David Park: A Decade of Failing, Then a $3M Business

Starter Story · Founder Breakdown

A Decade of Failing, Then a $3M Business

David Park started his first company at 16. He is 27 now. Nine years of gut punches and people not taking him seriously — only the last 18 months looked anything like success.

Jenny AI 10 yrs of failure $3M+ ARR

The Numbers That Matter

10 yrs

Between his first company and any real traction

9–10

Failed startups tried with co-founder Henry

$2K → $10K

Monthly revenue jump in one month after a viral thread

$100K

The check from Jason Calacanis that kept them alive

$3M+

ARR Jenny reached after doubling in six months

$10M–$30M

Current estimated worth of the startup

The Story, Chapter by Chapter

1:10 · Backstory

First company at 16 — a clothing brand that failed spectacularly. His parents sacrificed $20,000 to send him to college, hoping he would become a lawyer or a doctor.

2:03 · The Decision

He never felt he fit in anywhere. So he dropped out to chase a startup — and met Henry, someone just as weird and passionate about the same things.

2:30 · The Butthole Story

They asked GPT-2 to tell them a story. It produced one line: "Nothing is darker than a butthole." Two people enamored with the tech built a company out of it. Henry coded, David sold.

3:14 · The First Dollar

Eight hours of cold calls a day, for weeks. Roughly 99% hang-ups and rejections. He worked from his parents' bedroom, day and night.

3:46 · Korean Moms

Moms traded their kids' achievements like trading cards. When it was his mom's turn, all she could say was, "My son is working on a startup." He had to ask for her card to buy Chipotle. His parents never once made him feel like a loser — there was always food on the table.

4:57 · Initial Traction

GPT-3 arrived and businesses wanted in on AI. Users came — then everything plateaued at $2,000 a month.

5:13 · The Boring Thing

Talking to users, properly. Not "why do you like my product?" but "why do you dislike my product?" and "what do you love about other people's products?" That is when the growth actually started.

6:00 · The $100K Miracle

Nearly broke, he agreed to appear on a random podcast with barely any listeners. A scout for Jason Calacanis happened to hear it. A $100,000 check.

6:37 · Extending the Runway

The first move was flying to Malaysia to cut their burn by roughly three quarters. He had a six-figure check and was completely by himself — productive, but very lonely. The check did not make him feel successful; the real work was just beginning.

7:32 – 8:08 · $10K, Then $1M

A guy named Zane Khan posted a Twitter thread that became one of the most viral threads in history — and Jenny was in it. Revenue went from $2,000 to $10,000 MRR in one month. They then hired a college friend for TikTok and Reels, caught a second wave of virality, and climbed toward roughly $1M a year.

8:38 · The Diagnosis

Right at the peak, a thyroid cancer diagnosis. "My dreams and nightmares were happening at the same time." A fever forced the surgery to be rescheduled. He had to sign documents in Korean he could not read, and there was a risk his voice would be damaged.

9:31 · Leave It All to God

On the ceiling was a Bible verse: leave everything to God. His mom had wanted to read him the very same verse before surgery — she stepped out, so she never got to. Surgery went well and his voice came back a few days later.

10:34 · Considering Selling

With no growth while he was out, he realized the business had no product-market fit and shopped Jenny around. It did not feel right to cash out early. Six months later, the business more than doubled.

11:22 · Scaling With Content

Start a TikTok account. Test formats. Find the one that works, turn it into a series, then multiply accounts and creators — paying a baseline monthly salary plus incentives for views and conversions.

12:06 – 13:21 · Start Your Own Thing

Nine years of gut punches before any semblance of success. You cannot give a dream a one-week shot — you cannot even give it a year.

The Playbook

Make it about the user, not you

Most founders turn user calls into a conversation about their own product. Ask about the user's workflow instead: where does your tool fit, what exactly do they do with it, can they share their screen and write something with you?

Buy yourself time, cheaply

Their first act after funding was cutting burn to a fraction of what it was. Extending the runway was the real goal — they did not trust themselves with a bigger budget.

Ride virality, then replace it

A viral thread got them to $10K MRR, but virality comes and goes. The next job was building growth that did not depend on it.

Systemize content, do not improvise it

Test many formats, double down on the one that works, turn it into a series, then scale it across accounts and creators.

Say no to an early exit

Everything said take the quick win. It did not feel right in his gut — and within six months the company was worth far more than any offer.

Lines Worth Keeping

"You shouldn't be asking, why do you like my product? You should be asking, why do you dislike my product?"

"It felt like my dreams and nightmares were happening at the same time."

"You can't give it a one-week shot. You can't even give it a year. You have to put your all into it, sacrifice everything for many, many years — and then you have a shot."

"It was a crazy moment getting the check, but I didn't feel successful at all."

If You're Building Something

Rewire your user interviews. Ask what frustrates them about your product and what they love about competitors'. That is where the product direction hides.

Cut costs before you need to. A smaller burn is more months of life, and more months is more chances to find what works.

Tell your story in public, even when nobody's listening. A tiny podcast with almost no viewers turned into a $100K check.

When something goes viral, immediately build the machine behind it. Virality is a starting gun, not a business model.

Measure in years, not weeks. He needed nine of them before anything worked.

The Takeaway

On the days he did not believe in himself, his parents believed in him. His co-founder believed in him. His friends believed in him. That belief carried him through a decade of failure, a cancer scare and a decision almost everyone would have gotten wrong.

He kept going anyway — and it worked.

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