Analysis · Mobility & Logistics

21-year-old founder uses auto-rickshaw posters to get first users

By Startup Enthusiast · 9 April 2026

What they do

A 21-year-old in Mumbai is building a flight fare tracking app with no funding or team

He stuck physical posters inside auto-rickshaws in Bandra, Andheri and Kurla to find users

Within 48 hours, the offline move brought press coverage, sign-ups and partner messages

A 21-year-old founder named Aryan is creating a flight fare tracking app from Mumbai.
He operates with no funding, no office and no team.
He made physical posters and put them inside auto-rickshaws in Bandra, Andheri and Kurla.
The poster said: 'Hi, I'm Aryan, I'm 21. I literally beg auto wale bhaiya: 'Bhaiya bas yeh sticker rehne do na.' Please buy my thing so my parents believe I'm not unemployed.'
He turned to offline methods after ads and social media failed to get app installs.
Within 48 hours of the posters going up, he got press coverage, first sign-ups, and messages from potential partners.

Aryan learned that distribution beats product early on; users won't discover you, you must go to them.
He learned that weird gets attention; auto posters are not a growth hack, just unexpected.
He learned that offline creates online credibility; people shared auto photos, which spread more than any paid post.
Online reactions praised the hustle and creativity, with one calling it 'raw and real' and another 'sounds desperate tbh'.