consistent referrer engagement, the migration path is defined:

Frontend → Next.js (React)

Industry standard. SSR for SEO on public post pages. Same JS language throughout. Deploy on Vercel with one-click CI/CD.

Backend → Supabase

Managed PostgreSQL + Auth + Storage + Edge Functions. Replaces Bubble's database and auth. Free tier covers early scale.

Email → Resend

Modern transactional email API. React Email templates. Better developer experience than SendGrid at scale.

Storage → Cloudflare R2

S3-compatible object storage. Zero egress fees. Resume PDFs stored cheaply at scale.

→

The Bubble MVP isn't throwaway work. Every workflow maps 1:1 to an API route in Next.js. Every data type maps to a Supabase table. We're using Bubble to validate behaviour, not architecture — so the learnings transfer cleanly when we rebuild.

06 · 3-Week Build Roadmap

The actual plan.
Day by day.

Tasks are sequenced by dependency — don't skip ahead. Click any task to reveal its deepdive prompt. Check tasks off as you complete them. The checklists at the end of each week are the only gates before moving forward.

Week 1 Foundation — account, database, auth Days 1–7

Day 1 — Account & orientation

Create Bubble account & app

Sign up at bubble.io via Google. Skip templates. Name app "reflink". Watch the first 3 official tutorial videos (~90 mins) before touching anything.

Deepdive → "How do I set up a Bubble.io account and create my first app?" ⌘C to copy

Buy reflink.in or reflink.co on Namecheap (~₹800/yr). Do not connect to Bubble yet — you need Starter plan first.

Deepdive → "How do I register a domain on Namecheap and connect it to a Bubble app?" ⌘C to copy

Day 2 — Database schema (most critical day)

Build all 4 data types in Bubble

Create: User (extend), ReferralPost, Application, Message — with all fields. Spend the full day here. Every page you build later depends on this being correct.

Deepdive → "How do I design the Bubble database for RefLink — users, posts, applications, and messages?" ⌘C to copy

Day 3 — Pages & privacy rules

Create all 6 pages with access rules

Pages: index, signup, dashboard (login-gated), create-post (login-gated), post (public), track (public). Set redirect to signup for protected pages.

Deepdive → "How do I set up page access rules and login redirects in Bubble?" ⌘C to copy

Days 4–5 — LinkedIn OAuth

Set up LinkedIn OAuth sign-in

Install LinkedIn Login plugin → create LinkedIn Developer App → get Client ID + Secret → paste into Bubble → add Login button → test end to end in private browser.

Deepdive → "How do I set up LinkedIn OAuth login in Bubble.io?" ⌘C to copy

Days 6–7 — Landing page & buffer

Build the index (landing) page

Minimal MVP: headline, subheading, two CTA buttons ("Post an opening" / "Find a referral"). Fix any blockers from Days 1–5 using Day 7 as buffer.

Deepdive → "How do I build a minimal landing page in Bubble with two CTA buttons and a shared nav header?" ⌘C to copy

Week 1 checklist

Bubble account created, app named "reflink"

All 4 data types created with correct fields

All 6 pages created with correct privacy rules

LinkedIn OAuth working end to end

Domain registered on Namecheap

Landing page live with working nav buttons

Week 2 Core flows — post, apply, track Days 8–21

Days 8–10 — Referrer: create a post

Build the create-post form & workflow

Form fields: company, role, JD link, description, deadline, max cap, notes. On submit: create ReferralPost record, generate slug, navigate to dashboard.

Deepdive → "How do I build a referral post creation form in Bubble with a workflow to save it to the database?" ⌘C to copy

Add custom screening fields

Repeating group where referrers add custom questions. Store as JSON in custom_fields. Skip this if it blocks you — ship standard fields first.

Deepdive → "How do I build dynamic custom form fields in Bubble using a Repeating Group?" ⌘C to copy

Days 11–12 — Referrer: dashboard

Build dashboard with applicant list & status actions

Repeating group of posts by Current User. Per post: applicant cards with Shortlist / Reject / Mark Referred buttons. Each triggers a status update + stores it in the Application record.

Deepdive → "How do I build a referrer dashboard in Bubble to manage applications with status update actions?" ⌘C to copy

Days 13–15 — Applicant: apply form

Build the public post page + apply form

Post page loads by URL slug. Shows post details. Below: apply form with standard fields + PDF upload + cover note. On submit: create Application, generate tracking_token.

Deepdive → "How do I build a public application form in Bubble that does not require login, with a PDF resume upload?" ⌘C to copy

Load page content by URL parameter

Bubble page parameter reads the slug from the URL. Data source filtered by slug = URL param. Test with a real post link in private window.

Deepdive → "How do I load a Bubble page using a URL parameter to show the right database record?" ⌘C to copy

Days 16–17 — Applicant: tracking page

Build status tracking page + rate-limited follow-up

Loads Application by tracking_token URL param. Shows 5-step visual status bar with conditional formatting. Follow-up form checks for existing message before allowing send.

