CEOInterviews.AIHow I Built Buy Me a Coffee into a Million-Dollar Business

J

Jijo Sunny0:00

I started writing to make money online. My parents ran a supermarket in Slovakia, a European country. I dropped out during my second year of degree for a startup. We had an office above Rahmath Hotel. I started getting Google AdSense checks at 13 — people mocked me, asking if money could really come from a computer. But when I launched, it went viral, became number one on Hacker News. I got a Tier One Entrepreneur Visa, which required showing two crore rupees in my account. Sometimes Google would ban me and everything would go to zero, but I'd start again. Now we have creators in 110 countries. Buy Me a Coffee is the easiest path for creators, though not necessarily the best. It's always from the consumer side, not the merchant side.

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Interviewer1:08

Welcome Jijo, thank you. We need to know — where do you prefer to live? Is it here in Kozhikode, or are you in the UK now, or the US? Where do you like to live?

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Jijo Sunny1:23

I'm currently in the UK. I live there because I like it. It's everyone's personal preference. For me, it's the walkable streets, good public transportation, and friends I've built since 2015 — both Malayalis and product builders. Family is there too, so I prefer it.

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Interviewer1:54

So Jijo, is writing the main thing for you, or is the startup the main thing?

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Jijo Sunny2:00

I've realized I'm someone who writes a lot. Even now I get time for writing. I'm fully a writer, but it's not writing to show anyone. I take notes two to three hours a day — just continuous note-taking. It's an obsession. My wife Alisha doesn't watch TV shows with me because I keep taking notes, screenshots, screencasting — even during movies. It's irritating, but noting is how my brain works. I can't hold ideas in my head. Products come from writing too — I first write out features, then move to design if they're good, otherwise they stay in my notes. After a year or even ten years, when I look back, they're still there.

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Interviewer2:59

So I understand your career started from writing. You were a blogger first and wrote good content. How was that story? I roughly know, but I also want to know. Where did you start? Where did you study? I understand it's Kozhikode?

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Jijo Sunny3:22

No, I was born in Malappuram. Up to 6th class I was in Malappuram, raised by my grandparents. Then I came to Kozhikode. My parents were running a supermarket in Slovakia. After they came back, I lived with them. My motivation to write didn't come from my grandparents — I had no interest in writing as a child. I read a lot of books, but I started writing purely to make money online. That's what everyone was doing at that time. After writing, I'd get service income. I also created a blog for ad revenue that went viral. I won the Youngest Blogger award from Manorama — that was a big deal at the time.

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Interviewer4:20

During what time? School or college? 13 years old? So approximately 8th class?

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Jijo Sunny4:28

Yes, around 2007-2008. Then plus two in hometown, degree also in hometown — a psychology degree for two years. After that I fully jumped into the startup with an office and everything. I made money through vlogging, and by 15 I'd created a small ad network startup.

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Interviewer4:58

OK, ad network — what does that mean?

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Jijo Sunny5:01

At that time it was advertising-based since I was writing. But Google's ads were for big publishers, not for small bloggers. So I created an ad network specifically for small bloggers. I invested $15,000 — a huge amount then and still is. I started Adentico, ran it for six months, and shut it down in the seventh month. It grew a lot with impressions, but the business model wasn't there. I can name about a hundred similar products from that era — Bidvertiser, Chitika, Infolinks — I made money in all of them and understood their problems. The issue was there were no advertisers to onboard. At 15, you don't have much awareness about these things.

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Interviewer6:04

Did you do it alone or did you have people with you?

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Jijo Sunny6:06

My brother helped me — he did the front-end of the site. He's now at Buy Me a Coffee in product management. He has technical skills too. There are three sons in the family — only two of us are involved. We did Adentico together. At that time, was there a startup concept or people who could help? Maybe there were, I didn't know. I was sitting at home in a small room next to the kitchen. Everyone I talked to was online. It was an online life. Communication was good, and my English was set from writing so much — that was a big advantage. On the Wayback Machine, my old articles look embarrassing now, but at that time that was the level.

When I started, my fear was communicating with outside teams — I was terrified. Now it's OK, but back then it was really scary. In school, you feel like you're the only one with this concern. But an outsider needs substance — it doesn't matter how well you speak English. They care about your ideas, not your accent. But we carry this insecurity — that our English is bad, our color is wrong. Why do we hate ourselves so much?

