)
Where serious horses meet serious buyers
Challenge
Laure was managing Equtrade through WhatsApp groups, Excel spreadsheets, phone calls, and email chains. Classic solo founder hustle, but not exactly scalable. She needed mobile-first automation that could handle buy and sell requests without her phone exploding.
Solution
Workshops and design sprints to nail the aesthetic and workflow. Built a React Native mobile app with Strapi CMS backend, keeping WhatsApp integration so communication stayed in familiar channels. Mobile-first from day one.
OUTCOME
- React Native app handling all buy/sell requests
- Strapi CMS backend Laure can manage herself
- WhatsApp integration for seamless communication
- Platform that scales beyond one founder's capacity
)
From WhatsApp chaos to actual platform
High-end horse trading runs on relationships, trust, and discretion. Equtrade connects serious buyers with sellers of top-quality show jumping horses, handling transactions that can run into six figures.
Laure built the business on passion and hustle. But running everything through WhatsApp, spreadsheets, and phone calls? That only scales so far.
The challenge
Laure was managing her entire business from her phone. WhatsApp groups for buyer inquiries. Excel for inventory. Phone calls for negotiations. Email chains for contracts. The kind of manual workflow that works when you're starting but becomes the bottleneck when you're growing.
To scale her solo venture, she needed automation that was mobile-friendly and actually user-friendly. Not enterprise software that requires a manual - something she could use while standing in a stable.
Our approach
We started with a blank slate. Workshops and collaborative sessions to understand the business aesthetic and workflow. What matters in horse trading? What can be automated? What needs the human touch?
After several design sprints, we had a straightforward design that aligned with Equtrade's brand. Then we built a mobile app that actually worked the way Laure works.
The outcome
We created a React Native mobile app with Strapi CMS powering the backend. Laure can now manage all buy and sell requests from her users through the app. The backend is simple enough that she handles it herself without needing a technical co-founder.
Smart move: we kept WhatsApp integration. Why force users to learn new communication patterns when WhatsApp already works? Communication stays in familiar channels, just organized better.
"PandaPanda* gave me a solid framework to share my ideas. They collaborate with me to find creative solutions, even with a tight budget and timeline." - Laure De Schoenmacker
Sometimes the best technology is the kind that gets out of your way and lets you run your business. Laure can now scale Equtrade without her phone being the single point of failure.
*Note from the author: PandaPanda and Dashdot became one in February 2026. This work dates from before the merger.