“It was around 10,000 maybe each that we had to invest up front to get things off the ground but pretty much every month from inception to the acquisition we were around 50% EBITDA margins. And so we really tried to be lean.”

$10K each in, ~50% EBITDA from inception to exit

Brett and Zack each chipped in ~$10K to start, then ran ~50% EBITDA margins every month from launch through the Quizlet acquisition. That financial discipline kept them cash-flow positive throughout — which gave them real optionality on the deal rather than negotiating from desperation.