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Interviewer8:22

Did you drop out after degree or after school?

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Jijo Sunny8:24

Within six months. This was around 10th class time. The ad network launched in 2010 — I was born in '94, so about 15-16 years old. It ran only six months. After that, for about a year and a half, I didn't touch a computer. When the site shut down, I was very down. I had big dreams but lost everything. Before that, blog writing brought income. I sold books to foreign customers on Warrior Forum — thousands of dollars. Plus blogs I created and sold, and auto blogs. Nobody around me was doing this. Some Malayalis were blogging but not what we were doing. Auto blogs were a big thing then — automatically generating content, kind of a gimmick. Then during second year of degree, I dropped out for the startup. Still hadn't reached Buy Me a Coffee.

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Interviewer10:03

How did you reach Buy Me a Coffee from there?

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Jijo Sunny10:05

I had a psychology degree — just went for enjoyment and curiosity. I went to Lisaa College in Wayanad for two years, then dropped out. I never planned to fully drop out. I didn't write public exams — when exams came, I'd take my Bullet motorcycle straight to Bangalore. On the side I had blog writing and other products. I did many side projects nobody knows about — lots of failures. About two months ago, Alisha Joseph and I built a small secret project ourselves. For about 10 years I didn't code much, but early on we were the only ones involved. After dropping out, still hadn't reached Buy Me a Coffee. The idea came from the UK around 2016-17. The gap was filled with blog income, YouTube channels, and product videos. I turned content into a business with 10-15 employees in Kozhikode. We did SEO tricks — I manually edited WordPress plugins, turning search query pages into indexed pages. Lots of tricks like that. That's how we started the first office with about 10 employees, then a small office in Malappuram, then above Rahmath Hotel in Kozhikode — that was our second office.

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Interviewer13:02

Were your parents supportive during this time?

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Jijo Sunny13:05

Yes, they were very supportive. When I said I was starting an office, they took it seriously. They'd seen income coming from a young age — Google checks from 13. At first they mocked me — "Will money really come from a computer?" But later they understood. They'd been in the supermarket business abroad and came back, so they were supportive.

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Interviewer13:39

Where did you meet Alisha?

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Jijo Sunny13:41

I met Alisha before all this. She was in 6th class studying catechism. Are you married? Yes. Alisha is the co-founder of Buy Me a Coffee and my wife. We knew each other from a young age, from church. There was a small crush, but we stopped talking. After creating Buy Me a Coffee, I called her for coffee when I came back from the UK — we'd lost touch. I was very nervous that day — usually I'm fine with girls, but with her I was terrified. I realized there was some strange energy, probably from the old crush. She was my first crush. After that, we got together. Then Alisha went to Infosys — she studied civil engineering from Palakkad and learned coding.

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Interviewer15:04

What was the plan to go to the UK? Was it to study or for the startup?

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Jijo Sunny15:10

Not to study. But I did a small business degree there, then dropped out of that too. I used my own money — parents didn't know. I went thinking I could expand the business and raise funds. Going to the UK felt easier for meeting people and raising funds. But I realized content as a business was ending. The blog and ad revenue model was fading. I'd lost enjoyment. I loved product design and building products — after the high of Adentico in 2010, I hadn't felt that again. So I went to raise funds and build more. That was a wrong assumption — you can't raise funds from the UK, there's no Silicon Valley culture there. After a year and a half, I went straight to Silicon Valley.

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Interviewer16:49

How did you get the visa?

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Jijo Sunny16:55

I went on a Tier One Entrepreneur Visa — that required two crore rupees in the bank. I didn't have it. Family members mortgaged their property and took a loan to show the amount. I got the visa. Within three months I returned the loan, but it cost about 10-15 lakhs in interest. I had a three-year visa. I went to London with a friend. My brother came too. I had an aunt there but didn't live with her. That's when the Buy Me a Coffee idea came and I started building it.

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Interviewer18:05

But there was no specific purpose, right?

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Jijo Sunny18:08

When I think now... I discuss with Faisal — we say we should go to the US. But what purpose? If we sit around there for days, wouldn't we get bored? There was no startup community or connections there. I just went boldly. In my knowledge, no community existed. I have a few friends there, that's all. A few Kozhikode friends also went — about five of us, very close friends. But I didn't go for them. I went to raise funds, build products, explore.

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Interviewer18:56

The Buy Me a Coffee idea came from the UK? How did you arrive at the idea?

