'THIS BILDA' is a series that features interviews with creatives and founders in Asia and beyond.
For Pat and Alex, eating out isn’t just a habit—it’s a community. That’s why they built Reggu, the app that turns Bangkok’s café hoppers and coffee lovers into VIPs at their favorite spots. Think free coffee, surprise desserts, and actual perks, not just another loyalty card. For restaurants? It’s a full-blown CRM to keep customers coming back. Pat (a product designer) and Alex (a software engineer) spill on startup lessons, building better dining experiences, and why relationships—not just rewards—keep people hooked.
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No small talk, let’s dive in with a juicy question - which of you is more likely to end up on Thailand’s most-wanted list and why?
Pat: It would probably be me for something stupid like eating all the free samples from grocery stores or making people eat rats.
Alex: Pat really got her hands on rats from Northeastern Thailand (that are meant to be eaten) and got some friends to cook and eat them… Don’t think that is in itself illegal, but that chaotic energy could lead to the most wanted list.
Why did you move back to Bangkok?
Pat: We decided to move to Bangkok specifically to start Reggu. Thailand F&B scene is wild - so much passion and hidden gems and we thought Reggu could do well here. Plus, I’m from here so it is nice to have family nearby and Alex loves spicy food and never fully lived in Bangkok so… sounded like a fun adventure.
Alex: We saw the opportunity and did a trip before we moved to talk with a bunch of restaurants and see if they were interested in the idea. We had a lot of people say “yes”, so we started building and worked on moving from Singapore. We both like spending time in Thailand and diving and going on road trips, so it was an easy choice.
What’s a misconception people have about the city?
Pat: Honestly, most of the preconceptions about Bangkok are correct lol. One thing about Bangkok that people don’t think about is that the city doesn’t only have amazing food and restaurants - the produce here, like vegetables and fruits, are also amazing. We have the most knowledgeable farmers all around Thailand and in the city you can get amazing organic produce from many places like Homeland and Happy Grocers.
Why the name Reggu?
Reggu came from the word ‘Regular’ - like “I’m a regular at this cafe.”
What’s it like starting a business with your partner?
Pat: Surprisingly non-dramatic. We were a bit nervous going into this but so far so good. Alex and I have very different responsibilities and we trust the other person to do their parts. Divide and conquer! Also, I own 51% of this company so technically I’m his boss.
Alex: It’s actually pretty great and we are working really well together. The line between personal and professional life is completely non-existent for us, but we have leaned into that and it has been very fun. We are, as a couple, all in on this business which is exciting because we feel like we have complete control over our life, but also scary because neither of us have a partner with a stable 9-5 to fall back on!
Give us one piece of encouragement and one hard truth about entrepreneurship.
Pat: An encouragement would be we just came back from working remotely from a beach house for a week and were working from a ski town for almost a month. The flexibility is great. Also, like what everyone else says - it is very fulfilling and satisfying to be building your own company.
The hard truth - you will never NOT feel guilty for taking a break or going on holidays when you feel like you could be working. Also, being sick is like the worst thing. There’s no sick leave for founders.
What resources and tools (books, tech, apps, courses etc.) have helped you build your business?
Alex: The book “Founding Sales” by Pete Kazanjy - It’s a great introduction to doing sales, specifically targeted for founders without a sales background, which is both of us. Really invaluable for people in our situation.
We’ve also both been liking “Acquired Podcast” (https://www.acquired.fm/) - very inspiring to listen to stories of how big companies came about. It is also very helpful to have friends who are either entrepreneurs or experts in different things for us to pick their brains and learn from them.
What are you looking forward to this year?
Business Goals: Continue to get more F&Bs onboard and improve the app and our platforms. We want to try pushing on the marketing front more - an area we are not very familiar with like running more campaigns, doing more collabs with both F&Bs and non-F&Bs, and connecting more with our community.
Personal goals: Pat wants to get back into running and get better at snowboarding. Alex will definitely continue to run a lot, spend more time in the US, and improve his Thai. And in general we want to do more weekend road trips! More running and diving trips with friends in Thailand.
What does success look like to you?
Alex & Pat: Living a good life. Success for us is the freedom to work on what we want to work on, when we want to, and for that work to be on something that is useful for others. It’s also about having time to spend with family and friends, being healthy, eating well, traveling and reading a lot.
What’s a dream collab you’d love to land?
Pat: A collab that highlights and supports local businesses in different neighbourhoods would be really cool since Bangkok has so many unique neighborhoods. Maybe something with Grab or Muvmi (EV tuktuk) to do a Reggu neighbourhood tour where people get breakfast, coffee, lunch, dessert, dinner, get drinks etc at different Reggu spots in the neighbourhood.
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Make sure to follow Reggu on IG.
