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College Students Drop Out to Run AI Note-Taking App That Reached $13 Million Revenue
Rudy Arora and Sarthak Dhawan left Northwestern and Duke after their AI study-aid app generated nearly $500,000 monthly. The product reached more than $13 million in lifetime revenue by early 2025.
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Rudy Arora and Sarthak Dhawan left college at the end of their sophomore year to work full time on an AI-powered note-taking app. The app converts lecture recordings or study materials into notes, flashcards, and quiz questions. The founders met in middle school near Dallas.
Early ventures Before the current app, the pair built a grade-checking tool in high school and a marketplace for Christmas-light installers. Both projects ended when the founders stopped active development.
Growth through social media Initial users came from campus giveaways.
Arora posted three to four TikTok videos daily about the app; one went viral and prompted paid creator partnerships that scaled distribution. The app uses a freemium model. Revenue reached almost $500,000 per month by March 2025, producing more than $13 million in lifetime revenue.
AI tools Dhawan wrote the original code manually because early AI code-generation models performed poorly. The founders now rely on AI for coding tasks, which they say speeds shipping but reduces their own coding practice. Arora said the decision to leave school was not difficult once revenue covered living costs. He added that dropping out earlier than they did could still carry risks.