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Jijo Sunny19:02

Buy Me a Coffee — it wasn't natural, actually. I'm someone who tried every way to make money online. If you Google "ways to make money," Buy Me a Coffee appears somewhere because it helps creators. Let me explain: Buy Me a Coffee sounds friendly but has no connection to coffee. It means "a friendly way to ask for support." Like saying "I'll buy you a coffee" or "I'll buy you a beer" — it's an old concept. In vlogs and articles, you'd see "Hey, if you like this post, buy me a coffee" with a PayPal link. I took that existing concept and gave it a name.

I trademarked the brand and also got the domain. At that time, there was a trend for one month. I bought it from the UK, executed on it, and built something I'd been envisioning as a bigger product. Buy Me a Coffee was just a small module of that. I was building a product to conquer the world, but for publishers — and that larger product was Publisher. Buy Me a Coffee was a small module of it. When I launched Buy Me a Coffee, not a single publisher took it seriously. But it went viral in the very first week itself. It became the number one product on Hacker News, went viral on Twitter. I think there was some magic in that name — the design was good, the idea resonated quickly.

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Interviewer20:25

Who suggested that name?

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Jijo Sunny20:27

That wasn't really a suggestion. In fact, it was when I saw that name that I thought it could be a good idea. It was a great idea and we came up with that name ourselves. What we do is, when we start a prototype, we provide support on Telegram. So when people get a bug fixed, they say thanks, right? So we'd say underneath, 'Thanks? That's all? Buy me a biryani!' with a link — and people would actually send ₹100. That's how it started. It's a fun concept, isn't it? That's exactly when we were getting to know each other, and that's when we first heard about Buy Me a Coffee.

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Interviewer21:05

So you came up with that idea while in the UK? Did the product start there or here?

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Jijo Sunny21:12

No, it wasn't like that. I was getting funding from the UK. The team was back home in India — I should mention that. When I went, the team was here. My younger brother Joseph was the one running things.

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Interviewer21:32

How did your brother get into this?

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Jijo Sunny21:34

He became a fan of mine and came along. He'd been helping me since he was in 10th grade. We'd see things together — the ups and downs, Google banning us, everything going to zero, then starting again. Through all those challenges, Joseph was with me. After his plus two, there wasn't much of a gap — just two years. Then after that, Joseph was doing more of the work.

I

Interviewer22:04

So it wasn't like one day you sat down and said 'Let's start a company'?

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Jijo Sunny22:06

No, nothing like that. After plus two, he didn't go for a degree initially. He went to study accounting — had no interest at all. He just picked the easiest degree he could find, went for it, and after class would come to the office and sit as CEO. That was what Joseph was doing. He'd go to first-year classes when possible or take leave, and the rest of the time he'd come to the office and run the team. That's what Joseph was doing. There was a team here at that time.

I

Interviewer22:43

So you were in the UK during this time?

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Jijo Sunny22:46

Yes, I was in the UK. When we came to the UK together, the company was running well here. No problems at all. We always had a good team. Buy Me a Coffee was always the product being built. Actually, before that — there was a much bigger vision I mentioned: Publisher. A product with that big vision. Buy Me a Coffee was a part of it. What happened was — Publisher didn't take off. If you look at the New York Times or big newspapers, there's a paywall when you subscribe. That paywall software — I thought the era of ad revenue was ending. People would start paying for news. That's what led to Publisher. The donation part of that was Buy Me a Coffee. It was to be friendly for small bloggers — nobody's going to set up a paywall for them. So that was Buy Me a Coffee.

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Interviewer23:31

But Publisher — did it not resonate?

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Jijo Sunny23:34

Publisher didn't work out despite my efforts. I think it lacked credibility. There were big publishers, but it was hard to reach product-market fit. The easier path was to go to content creators. So after trying Publisher and thinking about it — it was boring. Piped was more fun. There's a much bigger advantage: you get personal connections with content creators. I have personal connections with top creators — I've given them my WhatsApp number. So everyone ends up messaging me, not just about Buy Me a Coffee, but about their personal lives too. That's how close we are with many of them.

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Interviewer24:10

How many countries do you have creators in now?

