Two college students' AI note-taking app crossed $13 million in lifetime revenue
Rudy Arora and Sarthak Dhawan launched in January 2024 and were near $500,000 a month by March 2025.
Subject: Turbo AI (Rudy Arora and Sarthak Dhawan)Subscription app: $20 a month or $120 a year
Case Overview & Background
Rudy Arora and Sarthak Dhawan, friends since sixth grade, built Turbo AI as freshmen at Northwestern and Duke to take better class notes. They launched in January 2024, both dropped out, and say the app has passed $13 million in lifetime revenue with about 10 full-time employees.
How AI Is Used
Step-by-Step Process
Built a note-taker for their own classes.
Paid $5 per video, with viral bonuses, for short-form content.
About 10 employees and bootstrapped, with a small investor round.
Customer Acquisition & Distribution
Limitations, Risks & Failure Modes
What may not apply to you, and what could go wrong:
- Self-reported
- Student-focused AI tools face academic-use rules
- Large, fast-growing competition
Key Takeaways
- Creator videos can scale a student app
- Students can build for their own needs
- AI tools help small teams
Sources
Business Insider: We're childhood friends who scaled our startup to $13M by age 21
Note: As-told-to essay.
Business Insider: These 20-year-olds have grown their AI note-taking app for students
Note: Pricing and team background.
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