How David Park Built Jenny AI to $3M ARR Through Viral Social and Persistence

TL;DR: David Park spent nearly a decade building failed startups before finding success with Jenny AI, an AI writing assistant. After discovering GPT-2, he and co-founder Henry built a product for agencies but struggled with cold calling rejection and plateaued at $2K MRR. The breakthrough came from intensive customer interviews asking what users disliked, revealing they needed a 'friendly AI-assisted writing journey' rather than an agency tool. After pivoting, they experienced two viral growth waves: first from being featured in Zay Khan's viral Twitter thread (2K to 10K MRR in one month), then from systematically scaling TikTok and Instagram content with multiple paid creators on performance incentives. When David got cancer and nearly sold the business, he chose to persist instead. Within 6 months of that decision, they more than doubled revenue to above $3M ARR. His key lesson: you need years of sacrifice and persistence, not just one attempt, to have a chance at success.