Trimbox: AI Drives an App to $4 Million

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Key Takeaways

1Jordan Gaston and David Emelianov created Trimbox, an inbox cleaning app, while maintaining their jobs in tech.

2AI played a crucial role in the development and marketing of Trimbox, saving time and resources.

3The sale of Trimbox generated over $4 million, thanks to automation and AI-assisted market simulations.

💡Why it matters — The strategic use of AI demonstrates how side projects can turn into profitable businesses without leaving a stable job.

The Rise of Trimbox Thanks to Artificial Intelligence

Jordan Gaston and David Emelianov, co-founders of the Trimbox app, successfully developed and sold their project for over $4 million while maintaining their full-time jobs in the tech sector. Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a valuable ally, allowing them to optimize the time and resources needed to create and sell their business.

A Chance Meeting and the Start of the Adventure

David Emelianov and Jordan Gaston first met in elementary school, but it wasn't until 2017 that they reconnected in Seattle. At that time, Emelianov was working at Microsoft, while Gaston was employed at Amazon. Their friendship was strengthened by a mutual friend who brought them back together.

Jordan Gaston left Amazon during the COVID-19 pandemic to join a startup, before moving to a large FinTech company. Between these two positions, he took a two-month break during which the idea for Trimbox began to take shape.

On his part, Emelianov left Microsoft to focus on a startup before moving to Seattle and joining a major video game company in the Bay Area, where he has been living for two and a half years.

The Genesis of the App

The idea for Trimbox was born in 2020 when Gaston's mother complained about the difficulty of managing her inbox. Gaston then considered creating a solution for this problem. At the time, he and Emelianov were roommates and about to move. He showed a demo to Emelianov, who quickly began working on the project.

Initially, Trimbox was just a simple Chrome extension that allowed users to easily unsubscribe from emails. Emelianov immediately saw the utility of such a tool for his own inbox. After three to four months of development, they released an initial version on a subreddit dedicated to side projects, receiving an enthusiastic response that motivated them to turn the idea into a real business.

Reviving the Project After a Pause

Despite initial interest on Reddit, Trimbox's growth was not sustained. The project was therefore put on hold between May and September 2021. However, during a visit to Gaston's place in the fall, the two friends decided to relaunch the app.

They introduced a subscription system to test users' willingness to pay for the service and began running online ads. Realizing that the Chrome extension limited their audience to desktop users, they developed a mobile app for iOS and Android, which they launched in 2023, allowing them to reach a broader audience through ads on Facebook and Instagram.

Optimizing Time and Resources

Gaston dedicated between four and eight hours each weekend to work on Trimbox, totaling about 20 hours per week. He enjoyed his main job and did not want to leave it, preferring to learn and progress in his career.

Emelianov shared this vision, believing that it wasn't always wise to leave a stable job for a side project. Their strategy relied on effective time management, planning tasks on weekends, and letting ads run during the week before analyzing results and adjusting their approach.

The Decisive Contribution of AI

AI allowed Emelianov and Gaston to develop Trimbox without dedicating excessive time to it. They focused solely on features likely to quickly increase their revenue. Although they sometimes relied on AI too hastily to write code, it proved effective.

When creating the mobile app, they used ChatGPT to convert the web app files into React Native. Additionally, they automated their customer support system by training the AI on their help center, only intervening when the AI could not resolve a request.

The Sale of Trimbox

With families to support, Gaston and Emelianov wanted to capitalize on the value created by Trimbox. They consulted brokers to assess the market and determine the potential selling price of their business.

AI was used to simulate market scenarios and establish a fair market value for Trimbox. It also helped reduce costs and time related to legal services. The sale of the company was finalized at the end of 2025.

Emelianov and Gaston have always had confidence in their ability to solve problems, and AI has simplified this task. After the sale of Trimbox, they plan to create other applications, relying on AI to accelerate development and automate even more tasks.