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Jijo Sunny24:13

We have creators in 110 countries. Millions of creators. But obviously not everyone is making money — just a small percentage. In the last year, I think about 70,000 creators made meaningful income. From many countries. Ukraine stands out — it's a very difficult country to send payments to, but they need it the most. Because of the war, their activists and artists have been looking for income sources. Selling art online, using Buy Me a Coffee, starting memberships or yoga classes — those are the easiest ways. Buy Me a Coffee is the easiest path, I'd say. There may be other good paths too, but everything can be done in a small, easy way. That's a big advantage. When we look at other options, we expect something big — like if we're buying coffee, we don't think the payment amount is a big value. But that mentality of needing to give a large sum when donating holds us back. With Buy Me a Coffee, the price of a coffee is something anyone can give. And people are surprised — some buy 100, 1,000 coffees, or even $10,000.

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Interviewer25:35

Have there been any scary transactions?

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Jijo Sunny25:38

We've set an upper limit. We deliberately decided not to scare ourselves. I think it's around 1,000 coffees — we set an upper limit. Obviously if something exceeds that, we need to look into it. Yes, large amounts have come through. But we set an upper limit because fraud is a major headache. It's not just about payments — who you're sending to and what you're getting back. We always need to monitor and moderate. Our moderation team and efforts take a lot of energy. Fraud, abuse, spam — about 30% of my time goes into these. Every time we solve one type, new types of payment fraud emerge. I could talk about this for an hour — stolen credit cards, people pay with a stolen card and then file a chargeback. The original cardholder complains, and we have to refund even though the person who paid may not have been the actual cardholder. It's complicated.

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Interviewer26:39

But the money goes to creators instantly, right? Doesn't that mean losses fall on you?

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Jijo Sunny26:41

Yes, there are monthly-based losses from fraud. But the funds do go out instantly. There's about a seven-day window where a bank can flag a transaction. If a complaint comes in after that period — if someone says 'I didn't make this payment' and the bank sides with them, we have to refund. If our evidence isn't accepted by the bank, we have to return the money. And it's not just that — there are many types of fraud. I thought if money was lost, it was lost. But the culture here is different — in the US, people will file for cashback on things they've even forgotten about. They just ask, and the bank gives it back. Banks are always on the consumer's side, not the merchant's.

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Interviewer27:33

Is it the businesses making these complaints, or is it consumers committing the fraud?

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Jijo Sunny27:36

Financial institutions' priority is protecting consumers — that's where the chargeback funds get returned. It's good to know. But anyway, donations are just a small part now. We do millions in monthly volume with memberships. The shop is also growing — it's reached half a million dollars per month.

I

Interviewer28:00

What I need to understand is about this product. Buy Me a Coffee — I knew it as a certain form in my mind. But when I explored the product before this interview, I saw two or three categories: membership, shop, and something else. What's the concept of 'shop'?

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Jijo Sunny28:17

Shop is for creators who want to sell creative or simple items. For example, an artist might sell Adobe filters — those one-click photo enhancement presets. You can't sell those on Amazon. You need a digital storefront. Buy Me a Coffee's shop is perfect for that. You create your page, put up a filter for $5, $10, or even free to collect email lists. It's a system designed for that. We sell both digital and physical products. If someone makes a craft, like a unique cup, they can sell it there too.

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Interviewer29:05

Is it mostly digital products?

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Jijo Sunny29:07

I think about 20-30% is digital. The remaining 70% is more physical — books, paintings, things like that. The shop is actually our smallest category, but it's doing significant volume: around $6-7 million in yearly GMV. Shop is the smallest category but it's already generating that. And this shows that these are going to smaller creators. When you hear these numbers they might seem small, but for creators, this isn't a full-time job — it's part-time. Even $100 or $10 makes a big difference. I remember the first money I made from writing — it was about a dollar sent to PayPal. It wasn't a large amount, but the confidence it gave me — that's a big deal. When you see opportunities to do things with even ₹1,000 or ₹10,000, the possibilities are incredible. You end up contributing without even realizing it.

I

Interviewer30:21

And for people in countries like ours, where currency is weak — even $100 is significant?

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Jijo Sunny30:24

Exactly. For countries like ours, $100 a month grown over time is substantial. While in the US, that's just a gym membership fee. But here, it's some people's salary. In countries like the Philippines or Indonesia, that small amount replaces their salary and lets them focus full-time on art, creativity, and video. That's 'life chasing,' right? It brings us peace because when our currency is weak, even a small amount of work income means a lot.

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Interviewer30:55

So memberships are doing millions per month?

