Inspiration
I was walking near Old port the other day and saw a guitarist that was just amazing , like genuinely one of the best performances I'd seen in a while. I wanted to tip him , but I had zero cash. I walked away feeling bad.
That moment stuck with me for a bit. Street performers are losing real income every day not because people don't want to support them, but because cash is carried around as much anymore . E-T and PayPal exist but nobody's going to search up a random performer's username on the street. The friction kills the moment. Ovatio kills the friction .
What it does
Ovatio lets any performer go live in 60 seconds. They get a QR code , fans scan it, choose a tip amount, and the money hits the performer's screen in real time. No app download, no account needed.
People could also refer to the web to locate other artists around them . When an artists goes live , his location is shown on a map , which helps people to check out street performers around them .
How I built it
React frontend deployed on Netlify. Node/Express backend running on Railway. Real-time communication via Socket.io , that's what powers the live tip feed, the viewer counter, and the emoji reactions. Geolocation-based performer discovery map built with Leaflet.js so fans can find active performers nearby. The whole thing is mobile-first because that's where the experience lives , on a phone, on the street.
Challenges I ran into
More than I expected honestly. The biggest headache was SQLite , native modules that compile fine on Windows completely break on Linux servers. Had to rethink the database layer mid-build and switch to a pure JavaScript solution. WebSocket architecture was another one , managing session rooms, viewer counts, and real-time state across multiple connected devices simultaneously. And building something that feels premium on mobile without a native app is harder than it sounds.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
The full flow works in under 10 seconds. Scan, tip, watch it hit the screen. That moment when you're holding one phone and someone tips from another phone and your dashboard just lights up that's the thing I'm proud of. It works. And it feels like something people would actually use tomorrow.
What I learned
I learned more about real-time systems in this one night than I had in months lol. WebSockets, Socket.io rooms, managing connection state, handling disconnects gracefully , all of it clicked through building this under pressure. I also learned that deployment is where projects go to die at 3am, and that sometimes the simplest solution (just switch the database) is the right one even if it hurts your pride a little.
What's next for Ovatio
Real payments through Stripe so the money actually moves instantly. A proper performer analytics dashboard , peak earning hours, best locations, repeat supporters. Partnerships with city busking programs starting with Montreal. And honestly, I think there's a bigger story here around any live performer , comedians, festival acts, pop-up concerts. The cashless tip jar problem isn't just a street problem. It's everywhere.
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