Teen Builds Global Company While in High-school

I wanted Cellnotes to be a place where students could earn real money without having to step away from their studies, just upload their materials and start sharing. So this is my passion to create the best possible solution for them to make their lives easier and help other students at the same time. If you're a student, would you ever consider selling your class notes? That's the idea behind the startup founded by our guest today, Sulayman Kamil. While in high school, he created a platform that helps students monetize their notes. And it's already attracted 8,000 users across 70 countries. Now the concept is growing beyond schoolwork, even into recipes. How did this idea begin? What does it take for a teenager to build a business? And in a world where knowledge is virtually free, is it really worth paying for a class note? Let's find out. This is Bay Area Innovators and I'm your host, Steve Yusfas. Sulayman, welcome to our program. Thank you very much, Steve. Thank you for inviting me. I'm delighted to have you here in our program live from Istanbul, Turkey. This is a first for us to have you from far away from overseas in Istanbul. Now you're 18 years old and you formed a company that's in many ways revolutionizing the way students share their class notes. You know, they can share with other students and they can sell them. So you started this company. It now has over 8,000 users and it's in 70 countries. This is very impressive, especially at your age. Please tell us a little bit about how you got this started. Who gave you the idea and what were the first things when you started the company? Thank you very much, Steve. So when I started high school, I wanted to create something big and bold, something meaningful that could help others with their work and also help them earn money. So I started researching and trying to come up with something new, a cool idea. So in my school, I noticed that how much valuable content students were creating while studying for their exams. And they were putting too much time and effort into creating notes, summaries, study guides, especially at university level. But then after exams or at the end of the year, all of that materials would just disappear. So I felt like those notes should be valued, not just thrown away. Next year, students can use these notes and they can help other students from different countries and different schools with study materials. So then I thought, why not create one platform that brings it all together, where students who need help can find what they're looking for and creators can share their work, upload their materials and earn something in return. So that's exactly how Cell Notes idea was born. Sounds like a brilliant idea. And after the fact, it seems obvious. But to come up with the idea is always what's the most valuable. Give us some examples what the actual notes are. So you mentioned students study for exams and then they take notes, which many of us are familiar with. But what subjects? Give us some examples. Well, we have a lot of product categories from middle school to university. It's all about, you know, there are mathematics, chemistry, arts, and even music. So you can also upload your coding works, coding subjects from university level and everything. So the notes on Cell Notes can cover a wide range of materials. So depending on the course and the creators. So we see a lot of university students uploading their study notes on our platform with different subjects and materials. So we have a wide range of category. So the way it works is a student has his notes, either handwritten or typed, and they upload it to your platform. And then other students or who are the users? Are the users mostly students or anyone else can purchase them? Well, anyone with helpful study content or education material, study materials can sign up and upload their materials. So like 95% of our users are mostly students, young individuals who are currently studying in high school and like a 5% at university level. So mostly there are students. What is the process of buying them? They go on the website and how do they review them? How do they know what to buy? Well, students can usually see a detailed preview of the notes. So we encourage our sellers to upload detailed descriptions and preview of the notes. So the students who are buying them can have a good sense of what they are getting and help them and also help them know what the materials are about. So and we also have a rating and review system. So students can check those reviews and see which materials are helpful and trusted. So they can also leave feedbacks and their own thoughts about those materials after purchases. Suleiman, please tell us a bit about the process of how you take these notes. Can anyone upload any notes? And how do you determine if these notes are useful or not for other students? Well, it's super simple to upload the study notes on cell notes. Students who have created class notes or any kind of study materials just sign up and personalize their seller account, upload their files, set a price and share. That's it. That's everything. So after that, we review the materials carefully. We check for the copyright issues and material quality. So once it's approved by our team, we publish it and it becomes available for other students to purchase those notes. What is some of the feedback you got from the students? How did they react? What is their impression of this idea? This Bay Area Innovators episode is sponsored by Peter Cassara Clothiers, an Italian menswear store that brings timeless European style with a modern edge to Sunnyvale and the Bay Area for over 50 years. From top Italian suits and shoes, the exclusive Tami Bahama line, they've got your look covered. Check out their website at petercassaraclothiers.com to find out more. And now back to our interview. We always get feedbacks and emails from our users around the globe. So I want to share a story of our users with you. So a couple of weeks ago, we got an email from our users in a remote country. So he mentioned that he had financial difficulties to pay for his education. And he told us that he had been making enough money to further pursue his education. So it was the day I read that email, I was so happy. I was over the moon that I made an impact from far away to and made and touched a human's someone's life with the product I've made. So I was really amazed. And I was so happy that I made such a platform to them, a helpful platform to them. So that motivates me every day to work harder and make the best possible solution for them. Well, clearly, we live in a world where collaboration is key to have different, you know, and it's so amazing because you have so many different countries involved. Now, another question that comes up in mind is that in these days, there's so much information online, sometimes it's overwhelming, like you're looking for something and then you find just so much information. How do you make your notes or your marketplace, your company? How are you able to charge for this when there's so much free information out there? Yeah, that's exactly the problem students face today. So there is so much