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Jijo Sunny31:00

Yes, memberships are doing millions. For an example — there's a woodworker in the UK, a carpenter named Alastair Jones. He makes more money on Buy Me a Coffee than from carpentry. He creates PDFs and videos about woodworking techniques, charges 5-10 pounds per month as a membership. He makes about £8,000 per month from Buy Me a Coffee, while his actual job income is only £3,000-4,000. You can look it up — buymeacoffee.com/freebird. He's also a very close friend of mine; we always message each other. I know his wife and everything.

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Interviewer31:41

So that's the context. And you see that small amounts make a huge change in people's lives?

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Jijo Sunny31:45

Yes, that small amount brings a huge change. It gives us the freedom to contribute. And for many people — the first time they get paid from a job, that feeling is completely different. When you've lived 10, 20, or 25 years and this is the first time someone pays you for work you did — that feeling, that confidence, it's an incredible experience. You probably see this with thousands of students.

I

Interviewer32:17

Let's go back to that. Going from the UK to the US — getting a visa to the US is difficult.

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Jijo Sunny32:22

It's still difficult. I'm someone who went once and failed. For a startup idea, I went to Chennai to apply for a visa — it was some incubation or accelerator program. At the end, they just handed me a rejection paper. No explanation. You won't even understand why it was rejected. That's the US — the US is brutal. But there are many immigrants who do well, like Elon Musk. It's incredibly difficult for an average person to go there.

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Interviewer33:01

So how did you end up getting there?

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Jijo Sunny33:03

I went to YC. In the UK, we had Y Combinator — the world's biggest incubator. They've invested in Stripe, Airbnb. We'd been applying there repeatedly, even before Buy Me a Coffee. After four or five rejections, they gave us more feedback in the last one. Buy Me a Coffee got rejected four or five times. But they give inputs. If something isn't promising, they won't waste time — they'll just say no. If it's promising, they'll give more feedback and maybe invite you for an interview. Eventually, they invited us for an interview and we got rejected. Then they told us to come to the US for an interview — that's how I first went to the US.

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Interviewer34:04

So that's how you first went to the US?

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Jijo Sunny34:06

Yes, I went for the YC interview. Before that, I'd gone once on a travel visa for fundraising. I got a travel visa from the UK — it's actually easier to get a US travel visa from the UK than from India. You get a 10-year visa but have to return within six months. On that first trip, I met an investor — Ankur, who's now my biggest mentor and investor. He's the founder of Teachable. Ankur Warikoo — he sold Teachable two years ago for about $250 million. He was like my first supporter. I connected with him through a Twitter DM. I just messaged him saying I'd be in the US and asked if we could meet.

I

Interviewer35:11

So after arriving in the US, you started working on it?

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Jijo Sunny35:14

There was no plan before going. After reaching the US, I went to events and messaged people who might attend. But you need certainty about reaching people, right? Once I arrived in the US, that's when I really started working. I'd known about YC for a long time and had applied many times.

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Interviewer35:43

And before going to the US in 2018, Stripe had already invested?

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Jijo Sunny35:48

Yes, while we were still in the UK, Stripe made a small investment — $10,000. They were our first investor. It was before we got US funding. Stripe had started a small fund to help startups, and we were part of that. We're still proud that Stripe holds a percentage of our company. It was at a very low valuation — around $1 million, so $10,000 is about 1%. That was our first investment.

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Interviewer36:18

And at that time, the company was based in the UK?

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Jijo Sunny36:24

Yes, I started the company in the UK. Buy Me a Coffee was incorporated in the US. We got funding in the US. To incorporate in the US, you don't need to be there — anyone from India or the UK can incorporate for $500. Stripe has a product called Atlas for that. We incorporated through Atlas, and they've featured us on their blog. They featured startups they supported through Atlas, and we were one of them. Was the product already live when the $10,000 came in? Yes, it was live with some revenue. $10,000 wasn't going to make a big difference, but since it was Stripe — our payment partner — we wanted to keep them close. They approached us, not the other way around.

I

Interviewer37:18

So Buy Me a Coffee already existed at that point?

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Jijo Sunny37:24

Yes, by late 2018 it had been running for about eight months. The product hit number one on Product Hunt. After that success, I got into YC and went to the US. The US company had actually been set up in 2016 as Publisher Inc. But when we set up a US company, we didn't need to be there — we could even receive funds through online transfers.

