Memenome AI: How College Founders Weaponized 'Brainrot' Videos to Explode Past 100M Views and Build a Gen Z Study Empire

Gen Z's attention is glued to TikTok, where studying feels like a chore amid endless scrolls of memes and trends. Enter Memenome AI, a platform that flips this dynamic by converting PDFs and notes into hyper-engaging, 'goofy ahh' videos tailored for short-form virality. This isn't just summarization; it's education disguised as entertainment, leveraging AI to generate content that resonates with the brainrot generation. By blending academic rigor with internet absurdity, Memenome meets students where they live—in the For You Page—turning potential study sessions into addictive viewing experiences.

Jackie Ni (Columbia '26, CEO) and William Cen (Caltech CS alum, CTO) aren't rookies in the virality game. Their prior project, MemePAC, an open-source social media scraper, amassed 15M+ TikTok views and 300K followers through political memes. This experience honed their knack for meme-driven growth. Launching Memenome's domain in late 2024 and going live around mid-2025, they quickly scaled organic traffic to 9.5K monthly visits, peaking at 12.7K, proving their formula translates across niches.

At its heart, Memenome uses multimodal AI to upload documents, extract key insights, and produce customizable 'brainrot' videos. Users select meme characters—like SpongeBob, DJ Khaled, or LeBron James—to 'discuss' topics in TikTok-ready clips. Features include animated explainers, Socratic questioning, and one-click video generation. The three-tier pricing (Free for hooks, $5 Chat for watermark-free, $20 Rizzler for unlimited power-user perks) creates a seamless funnel from trial to conversion, with dedicated servers ensuring speed for heavy docs.

Memenome's 23 accounts across TikTok, Reels, and Shorts delivered 100.9M views, 342K shares, and 220K bookmarks. Standouts include @memenomejackie's 'blunt rotation'—cycling wild characters to teach calculus (13.7M IG views)—and the 'I made a website called...' hook (33.6M IG), sparking curiosity with absurd names like 'fuckingstudy.gg'. @alexismaxxed's LeBron series tapped fan culture, while early faceless laptop demos of PDF uploads showcased instant transformation. Psychologically, these exploit pattern interruption (weird premises), social proof (meme celebs), and FOMO (easy studying), driving shares among students.

Memenome's brilliance lies in its self-perpetuating loop: the tool generates shareable videos that demo itself, fueling organic growth without ad spend. High-engagement spikes (e.g., 8.4M total likes) prove viewers don't just watch—they experiment, subscribe, and repost. Cross-platform consistency amplifies reach, with IG leading virality due to Reels' algorithm favoring absurd education. Metrics reveal concentrated hits: few videos dominate views, underscoring quality over quantity.

This case exemplifies niche domination via cultural fluency. Prioritize Gen Z slang ('rizzler', 'brainrot') for relatability, test character-topic pairings for surprise value, and use screen recordings for authentic demos. Founders iterated ruthlessly, deleting underperformers to spotlight winners. For SaaS creators: build products that output viral assets, turning users into promoters.