Toast or Roast: Snitchnotes. The fragile business model behind the TikTok trend.

As a student, my Instagram feed is full of study and business content. Once, while I was scrolling, I reached a Polish-speaking guy, who explained the major economic principles using youth-friendly language and promoted the app Snitchnotes. Because I watched his entire video, Instagram started to serve me his content (and similar ones too). According to the guy, Snitchnotes is an AI-powered app to support learning by personalized tests, flashcards, and smart notes. To be honest, I am a user of NotebookLM, which is the most useful AI tool that shortens any long article and books, and makes short quizzes. So what’s the difference? I asked below one of the reels two months ago, and my comment was the only one below; to this day, I haven’t received an answer.

Google’s NotebookLM offers much more. Obviously, it can make a personalized quiz for you, even draw an infographic. When I had to read a lot of articles for studies, I used them to generate podcasts. So what concerns me the most is the pricing. The free version gives you only one free note, basic quizzes, and AI chat (limited). But with a weekly (19.99 PLN), monthly (59.99 PLN), or yearly (299.99 PLN) subscription, you have unlimited notes, adaptive quizzes, AI podcasts, and priority support. All of these features are available in NotebookLM completely free of charge for students; all it takes is a student ID number.

AI Wrapper

Snitchnotes mentions its partners: OpenAI, Antropic, and Google. Sounds familiar? The conclusion is simple: they didn’t develop any proprietary technology or LLMs to power the learning process. Snitchnotes is only a wrapper for the API for OpenAI and other big technology companies.

Founders

Let’s begin with the fact that Snitchnotes is only the name of the app. The company that created that app is Moss Studios. It was founded by:

• Dabe Ndubisi (Canada) – experienced full-stack engineer (ex-Shopify & ex-WOMBO) specializing in Swift and scalable mobile applications.
• Pio Scelina (Poland/France) – the most interesting guy, who stands out in growth and marketing. Ex-Wordware (YC S24) and the face of Snitchnotes. He took part in Y-Combinator and the Mentoring Programme by the Student Idea Accelerator at the University of Warsaw. He has a founder mindset. In the past, he founded at least two edutech start-ups (stereoTYPOWI, Matura na maksa!), and in his other ventures, he played a significant role in driving growth.

The most interesting fact is that their Moss Studios experience is not seen on their LinkedIn, so I assume they’re ashamed of their venture and do not look for investors.

Aggressive pricing model

Their business model seems to be aggressive and short-term. Average students pay only once or twice a year, probably during exam time (January-February & May-June), because they don’t need a subscription anymore during holiday time. The churn rate must be drastic outside of exam seasons.

Because they don’t have their own LLM model (which is directly written on the Privacy Policy site), their business model is based on marketing. The CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) likely outpaces the LTV (Lifetime Value), forcing them to burn through their entire budget to acquire a customer from TikTok who might spend only 30 PLN on a subscription. The entire business model looks like a textbook cash grab, exploiting student panic, AI hype, and exam-season anxiety.

User Generated Content

Snitchnotes bases its business model on user-generated content. They also invest in ambassadors. I’ve managed to reach four accounts:

• @janastudiach – the main account with almost 20k followers, the account is run by someone who closely resembles Pio, judging by his look and hairstyle. He is a student of economics at the university and uses a youth language. He got a 4.7/5.0 on studies and got a 100% for most of his leaving-school exams.
• @lina.snitchnotes – the account is led by a young girl, an ambassador of Snitchnotes, that she just passed her school-leaving exam, because she based their content on studying and preparing for that exam.
• @saratyl.study – the copy of a previous account, but led by a high school student.
• @barciaxsnitchnotes – the smallest one and so similar to previous ones.

All these accounts have several things in common. They recommend using Snitchnotes and have a specific type of reels – they are recording stories where they cut random stuff.

Do you consider taking part in cooking programmes?

Delaware

The Moss Studios company functions as a Delaware C-Corporation founded in 2025. The address makes the company look like a shell company or registered by the Internet. This is a place they were registered on Google Maps:

Look impressive, huh? Why Delaware? Delaware is a state on the East Coast of the United States. They are famous for low taxes and an easy way to get a company registered. However, the company is promoting on the Polish market; the company was founded and has been officially functioning in Delaware, USA. For a Polish student, it means that in the event of a privacy infringement or any legal issue, you are subject to US jurisdiction.

The summary

Honestly, I believe in founders, especially in Pio. But… Snitchnotes does not seem like a good opportunity to invest money. First, it’s just an AI wrapper, nothing innovative. The business model is so predatory and quite seasonal.