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Interviewer38:00

You don't need to be a US citizen or have a US identity?

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Jijo Sunny38:01

No, you don't. You can register through a registered agent. About 33% of new incorporations in Delaware now happen through Stripe Atlas. It's that big — tens of thousands of companies are doing this. That's how we started. Then we moved to YC. I got the call in December 2018 and joined the 19 batch. In January 2019, I arrived there. You know where we first met? YC's first section. That was my first time seeing a startup in person at YC. Before that, YC was just something you'd find on YouTube. We had no idea what being in YC was like for a Malayali. We'd asked around a lot and understood what to expect. It was truly amazing for us.

I

Interviewer39:03

And once you get into YC, they invest?

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Jijo Sunny39:05

Yes, they invest a fixed amount. They take 7% equity. The amount at that time was $150,000 — it was a small amount, but enough to support us. More than the funding, YC's connections and inputs are important. For all other investors, money is what matters. But YC now invests $500,000. They've increased the amount. It's half a million.

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Interviewer39:47

Half a million. And what facilities do you get at YC?

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Jijo Sunny39:50

When you join a batch, you stay there for three months. It's a three or four-month program. Every week there's a dinner — the Airbnb founder came and we got to interact with many great people. That's what you get at YC — access to incredible people and networks.

Our group partner is Paul Buchheit, who invented Gmail. In YC, batches are divided into groups, and each group has two or three group partners. Paul Buchheit is one of the partners.

I

Interviewer40:30

Do you interact with them daily during those three months?

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Jijo Sunny40:34

It's three times a week. The rest of the time, you go and do actual work. That's their concept — don't just sit there. Whether you're at the office or at home, do actual work, network, and don't waste time.

I

Interviewer40:47

So there's an unspoken rule not to talk to investors during that time?

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Jijo Sunny40:48

Yes, you can only talk to them after Demo Day. Demo Day happens after three months. By that time, you've added a lot of inputs to your product, made it pitchable, and achieved maximum results. You improve the product — that's the goal.

I

Interviewer41:04

So they monitor everything?

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Jijo Sunny41:05

Yes, they monitor. They're basically in a supportive role — they give inputs. What I liked most is they're very honest, unlike other investors. The reason is, if we don't succeed, it's not a big loss for them. But when other investors put in large amounts, they struggle to save their investment, and that's sometimes where problems arise — they push you toward their vision.

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Interviewer41:28

VCs fund about a hundred companies, and they already have many successful companies, so they don't need us to succeed necessarily?

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Jijo Sunny41:36

Exactly. What they tell us is the truth, the reality. Even if it's hard to hear as a founder, the partner will say what they truly think. That's the reality, and that's why even now we have fond memories of that group — their culture is very different.

I

Interviewer41:56

So you don't recommend fundraising?

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Jijo Sunny41:58

I don't recommend fundraising unless you really need money. But if you get an opportunity like Y Combinator, take it without hesitation — don't even think twice. That experience changes you, changes your vibe and mentality.

I

Interviewer42:08

How many meetings did you have during those three months?

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Jijo Sunny42:12

Three or four meetings, that's all. Plus, every week there's dinner and events there for three days a week. After three or four months, there's Demo Day. After Demo Day, the program finishes.

I

Interviewer42:26

Do you have to stay in that area, in California?

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Jijo Sunny42:29

No other activities are required. YC doesn't have a big office or anything — there are no startups working there full-time. They don't force you to work from their space. They don't give you an office either. But there's a large combo space where 100-200 founders gather for dinner, talks, and networking. You work hard, but it's not like an incubator where you sit there full-time. You maintain your own culture.

I

Interviewer43:03

In your mind, what should you accomplish in those three to four months?

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Jijo Sunny43:07

I see it as a starter mission. We went there and initially thought about what we needed to do. They basically told us to go figure it out ourselves — just like how you put engineers out to build things. At YC, they expect growth, product quality, and after three to four months, ship something ready to demo to investors. That's it.

I

Interviewer43:38

So the fund was already received before arriving there?

J

Jijo Sunny43:39

Yes, we got the fund before arriving. The fund covers travel and expenses there. They see it as meeting your expenses at that location — not for improving the product. Everyone going to the US for four months has those costs. So it's about covering initial expenses and shipping something.

I

Interviewer43:57

And Demo Day is where the big fundraising happens?

