From Lecture Notes to $239K: How a Student Built a Notion Template Empire

Introduction

At 20 years old, Jason Chin saw beyond Notion’s basic note-taking features. He spotted a chance to make simple layouts reusable and shareable, then turned that into a full-blown side project that morphed into a full-time venture. By year two, his digital shop had generated $239,000 in sales.

Background Story

Jason Ruiyi Chin was a student in Singapore who used Notion to organize lecture notes. He first built free templates—like a budget tracker or habit planner—and offered them on Gumroad with an optional tip. That low barrier led to steady downloads and early feedback.

Building an Audience

Rather than paid ads, Jason focused on Twitter. He studied top productivity accounts, matched their tone, and posted threads on growing an audience. He tweeted twice a day, replied to ten tweets at minimum, and released weekly tutorials. Over months, his following climbed to over 211,000.

Launching Paid Templates

In November 2021, after two months of giving away freebies, Jason flipped a switch on Gumroad—templates cost between $20 and $130. His first paid launch brought in $3,000 in month one. He iterated on feedback, refined his pricing, and concentrated on a $130 flagship called Second Brain.

Growth Strategy

He never paid for ads. Instead, he used organic threads that highlighted template features, customer comments, and before-and-after layouts. As templates sold, satisfied customers shared screenshots back, which Jason retweeted as proof of concept.

Results

By the end of 2022, Jason’s Notion template business generated $239,000 in revenue. The flagship Second Brain accounted for over $100,000, while lower-tier templates like Bullet Journal and Finance Tracker made up the rest. All of this was achieved solo, without outside funding.