information out there in the internet, and it can be overwhelming for students to figure out what actually matters. So especially for students who are under pressure of the exams and want to study efficiently and effectively in a very limited time. So what makes class notes on cell notes different is that they are created by students who have already taken the same courses and have gone through those classes and made helpful study content. So students can save time by learning and connecting directly from someone who has already done the work. So buying notes on cell notes is not just about getting some information, it's about getting the right information from the right person and right place. So this is what makes notes different, selling on cell notes, from the other information and resources in the internet. Did you get the sense that students who are buying the notes, do they have a better way to relate to the notes because they are from other students, from their peers, rather than from the teachers or the textbook? Did you get a sense of that connection? Well, we see that the students were uploading their notes, and in the heading they were writing what this note is about and where it came from. You know, in Turkey we see a lot of university students write their courses and their faculty, the name of the faculty and the name of the professor. So the students who are studying in the same university are looking for those notes. The students who uploaded those notes on the platform just shared the link with their other friends, with their fellow students. So other students can just go visit the link and buy the specific study notes. Well, your company is registered here, your headquarters are right here in Los Gatos, which is part of the Bay Area, California. So you're a true Bay Area innovator. Please tell us what gave you the motivation to start this? You told us about how you noticed that these students are in need of these class notes. But what was the original motivation for you to go into being an entrepreneur? So when I started high school and I wanted to build something bold, and that's something that could help people with their work and something helpful for the community. So when the idea of Saldos came to me, I jumped into developing it right away. I spent about nearly two years building and testing the product in the community, making sure everything works well. And once I saw the real potential behind Saldos, and I thought it's the time to make it official and turn it into a real company. So that's my motivation. So I had when building Saldos. So what my real motivation was the support of my family, especially my mother, who lives in California. So every day I talked to my mother and my mother was showing me, look, there are technology companies there. And they were showing me, Soyma, one day I want you to be there and being a CEO of the company. So my mother is now really proud of me to have the company there. And I'm working really hard to make my mother even more proud. So I want to be the man my mother is proud of. This is my real motivation behind my journey. I really want to come to the United States. If I had the possibility, I would come tomorrow, you know, just book my flight and come there. So now I really miss my mom there. I haven't met, I haven't seen my mom like six months. I really miss her and my big brother. So I really want to come to the United States, but there are some political issues with the travel bans on Afghan citizens. So this is the issue that is keeping me apart from my company in the United States and with my family. So I'm just waiting for the process. Suleiman, how were you able to balance your time, you know, in high school when you have exams, you're studying, and at the same time to build this company and to make it successful? How many hours did you spend? Tell us, you know, how the process of building this went. Thank you very much. I remember that I had like six agendas, like six notebooks with me, and I was planning everything, every single detail, and I was trying to manage my time efficiently. So I was a newly started high school student in my school. So I had to focus on my studies and also build something meaningful, building cell notes. So I was spending most of my time on cell notes, like when I get home. So I was jumping on my laptop and I was coding, you know, I was developing and I was designing everything. And then when I get my work done, I was reviewing my studies and doing the other school work. So as I can say, I was spending most of my time on building cell notes. And at the same time, I was managing my studies at the school. Please tell us about your growing up in Afghanistan and how that was. And how did you end up leaving Afghanistan? Yes, there's a long story behind and I can talk about it all day long. So when I was 10 years old, well, I nearly started to know my father. I lost him. No, I was in a really big shock. You know, I just lost my best friend of my life, my biggest supporter and supporter of my family. So my mother, only me and my mother were living in Kabul, Afghanistan, and we had no families there. So we were alone and we just got the chance to come to Turkey and immigrate and started our immigration process. So I'm a legal immigrant living in Turkey. So I started my middle school there. I started to adapt the culture. I learned Turkish and I just wanted to use the best opportunities to make me educated. And I wanted to be the best version of myself in the following years. So I just kept learning, reading a lot of books and I was following my dreams. So I worked really hard in high school. I attended multiple technology competitions. I'm already a technology competition champion in Turkey. So I was the captain of the UAV unmanned air vehicle team in the competition called Technofest. And we won a big championship by being the first within the 26,000 teams. And I've also won the championship of the electrical engineering. And I designed a unique electrical system in TÜBİTAK and I won the championship there. So I just followed my dreams and passion. And this was in high school, right? What grade were you when you won these? I started to attend the technology competitions when I was in ninth grade. So I continued those championships and attending to those competitions in my 10th grade and 11th grade. So in 12th grade, I was only focusing on cell nodes and my college. My college dream, I was studying for MIT aerospace engineering and I was preparing for SAT. And I won most of my competitions when I was in 10th grade. I don't remember much about Afghanistan, but as far as I remember, that place was terrible. It was not safe for families to live there peacefully and safely. You can't go anywhere to have a vacation or something else. Even going to school and coming back home was a very big deal. So my school was a very bad place. So it was not really for pursuing education there. We really didn't have some proper desks and chairs to study. The environment was not ready for that. And dreaming and following your dreams, was that just possible? It was a terrible place and I never want to think about those days. I just don't feel comfortable when I think about Afghanistan and Kabul. Let's