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Jijo Sunny43:59

Yes, that's what they expect — raising millions of dollars at Demo Day. Many investors attend, all leading investors. They started doing it online after COVID, but it's also in person.

I

Interviewer44:12

Is it only for selected investors, or is it publicly available?

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Jijo Sunny44:15

They invite selected investors — it's not publicly available. They do share videos, but even those are only for selected investors. The public doesn't get access.

I

Interviewer44:29

So if I wanted to watch your pitch, I couldn't?

J

Jijo Sunny44:31

No, there's no option for that. I understand why — only accredited investors can invest in the US due to regulations. They have many requirements. They may also want to avoid showing people who were blacklisted or who treated founders badly. But you get to meet legendary investors like Serena Williams, legendary startup founders — they all come and participate at Demo Day.

I

Interviewer45:10

What happened at your Demo Day?

J

Jijo Sunny45:13

By Demo Day, we had actually pivoted to a different project called Brew, a podcast platform. We hadn't pivoted with Buy Me a Coffee — we had created a new idea in between because at that time Buy Me a Coffee was only making about two thousand dollars a month. After taking our 5% cut, it wasn't enough to make significant money.

I

Interviewer45:39

So you thought Buy Me a Coffee wouldn't work and switched to Brew?

J

Jijo Sunny45:40

Yes, we switched to Brew. By the third month, we had two thousand paid subscribers on the app. We pitched it and raised funds. But a month later, we shut down that product because it didn't work out. We had raised a little over a million dollars at that time.

I

Interviewer46:01

You raised over a million?

J

Jijo Sunny46:03

Yes. But looking back, the value I got from YC was more about connections and knowledge than the fund itself. The fund was useful at that time — it supported our lives and the project, plus the brand value of being a YC-backed startup. After that, we didn't really need to raise more. We raised about a million for Brew, then another half million for Buy Me a Coffee. Everything was mixed under one company — all the ideas like hydration, BioLynk, and the new products were under that company.

I

Interviewer47:12

Who were the co-founders of the company?

J

Jijo Sunny47:13

The original co-founders were me and Joseph. Alicia joined when Buy Me a Coffee was starting. Joseph and I started together. Alicia has two years of experience now — she went to Infosys, and I was thinking about following her path, but then fully focused on this.

I

Interviewer47:35

When was the real breakout for Buy Me a Coffee?

J

Jijo Sunny47:37

I think the breakout came during COVID, in March 2020. In one month, Buy Me a Coffee's volume increased 10 to 15 times.

I

Interviewer47:51

Before that, did you ever think about shutting down Buy Me a Coffee?

J

Jijo Sunny47:53

Absolutely. While doing YC, we actually considered selling Buy Me a Coffee for around $50,000. Offers were coming in, and we seriously thought about it. We wondered whether to close it. If we sold it for half a million, fine, but if not, it would be a big mistake. At that time, we were excited about Brew, and Buy Me a Coffee seemed like a side project that wasn't working.

I

Interviewer48:22

So the decision to focus on Buy Me a Coffee came before or after COVID?

J

Jijo Sunny48:24

Before COVID, we already realized Buy Me a Coffee was slowly picking up. But after COVID, it became a real breakout. After YC, we understood we could make recurring revenue — it's hard to build a product that people love. With Brew, we'd go to podcast events, and while people would say it was good, they'd immediately ask about Buy Me a Coffee instead. Buy Me a Coffee resonated more with them, but Brew didn't. Brew was like a YouTube for audio — we partnered with creators for exclusive podcasts, but it didn't resonate. Buy Me a Coffee felt more attractive to people, so we decided to focus back on it.

I

Interviewer49:24

So that's when you came back and set up the Kozhikode office?

J

Jijo Sunny49:26

Yes, we came back home. After spending a lot of money in the US, we decided to be more frugal. We had raised some funds and spent a lot, so we thought we should exercise some restraint. We came back to India because the US was very expensive.

I

Interviewer49:44

When did you start the Kozhikode office?

J

Jijo Sunny49:45

That was the second office at HiLITE, in 2019, just before COVID. We could only use it for about three months. That's when we were just getting started — that's when we met you, I think.

I

Interviewer50:04

Yes, that's when we met. After leaving Cyber Park, you set up the second office at HiLITE.

