When Jack Dorsey launched BitChat as a weekend project, it briefly captured public imagination. The concept was simple: use Bluetooth to build networks for chatting offline. But the app fizzled out. Limited range, poor usability, and lack of reasons for users to keep coming back meant it faded as quickly as it appeared. Yet its viral reception revealed something important: people want private, decentralized, offline messaging options.
That lesson has not been lost on Josh Norris and Patrick Dajos. “BitChat was cute, but ultimately not very usable,” Dajos says. “What we are bringing to the market is the real execution, where we make this concept into a force to be reckoned with.” Norris brings more than 15 years of Silicon Valley startup experience, including building one of the earliest location-based social networks in 2010, before Instagram and Snapchat. Dajos brings over a decade of experience building large-scale systems in languages such as JavaScript, Swift, Kotlin, and C#, including time running his own software development agency and working at prominent San Francisco startups. Together, they are working on PinPop, a system designed not only to solve BitChat’s shortcomings but to advance decentralized communication in meaningful ways.
Expertise Meets Passion
Norris and Dajos have been friends for 8 years, and PinPop gives them the chance to bring together their expertise in tech with one of Dajos’ personal passions: motorcycles. “The realest use cases for decentralized communication lie in niche communities,” says Norris, PinPop’s CEO. “Existing motorcycle comms products prove there’s demand, but the technology hasn’t kept up. People are paying premium prices for outdated gear that doesn’t really solve the problem.”
Dajos, an avid motorcycle rider, understands the frustrations of the motorcycle community. As PinPop’s CTO and technical architect, he designs the self-healing mesh networks and noise-cancelling capabilities that aim to address the biggest pain points in the motorcycle world, poor noise cancellation, limited range, and the lack of seamless offline-to-online connectivity. “We ride fast on country roads in harsh weather, with so much engine and wind noise,” says Dajos. “Most of the tech out there was designed over two decades ago, it hasn’t kept up with what is possible today.” PinPop’s systems are stress-tested on real rides, in real conditions. “Riders can’t have great comms without self-healing mesh networks that actually work, and they need really advanced noise cancellation,” Dajos says.
Lessons From Early Social Networks
PinPop is new, but its roots can be traced back to the very beginnings of social media. “Back in 2010, I built one of the first social media apps entirely based around maps and geolocation. At the time, GPS was only accurate to about 300 feet,” Norris recalls. “By the time we launched in 2012, it was accurate to only 30 feet. And scaling was incredibly difficult too because every new user referenced every other user’s location data, meaning exponentially increasing processing.” Norris learned early on how fragile connectivity can be and how important it is to design systems that still work when traditional infrastructure fails. For example, instead of Bluetooth, PinPop uses longer-ranged infrastructure, even designing their own hardware devices for advanced users.
“It’s about making connectivity seamless,” Norris says. “You can use the internet, but if you’re in a desert, on a ski slope, or in the middle of a city blackout, you still shouldn’t lose touch with the people around you.” This hybrid approach allows seamless switching between online and offline communication. Dajos adds, “We always want to establish online messaging and calls when the internet is available, and fall back to offline when it’s not. That’s ideal for riders and for anyone in environments where connectivity is inconsistent."
Privacy at the Core
The drive toward decentralization is not only about utility. It also responds to regulatory shifts and growing distrust of big tech platforms. Recent proposals in the European Union, such as the Chat Control Act, seek to screen message histories across centralized platforms. Other governments have floated banning end-to-end encryption outright. “We can rely less and less on cryptography alone,” Dajos says. “With decentralized systems like PinPop, there is no central server to screen. People will always need ways to communicate privately, even if traditional encryption is compromised.”
That urgency is heightened by social demand. Telegram, Signal, and WhatsApp rose on the promise of privacy, but their centralized structures come with problems. Not only is their trustworthiness in question as they grow and seek greater profits, but they are also vulnerable to policy shifts. By contrast, PinPop’s model distributes the infrastructure itself. Each user carries a tiny cell tower in their pocket. “This means that trust is built into the system,” says Norris. “People are waking up to the fact that big tech doesn’t have their interests at heart. We’re building something that puts control back in the users’ hands.”
Targeting a Niche, Building a Movement
Norris is optimistic about building for motorcyclists rather than aiming for mass adoption. “Riders spend way too much money on awful communication products right now. The issue is that mass market apps can’t meet their unique needs, so incumbent brands go unchallenged. Riders are forced to buy decade-old tech. If we can provide a modern, sleek, reliable product at 1/10th or 1/20th of the cost, why wouldn’t we do that?” Norris believes that PinPop is focused on a niche that already craves a solution, and he’s out to tear down the high costs of existing products.
Dajos explains that motorcyclists often ride in groups where online connectivity is unreliable, making it difficult to stay in touch on long rides or when passing through remote areas. Today, many motorcyclists buy $300 Bluetooth headsets to stay connected on the road. However, these headsets use technology that hasn’t been updated in over 20 years. They have limited range, limited noise cancellation capabilities, and unstable connections even in the best conditions. “Imagine seamless comms with everyone in your group using your smartphone,” says Dajos, “regardless of internet connectivity, background noise, and riding conditions.”
Once established, the same technology can extend to other niche communities that value in-person connection: snowboarders, cyclists, hikers, and more. This technology can also be used during disasters. Norris emphasizes that this is where BitChat faltered. Launching to a general audience without clear use cases created confusion. “If you give people a tool without a clear purpose, they won’t know what to do with it,” Norris says. “With riders, the use case is obvious and immediate.” PinPop hopes to avoid BitChat’s fate by focusing on a specific group that craves better tools.
“But we’re thinking of more than just hobbyists,” says Norris. PinPop’s technology has already proven useful in high-pressure contexts such as protests. “With everything happening in the world today and rising distrust in centralized big tech, people need a way to communicate that they know is secure and private. It also helps that offline connectivity works in big crowds where internet connectivity falters.” PinPop has its eyes on social good, building trust into its architecture in ways that even the company can’t abuse in the future.
Looking Ahead
Several trends support the trajectory mapped out for PinPop. Recent studies from GWI and Pew Research Center show that social media usage is on the decline since its peak in 2022, and Gen Z is leading the trend. Years of digital saturation and distrust in big tech are creating a real desire for offline and in-person experiences. “Young people know that big tech can’t be trusted and scrolling all day isn’t healthy. They want to actually connect, not just consume,” says Norris. “That shift is creating space for technologies that help people socialize the way humans are meant to — together and in real life.”
Two applications are slated for release. PinPop will serve motorcyclists with navigation and social features, in addition to messaging and communications. Meanwhile, PinPop Messenger will focus solely on offline messaging and privacy for broader audiences. “We are making this technology usable for the first time. Whether you’re on a motorcycle in the desert, a ski slope in the mountains, or at a protest where connectivity is blocked, you’ll be able to stay connected,” says Dajos.
Follow Patrick Dajos and Joshua Norris on LinkedIn for updates on PinPop.