Deepdive → "How do I build an application status tracking page in Bubble without requiring login, with a follow-up rate limit?" ⌘C to copy

Days 18–19 — End-to-end test run

Full loop test: sign up → post → apply → track → update status

Run in two private browser windows. Sign up as referrer, create post, apply as applicant (logged out), check Application record in Bubble Data tab, update status, verify tracking page reflects change. Fix everything that breaks.

Days 20–21 — Buffer & UI polish

Fix test bugs, clean UI, add consistent nav header (Reusable Element)

Consistent padding, font sizes, colours across all pages. Build a Reusable Element for the nav header so changes propagate everywhere.

Week 2 checklist

Create-post form saves correctly to the database

Public post page loads from URL slug

Apply form submits without login, creates Application record

Resume PDF upload works

Tracking page loads from token, shows correct status

Status action buttons update Application record correctly

Follow-up message limited to one per application

Full end-to-end test passed with zero critical bugs

Week 3 Emails, spam protection & launch Days 22–28

Days 22–23 — Transactional emails

Set up SendGrid + wire 4 email templates

Create SendGrid account → get API key → install Bubble plugin → create 4 templates: (1) Application confirmed + tracking link, (2) Shortlisted, (3) Not moving forward, (4) Referred. Trigger each from the relevant workflow action.

Deepdive → "How do I set up transactional emails in Bubble using SendGrid, triggered by workflow actions?" ⌘C to copy

Day 24 — Spam protection

Add reCAPTCHA, honeypot field & duplicate check

reCAPTCHA v2 on apply form → hidden honeypot field (bot fills it = block submission) → duplicate check: same email + same post in last 24 hrs = show error instead of creating new record.

Deepdive → "How do I add spam protection to a Bubble form — reCAPTCHA, honeypot field, and duplicate submission check?" ⌘C to copy

Day 25 — Mobile responsiveness

Responsive pass on all pages (375px viewport)

Priority order: post page (applicants land here on mobile), track page, dashboard. Fix overlaps, ensure tap targets are ≥44px, stack columns vertically.

Deepdive → "How do I make my Bubble app mobile responsive using the Responsive editor?" ⌘C to copy

Day 26 — Domain, analytics & final checks

Connect domain + add Google Analytics

Connect reflink.in via Bubble Settings → Domain. Add DNS CNAME in Namecheap. Wait up to 24hrs for propagation. Add GA Measurement ID to Bubble Settings → SEO header script.

Day 27 — Seed posts (do not skip)

Get 10–15 real referral posts live before launch

Message 10 people in your network at target companies. Ask them to post one real opening. Offer to fill the form for them. A platform with zero posts at launch is a ghost town — this step is not optional.

Day 28 — Launch

Publish launch post + share to communities

LinkedIn personal post (problem → what you built → proof posts exist → CTA). Share to: Reddit (r/india, r/developersIndia), IndiaHacks Discord, tech Slack/WhatsApp groups.

Set up tracking spreadsheet

Google Sheet tracking daily: new posts, new applications, email open rate, referrers updating statuses. Check every day for the first 2 weeks.

Deepdive → "What metrics should I track in the first 2 weeks after launching a referral marketplace, and how do I measure them?" ⌘C to copy

Week 3 checklist

All 4 transactional emails wired and tested

reCAPTCHA on apply form verified working

Honeypot + duplicate check added

All pages mobile-responsive at 375px

Custom domain connected and resolving

Google Analytics confirmed (check Realtime in GA)

10+ seed posts live before public launch

Launch post published across all channels

Tracking spreadsheet set up and monitoring

07 · Business Model

How this makes money.
(Eventually.)

We're not monetising at launch. That's a deliberate call — the two-sided network needs to reach critical mass before we add any friction. Here's the honest progression from free to paid.

Phase 1

Free

Launch → first 200 users. Completely free for everyone. We need referrers posting and applicants applying before anything else matters. No friction, no paywalls, no premium features teased. Just build the habit.

₹0

by design

Phase 2
Freemium

          After product-market fit is visible in data. Free referrers: 2 active posts. Premium (₹299–499/mo): unlimited posts, applicant filtering, analytics, priority listing. Referrers who consistently use the dashboard are the power users — they'll pay for tools that save them time.
        
₹299+
per referrer/mo

Phase 3

Marketplace

At scale — if the network holds. Boosted posts (paid featured placement). Company API integrations (B2B — HR teams pay to route all referral posts through RefLink). Verification badges for enterprise employees. Don't think about this until Phase 2 is working.