J

Jijo Sunny50:08

HiLITE had a previous office in finance. Looking at it from the US experience, we felt our office spaces here were lacking. We had visited the YC office and it was colorful and fun. We stayed there one night and talked a lot. There were beds for naps, a kitchen, PlayStation, gaming — it was like a dream office.

I

Interviewer50:44

So you wanted to recreate that dream?

J

Jijo Sunny50:47

That was our dream, and we executed it. Alicia designed the interior — she had some interest in interior design. A team called Anas and Nahal did a very creative job. But three months later, COVID came and everyone went home. We only used the office for about four months, then closed it and paid rent for about two years. We decided not to go back.

I

Interviewer51:20

Were you there during COVID?

J

Jijo Sunny51:22

No, I had come back home. After COVID, I was in India for about a year. I came back because of the high expenses in the US — we spent more than we raised. Our burn rate was always low since we spent money we had earned ourselves, but after getting outside funding from the US, our burn rate increased along with demand from investors.

I

Interviewer51:54

Did you realize you needed to stop the high spending?

J

Jijo Sunny51:56

Yes, we realized if we continued this way, we'd be wiped out. So we cut the burn rate to one-tenth, came back here, and showed discipline. You can't reduce expenses in the US — an iOS engineer costs $120K per year. Here, the average engineer gets about ₹8 lakhs. Those US expenses weren't sustainable. So we stopped all that, came back, and worked from home.

I

Interviewer52:32

How much was the monthly expense at that time?

J

Jijo Sunny52:35

I don't even like to think about it — it felt like being hit hard. But the spending was on building a good product. When money came in suddenly and we had that freedom, combined with product demand, we spent excessively on growth and product. Most of the spending was on Brew, the project we worked on in between.

I

Interviewer53:04

Where did the decision to cut back come from?

J

Jijo Sunny53:07

It came from us. We decided on our own and informed everyone. At that time, it was quite difficult — investors were worried whether they'd agree. But they understood. First, we don't really need permission to do what we believe in. The people who support us do so because we're building. The investors I have are more understanding — they know this is high-risk investment. If they wanted safe returns, they'd put money in index funds for 10-15% annually. This is high-risk, high-return. 90% of startups fail, and they know that.

I

Interviewer54:24

Your US investors seem very supportive.

J

Jijo Sunny54:26

Yes, they're very supportive and experienced. One is the founder of Crunchyroll — the biggest anime streaming site. Another is the founder of Box. They're all great people. When I told them we were focusing on Buy Me a Coffee, they were all positive and said to keep going. Some investors who were stopping, they said it's fine — just start your next effort. They were all very positive about it.

I

Interviewer55:03

Regarding onboarding creators — did you have a sales team, or was it more automatic?

J

Jijo Sunny55:08

No, we never had a sales team. We had growth team members who did marketing — influencer videos, ads, brand advertising, keyword competition analysis, Twitter ads. It's more growth and marketing than sales. Right now, one person handles growth.

I

Interviewer56:07

Do you own the Buy Me a Coffee trademark?

J

Jijo Sunny56:09

Yes, we do. I initially got the trademark because competitors were bidding on our brand name keywords. If someone uses our name for ads, it misleads users — they think it's us and go to the wrong place. That's why I got the trademark. I'm actually fine with competition — a bigger market is better. Competition wakes us up when we're sleeping. We've become close with founders of competing companies like Gumroad and others. We share learnings and information, so everyone benefits. We don't feel like anyone has less — everyone gains from sharing.

I

Interviewer58:14

Does Buy Me a Coffee include features from competitors?

J

Jijo Sunny58:16

Every product is unique. Some features suit certain people, others suit different needs. Nothing is exactly the same. Some features may overlap, and yes, some competitors have copied from us, and we've been inspired by them. I'm fine with that — if you look at it, everything is copying to some extent. We didn't start from a blank slate; every prototype is influenced by what you've seen. We were inspired by Y Combinator's model and many academies.

I

Interviewer58:48

Was there no original idea?

J

Jijo Sunny58:50

No. I used to set an alarm for 4 AM, wake up by 4:30 after coffee, and have four focused hours of work. That was my routine back then. We didn't set internal goals or milestones — just build the best product. At the end of the day, even Tesla didn't have salespeople or a showroom, and now they're the number one selling car. That kind of thinking inspires me.

I

Interviewer59:16

That's very inspiring — there are many things to learn from that.

J

Jijo Sunny59:18

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