# Founders who started with an app.

Some started in dorm rooms. Some couldn't code.

All of them started with one idea and one phone.

## Featured Rork Stars

### 1. Sam Altman
- **Company:** OpenAI  
- **Founded:** 2005  
- **Valuation:** $730B  
- **Started from:** Location app built at Stanford

### 2. Kevin Systrom
- **Company:** Instagram  
- **Founded:** 2010  
- **Net Worth:** $2.9B  
- **Started from:** Photo filter app, 13 employees

### 3. Jan Koum
- **Company:** WhatsApp  
- **Founded:** 2009  
- **Valuation:** $22B  
- **Started from:** Rejected by Facebook

### 4. Evan Spiegel
- **Company:** Snapchat  
- **Founded:** 2011  
- **Market Cap:** $8.4B  
- **Started from:** Stanford dorm room project

### 5. Travis Kalanick
- **Company:** Uber  
- **Founded:** 2009  
- **Market Cap:** $157B  
- **Started from:** Couldn't get a cab in Paris

### 6. Zhang Yiming
- **Company:** TikTok  
- **Founded:** 2012  
- **Valuation:** $550B  
- **Started from:** News app in a Beijing apartment

### 7. Whitney Wolfe Herd
- **Company:** Bumble  
- **Founded:** 2014  
- **Peak IPO Valuation:** $8.5B  
- **Started from:** Left Tinder, started over

### 8. Sean Rad
- **Company:** Tinder  
- **Founded:** 2012  
- **Market Cap:** $7B  
- **Started from:** Side project in a startup incubator

### 9. Luis von Ahn
- **Company:** Duolingo  
- **Founded:** 2011  
- **Market Cap:** $5B  
- **Started from:** CAPTCHA inventor, free education mission

### 10. Zach Yadegari
- **Company:** Cal AI  
- **Founded:** 2023  
- **Revenue:** $50M/yr  
- **Started from:** High school, AI calorie counting

### 11. Nikita Bier
- **Company:** TBH → Gas  
- **Founded:** 2017  
- **Market Cap:** $100M+  
- **Started from:** Built two #1 apps, sold both

### 12. Alexis Barreyat
- **Company:** BeReal  
- **Founded:** 2020  
- **Market Cap:** $600M  
- **Started from:** Frustrated by Instagram's fakeness

---

### Rork Stars Success Stories

**How a €20M construction company built its own ERP software in Rork**  
A 35-year-old construction company owner in Spain replaced his SaaS stack with a custom ERP software he built himself in Rork. No developers hired. No agency quote. iOS, Android, and web from one project. Here's how, what he built, and what it cost.  
[Read more](https://rork.com/blog/construction-company-erp-case-study)

**From Dropshipping to #3 in Spain App Store with Rork — 100K+ Downloads**  
How a 22-year-old from Spain used Rork to build a budget app in 60 days with zero coding experience, scaled it organically through content, and now earns over $300/day.  
[Read more](https://rork.com/blog/alberto-flowfy-case-study)

**Two college athletes are making $19K/mo with an app they built in Rork**  
Braylin & Christian failed at 5 businesses before 18, from Shopify stores to day trading to cutting hair. Then one thing clicked: 3AK Track, an app they built in Rork.  
[Read more](https://rork.com/blog/3ak-case-study)

**14yo and 17yo hit $1K/mo in 25 days with Rork**  
Eli is 14 and Harris, his brother & co-founder, is 17. In 2 months, they shipped 114 app versions. To grow, they DM'd 200 influencers, using their age as leverage to negotiate rates as low as $1 CPM.  
[Read more](https://rork.com/blog/eli-hockey-ai-case-study)

**From E-Commerce to App Store in 4 Days with Rork — $6K Total**  
A 17-year-old marketer with six figures in e-commerce sales built his first app with Rork. Then learned the hardest lesson in content: 500K views means nothing without the right audience.  
[Read more](https://rork.com/blog/nick-therewired-case-study)

**18yo Made $131K in 6 Months with Rork**  
George is an 18-year-old who built Wrestle AI and Fight AI with Rork - zero coding experience, $1,100 total spend, $131K revenue in 6 months. Here's how.  
[Read more](https://rork.com/blog/george-wrestle-ai-case-study)

**Announcing Rork**  
Rork raised $2.8M pre-seed  
[Read more](https://rork.com/blog/announcing-rork)

## Be the next one.
[Try Rork Max for Free](https://rork.com/max)