₹5k+

per company/mo

What we're watching after launch

Metric	What it tells you	Green signal
Posts created per week	Referrer-side growth velocity	Week-on-week growth
Applications per post	Demand from applicants; post quality	>5 per post within 48hrs
Apply-to-shortlist rate	Quality of matching between sides	>20% shortlist rate
Shortlist-to-referred rate	Are referrers following through?	>50% of shortlisted get referred
Return applicants	Platform stickiness	>30% apply to 2+ posts
Time-to-status-update	Referrer engagement quality	<5 days avg after application

The migration trigger — not a date, a signal

We move from Bubble to Next.js + Supabase when we have enough traction to know exactly what we're building in code. These are the three numbers to watch:

Active usersTarget: 200

Total posts createdTarget: 50

Referrers using dashboard weeklyTarget: 20+

→

When all three bars are non-zero and growing, that's the signal. The deepdive: "When should I migrate from Bubble to Next.js + Supabase, and how do I approach that migration?"

08 · Risks & Mitigations

What could go wrong.
What we're doing about it.

Being honest about risks upfront means we've already thought through the mitigations. None of these are hypothetical — they're real failure modes we've seen in similar two-sided marketplaces.

Risk

Fake referral posts — bad actors post jobs that don't exist to harvest resumes or drive traffic.

Mitigation

Work email verification via LinkedIn OAuth at sign-up. Community flagging button on every post. Manual review queue for flagged posts.

Risk

Referrers ghost applicants — they post the opening, collect applications, then disappear without updating any status.

Mitigation

Auto email nudge to referrer after 5 days with no status update. Auto-expire posts after 30 days of inactivity. Reputation score docks for unresponsive referrers (v2).

Risk

Spam applications — "apply without login" is a low-friction path that bots and bulk applicants will exploit.

Mitigation

reCAPTCHA v2 on apply form. Honeypot field. Duplicate submission check (same email + same post). IP rate limiting via Bubble workflows.

Risk

Cold start problem — the platform launches with no posts, so applicants arrive and leave immediately.

Mitigation

Seed with 10–15 real posts from the founder's network before any public promotion. This is built into Day 27 of the roadmap — non-negotiable.

Risk

LinkedIn clone risk — LinkedIn could add a structured referral feature and immediately out-distribute RefLink.

Mitigation

Move fast and build community trust before this becomes a threat. Focus on reputation, tracking, and community ratings — things a feature can't replicate. LinkedIn's incentive is feed engagement, not structured referral outcomes.

Risk

Bubble platform risk — Bubble changes pricing, goes down, or the vendor relationship ends.

Mitigation

Bubble is explicitly a temporary MVP tool. The data model and all workflows are documented and map 1:1 to the Next.js + Supabase architecture. Migration is planned from day one.

09 · Deepdive Prompt Index

Stuck on something?
Use one of these.

Every prompt below is a question you can paste directly into Claude to get a full step-by-step walkthrough for that specific build task. Copy button on every row.

Setup & foundation

Account setup

"How do I set up a Bubble.io account and create my first app?"

Database schema

"How do I design the Bubble database for RefLink — users, posts, applications, and messages?"

Domain setup

"How do I register a domain on Namecheap and connect it to a Bubble app?"

LinkedIn OAuth

"How do I set up LinkedIn OAuth login in Bubble.io?"

Page privacy rules

"How do I set up page access rules and login redirects in Bubble?"

Building the referrer flow

Create-post form

"How do I build a referral post creation form in Bubble with a workflow to save it to the database?"

Custom fields

"How do I build dynamic custom form fields in Bubble using a Repeating Group?"

Referrer dashboard

"How do I build a referrer dashboard in Bubble to manage applications with status update actions?"

Unique shareable links

"How do I generate a unique shareable URL for each referral post in Bubble?"

Building the applicant flow

URL parameters

"How do I load a Bubble page using a URL parameter to show the right database record?"

Apply form (public)

"How do I build a public application form in Bubble that does not require login, with a PDF resume upload?"

Tracking page

"How do I build an application status tracking page in Bubble without requiring login, with a follow-up rate limit?"

Emails & spam protection

Transactional email

"How do I set up transactional emails in Bubble using SendGrid, triggered by workflow actions?"

Spam protection

"How do I add spam protection to a Bubble form — reCAPTCHA, honeypot field, and duplicate submission check?"

Mobile responsiveness

"How do I make my Bubble app mobile responsive using the Responsive editor?"

Launch & post-launch

Post-launch metrics

"What metrics should I track in the first 2 weeks after launching a referral marketplace, and how do I measure them?"

Migration to code

"When should I migrate from Bubble to Next.js + Supabase, and how do I approach that migration?"

Seeding the platform

"How do I seed a referral platform with real posts before launch?"

Launch communities

"What are the best communities and platforms to launch a job referral product on in India?"

★

All prompts above are designed for Claude (claude.ai). Paste them as-is and they'll generate a full, specific walkthrough for that task in the context of the RefLink build. The more conversation context you carry in, the more tailored the answer — so keep this chat open as you build.