ApplyIn, the one that didn't work
Founder, November 2024 to 2025
In my first semester at Boston College, at 18, I started an AI copilot for college students. It would help them network, find jobs and choose a major. Nobody used it regularly, so I shut it down.
What I did
I built the product, pitched it to investors and went through the whole legal side: opening a company, taxes, and eventually closing it. It never raised money and it never had real traction.
Why it failed
It didn't solve a real problem
People tried it, then didn't come back. Interesting isn't the same as needed.
College students are a hard market
They're hard to reach and even harder to keep.
Selling to universities is brutal
The sales cycle is long, slow and political. A tiny startup can't wait that long.
What it changed
Everything I've built since starts from a real, painful, manual problem that someone already deals with: research that took 30 minutes, contracts done by hand, approaches nobody was grading. I also learned I genuinely love building companies. It's the only time work felt completely like me.