MyCampus: Can a Student Solo Founder Really Beat Facebook Groups?
Universities said no, so he walked campus hallways himself. Learn how MyCampus reached 4300+ users in one month and what drives early-stage app retention.
The answer to the question above is far from simple. But Jakub Szych, a computer science student and founder of MyCampus, seems to have found the solution. In the background, there is a painful breakup, loneliness, infinite ambitions, and the need to create something great from scratch. In this episode, “Founders’ Tears,” I take a closer look at the life of a solo founder, his challenges, and the outcome of his efforts: MyCampus, a social media app dedicated to the student and academic community.
Introduction. The founder.
Jakub Szych is a 22-year-old student of Computer Science at Warsaw University of Life Sciences (pol. SGGW). Now, he works as an intern at a company providing financial services in Warsaw as well. Additionally, he builds his own ventures: Szych Foundation (personal brand), Szych Digital (digital product), MyCampus, and Polka (coming soon). In the future, after his studies, he plans to focus on work and his own side projects or pursue postgraduate studies.
Act I. Sad Reality
The loneliness, the feeling of being a stranger in the middle of a foreign city, and a lack of friends with common interests. It’s a sad reality for 60% of Polish Gen-Z. Jakub faced the same problem. He wanted to find proper people passionate about computer science and new technologies.
In this way, he came up with an idea, which unfortunately went to the deepest corner of a drawer. Surely, a recent breakup with a girlfriend and a mental breakdown did not help maintain momentum. Months later, he pitched his concept to university authorities, but they rejected his idea. Jakub was not aware of that turning point.
Act II. The Launch.
After coming up with an idea, the next phase of building a start-up is market research and talks with your target group. The professionals call it “Customer Development”. That was what Jakub had to face. He walked around the campus and asked students personally about their expectations for a new mobile app for them. After months of sleepless nights, he released an alpha version of MyCampus in March 2026, but a few months later, in August, he launched his app officially. Outcome? Starting from just 400 users around August 20, the platform rapidly gained momentum—crossing 2700 within two weeks and reaching over 4300 registered students just a month later.
I tested the app myself: after hitting around 2700 users just two weeks in, it climbed past 4300 users and 15 B2B partners by late September. There is an obvious question: how to persuade students to use your app? The key is accurate reconnaissance. Jakub believes in organic growth; that’s why he posts in local groups for students from major Polish academic cities. Interestingly, the traffic pattern observed on the app by Jakub exposed the operational rhythm of Polish student life. Activity spikes twice a day: first at noon, probably after waking up (or during the break between lectures), and again at 11:00 PM, when going to sleep.
MyCampus: Business model.
The Concept: A social platform dedicated to students
Monetization: Commissions for successful transactions with partners (job offers, discounts, housing rentals)
The Value Proposition: Dedicated utility created by a student for students.
The Bottleneck: A chicken-and-egg dilemma – how to keep users engaged and partners willing to promote on the platform?
Act III. Challenging life of a solo founder.
“No one can win as a one-man army”, I heard once. It was fully proven by Jakub. Coding and platform maintenance are one thing, but building a well-knit community requires something extra. Recently, he looked for volunteers willing to engage in a student project. Unexpectedly, 15 specialists from many areas (marketing, analytics, coding) would like to join his project. But there is another problem – now he needs a manager. Planning and coordinating is difficult, particularly when juggling a challenging project, part-time work (as Jakub does), and studies. It’s not only your day-to-day tasks, but also being responsible for other people.
The next challenge is churn rate and rotation. Initially, his platform was visited by over 1000 users daily, but now, after two weeks, it has decreased to only 600-700. I think it is a natural selection determined by curiosity.
Some students stay, but some leave. The real survival has started. How to keep them engaged? Jakub opted for organic content posted on Facebook and linking people with common interests, degree, or a city where they study. Leading a start-up, no matter if it is a success or failure, teaches you a lot. “Sales is 80% of success. The most important thing is to introduce your product well”, as he said. What is his business plan? Keeping users satisfied, coding, debugging, and, interestingly, thinking about the next target group – students from high schools and graduates. I will track MyCampus’s next milestones. Stay tuned!
4 Lessons for Young Venture Builders from Jakub
- Lesson #1: Sales is 80% of success.
- Lesson #2: Create a landing page before typing a line of code.
- Lesson #3: Route around gatekeepers.
- Lesson #4: Establish management systems before bringing people on board.
