Neal Taparia and Darshan Somashekar built a free citation tool at 16, kept it on he side for seven years before going full time, and sold to Chegg after 15 years.
Waiting until EasyBib reached six figures before leaving Lehman Brothers is a great lesson in patience. Most founders want to leap at the very first sign of traction, but holding out for that financial stability clearly paid off. Great breakdown, Jay!
thanks so much! I totally agree and it was a great moment to ground myself as well. i’m super excited to leave my job and go full time one day but this made me realize that patience is often rewarded.
It's always so cool to learn the story behind a tool I've used but never really thought about.
The more I read about successful businesses, the more I realize just how much work, persistence, and experimentation happens behind the scenes. It's easy to admire the finished product without appreciating the years of effort it took to get there.
What I find especially inspiring about this story is how young the founders were when they started. From putting up flyers in school bathrooms to building a business over the next 15 years, that kind of scrappiness and dedication is incredible.
Stories like these remind me that great things often start with someone who's simply curious enough to build something and persistent enough to keep going.
what a great comment, thank you! i think that’s also why i get excited to write a new case study each week. learning something new, what it takes, and the timeline that exists are such useful datapoints to understand how to get where you want to go!
I appreciate you reading through this lengthy piece, it’s nice hearing someone’s perspective on how they use the knowledge!
Waiting until EasyBib reached six figures before leaving Lehman Brothers is a great lesson in patience. Most founders want to leap at the very first sign of traction, but holding out for that financial stability clearly paid off. Great breakdown, Jay!
thanks so much! I totally agree and it was a great moment to ground myself as well. i’m super excited to leave my job and go full time one day but this made me realize that patience is often rewarded.
It's always so cool to learn the story behind a tool I've used but never really thought about.
The more I read about successful businesses, the more I realize just how much work, persistence, and experimentation happens behind the scenes. It's easy to admire the finished product without appreciating the years of effort it took to get there.
What I find especially inspiring about this story is how young the founders were when they started. From putting up flyers in school bathrooms to building a business over the next 15 years, that kind of scrappiness and dedication is incredible.
Stories like these remind me that great things often start with someone who's simply curious enough to build something and persistent enough to keep going.
Thanks for sharing this one!
what a great comment, thank you! i think that’s also why i get excited to write a new case study each week. learning something new, what it takes, and the timeline that exists are such useful datapoints to understand how to get where you want to go!
I appreciate you reading through this lengthy piece, it’s nice hearing someone’s perspective on how they use the knowledge!