think about the future. What are your plans for college now that you have just graduated from high school? I definitely keep growing cell nodes and I am open to continue my studies in business and aerospace engineering as I want to create my aerospace company under cell nodes technologies. So my first option is to get into a college and study aerospace engineering, to be a chief engineer, chief engineer and CTO, chief technological officer of the company. And to discuss the ideas and build the aerospace spaceships and rockets with the highly educated engineers in the company. I just don't want to be the boss of the company. I want to be a member and a leader of the company with sharing the same passion what we are building for the company. That's fantastic. What would you say is your dream with this company in the future? Where do you want to see it in the next few years? Well, I definitely keep growing cell nodes and make it a good technology company, conducting researches in several areas. So one of my bigger dreams is to build an aerospace company under cell nodes technologies as a child company. So I am fond of creating aerospace components, you know, like building rockets. So I'm really interested in researching rocket propulsion systems and developing advanced aerospace components. So while cell nodes is just the beginning of my entrepreneurship journey, it's also the foundation of my bigger innovations that I want to work on in the future. And in the next 10 years, I will have my aerospace company that will be conducting research in aerospace, building rockets, rocket propulsion systems and developing advanced aerospace components. Well, we look forward to that. How did your interest in aerospace company came about? Was it through your growing up or how did you get interested in that? Well, I always wanted to create something by my own. You know, when I was a child, like five or six years old, I was wondering how everything works. You know, I was watching rockets, SpaceX rockets. Now that the SpaceX were launching their first rockets like Falcon 1, Falcon 2. So I was wondering how those big machines actually work. So I was really into it. So I was researching on the internet how to build a rocket by my own. So I was watching the videos demonstrating how to build tiny rockets with sugar and other chemical things. So I developed this and it's a big dream now. For me, I want to create that company. I want to make that dream happen to see my big rockets up in the sky, going for their missions, maybe launching satellites or going through other planets like Mars. So this is the big dream and target of the humanity right now. Now, I have to ask you this. You know, you're 18 years old. You started your company in high school, probably even in junior high school. What would you say is the main differentiator between you and other kids who may not have this level of interest in entrepreneurship or this curiosity? What would you say was the differentiation? So, well, I started everything from minus, not just zero. Lack of experience, my young age and being an immigrant from Afghanistan has its own disadvantages. So I had to build everything from scratch without any backups, without any strong connections. So I was facing difficulties such as financial issues and rejections. My resources were so limited. I just kept building, kept learning. And I was trying to make my best version of myself, you know, because I really believed in my vision and my dreams. And now what's crazy is I haven't been to America yet, but my company CellNotes has already started making an impact there. We are gaining users from the United States and we are helping students to monetize their expertise in education. So that's when you realize you don't need to wait for permission to do something big. So you just have to stop what you're thinking about. So one day, if I ever get the chance to step into the United States and explore the real opportunities there, I'm going to bring the same energy and the same energy. So if I did all this with the limited resources and possibilities, imagine what I can do when the doors are actually open. So what you really need is to have persistence and determination. Why is this important to you? Why is this company and what you do, why is it so important to you? I wanted CellNotes to be a place where students could earn real money without having to step away from their studies. And we see so many students from around the globe work part-time jobs that don't support their academic goals at all. So they have side jobs to financially support their education. But with CellNotes, they can actually earn by doing what they're already doing, just studying and taking good notes. So they can just upload their materials and start sharing. So this is my passion to create the best possible solution for them to make their lives easier and help other students at the same time. Well, I'm thinking that this will actually encourage the students to take better notes, right? Because the better the notes are, I'm assuming the more they will get paid or the more the demand will be for their notes. So they'll be taking better notes as a result, right? Yeah. Now, what would be your advice to students like yourself or to young people who are thinking about going into entrepreneurship? You know, they're not sure. They don't know where to start. And on top of everything, they may have everything. Not like you, you started with nothing. They may have a lot of opportunities already here in the United States. What would be your advice to them of how to get started? So my advice, so if you are thinking about creating something big and you want to run a business in a very young age, don't wait until your idea is perfect. So don't spend months overthinking about your idea and forming your idea. So just to start, you will figure it out along the way. You will learn everything. You will learn. You will fail. You will start again. And you will rise. So everything I learned, whether it's how to talk to users, deal with people, and make powerful partnerships between companies. So I learned it by doing. So the idea you start with isn't going to be the final one. It evolves and you evolve with it. It changes and you learn a lot of things with it. And please learn to enjoy the process. Don't build something just for success or recognition. Just don't aim success. If you fall in love with the process, you will keep going. Even things get harder, you will overcome with the obstacles. And the process is what really matters. So please learn to enjoy the process and fall in love with it. Suleiman, thank you so much for your time. 18 years old, a revolutionized company that is in many ways maybe changing the way students take notes and maybe even their ways of learning. Thank you again for your time. Best of luck of you in the future. And maybe we'll see you in a few years with a bigger company. Thank you very much, Steve. It was a pleasure to be here. Thank you for watching another episode of Bay Area Innovators. If you enjoyed this episode and you know someone who should be on our show, please send us an email at sfbay.epochtimes.com. We would love to hear from you. Thank you and see you next week.