I spent a year working from 150+ cafes and built a tracker. Then I accidentally built a firewall from scratch.

I think I fell into the classic builder trap: I spent more time building the "machine" than I did verifying if people actually wanted the output.

The Problem: I work remotely and was tired of the "Google Maps Roulette." I was saving potential work spots across Google Maps, Apple Maps, and—in a move my friends call "the ultimate old person move"—taking screenshots of social media posts.

The information was everywhere, but the right information was nowhere. Google reviews are obsessed with latte art and "vibes." When you’re sitting there for 6 hours, you don't care about the foam; you care about whether the "No Laptops" policy is hidden on a tiny sign by the register.

The Field Research Over the last year, I personally worked from 150+ cafes in Denver. I didn't just visit; I stayed. A few things I learned that surprised me:

• The "Vibe" is the strongest predictor: It’s hard to quantify, but it’s about customer turnover. If a place feels like a "churn and burn" foodie spot, you won't stay, even if the WiFi is fast.

• Outlets mattered less than I thought: People are resilient. They’ll work until their device dies or bring a massive battery pack.

• The "Sneaky Wins": Lighting and a real, expanded food menu (beyond just pastries) are what actually keep people in their seats.

• The "Denver Early Close": Almost everywhere closes way earlier than you’d expect.

The Rabbit Hole (How I Over-Engineered) Instead of just launching a simple directory, I went down a technical hole that had nothing to do with cafes. I found myself:

• Building a custom email server and a firewall config from scratch.

• Building a full merchant-claiming flow with a payments dashboard before I even had a single user.

• Coding a sophisticated caching and feed algorithm to schedule a year's worth of dynamic content.

I was building a solution for "future me" problems while "current me" was still just a guy with a bunch of screenshots on his phone.

The Pivot to Validation I’ve finally stopped building the backend and pushed the PWA live (Vanilla JS / PHP / MySQL). It’s Denver-only for now, covering ~60 of the best verified spots: https://caferoamer.com

I want to know if this is a viable tool or just a high-effort hobby. I’m looking for 500 beta users to see if this actually solves the "where do I work today" friction.

I’d love your "builder" perspective:

The "Vibe" Metric: Can "vibe" be quantified, or is a "personally verified" model the only way to maintain trust in this niche?

The Over-Build: Have you ever caught yourself building something like a custom firewall for a project that didn't even have a landing page yet? How did you snap out of it?

The "Specific Need": For those who work from cafes regularly—is there a specific pain point (like parking or food variety) that would make you switch from Google Maps to a dedicated tool?

Happy to talk about the tech stack, the "latte art" vs. "laptop friendly" divide, or the pain of realizing you've spent months building features no one has seen yet.