There is a lot of talk in the online world about an app created by a Goan. Tech experts and reputed web portals like TechCrunch have praised AudioPen – an app that uses AI to help you go from messy thought to clear, shareable text, extremely fast. All you have to do is press a button and start talking.
No more staring at blinking cursors on blank screens thinking of what to write, or worrying about your grammar and formatting. Instead, you can focus on what you want to say, and then speak out loud. Ramble, if you must. AudioPen listens to you talk, then cleans things up, and creates written text that reflects the quality of your thoughts, not your proficiency with words. Its output is always ready to share in just a few clicks.
You can even ask AudioPen to write in a particular style. Say you want to create content that’s fit for an email – tell AudioPen, and it will do it. Or if you want it to write in the style of your favourite author – it can do that too. It can even mimic a writing style from a piece of sample text that you provide it. As a result, it is an easy, convenient way to draft messages, emails, blog posts, and more, all with just your voice.
But it doesn’t end there. The app offers multilingual support, which allows users to record or upload their voice notes in their native language, which is recognized by AudioPen, which then transcribes and translates it into English (or any other language of their choice). This has become a huge talking point online by those who have been raving about the app, which presently has about 35,000 registered users, and 3,000 paying users.
However, there’s something else that has caught their attention that goes beyond the app itself.
It’s the fact that its creator, Louis Pereira, is doing all this from Goa while managing two lives - where he works on the internet at night creating apps for fun while he spends his day helping his family with their traditional offline business.
In a conversation with O Heraldo, the 30-year-old opens up about what motivated him to make this app and he manages his daily life and then his virtual reality later at night from his home based in Porvorim.
“It involved good luck and the right timing, both of which were made possible because I was building stuff online as a hobby for long enough. Which was the case because I enjoy doing that, even when it isn’t making me much money,” said Louis.
He added that he stumbled upon the concept of AudioPen when he was learning to use the many Artificial Intelligence (AI) based Application programming interface (API) platforms that had just become popular in March 2023.
Then, Louis decided to build a bunch of tiny AI products on his website just to learn how to build with AI.
“I built about 4 tools within a week, and as I built each one, I would share them on Twitter. From the list that I built, AudioPen got the most positive feedback. I was surprised because I was not a voice note taker myself, so I hadn’t tried to build it to solve a personal problem, I just built it by accident,” Louis added.
It was this positive feedback that led him to try his hand at building it as a standalone tool.
Louis then proceeded to build the first version during what’s known as a ‘Half Day Build’ - a free hackathon he organizes every couple of months for people looking to go from idea to revenue in 12 hours.
“I built the first full version of AudioPen during the Half Day Build on March 26th, and got its first paying customers on that day itself. Ever since, I’ve just been working to improve the product, add new features, and find new customers,” Louis added.
Interestingly, there are other apps out there but tech experts have stated that none of them can transcribe voice notes into text notes the way AudioPen does.
“I haven’t studied the other apps in detail yet, but what I think makes AudioPen unique is its simplicity, combined with its use of AI in the background. It’s a much faster way to go from fuzzy thought to clear text than any other alternative. All you have to do is talk, and AudioPen does the rest of the work for you,’ said Louis when asked to speak about what separates his app from the other alternatives.
He also pointed out that the web app can be downloaded as a progressive web app (PWA) and can be used on the user’s phone just like a normal app.
When asked to explain how the app works, AudioPen uses a bunch of AI APIs to transcribe and rewrite text.
“All you have to do is press a button to begin recording, and then start talking. When you’re done, press a button to stop recording, and AudioPen will process your words in the background and present you with rewritten text,’ said Louis.
“Imagine a friend who listens to you talk, and then rephrases your thoughts in clear, structured language that’s ready to share. Now, imagine that friend in your pocket. That’s AudioPen,” Louis added further.
Currently, the app has a free version and a premium version. In the free version, you can record voice notes for up to three minutes in one go and you can save ten notes. The premium version goes much further – allowing you to record for up to fifteen minutes, save unlimited notes, change writing styles, save special words, integrate with other tools, and more.
On a concluding note, Louis touched on what it meant for him to be able to do this while working from home, in his case, Goa, especially when there has been a brain drain with the high volume of great talented individuals moving abroad.
“I look at the internet as a great equalizer. We live in a developing country with a relatively low per capita purchasing capacity. Why not find ways to create value for other global citizens with higher purchasing capacities, and then capture some of that value? The internet makes this possible, and it has the added advantage of not requiring us to migrate,” said Louis.
“I love Goa, and my entire family and social circle is based here. Why find ways to migrate to a foreign land just to earn more money when I can instead use the internet to do it while staying in Goa? The cost of experimentation online is at an all-time low and is only going down further thanks to AI,” he added.
Incidentally, while Louis grew up in Goa, he went to college in Delhi, following which he worked in management consulting for a couple of years. He then quit to start a company in Gurgaon and ran it for a little over two years before shutting it down. He moved back to Goa to join the family business in 2018 and has been writing and building things online for fun, which eventually brought him to AudioPen.
“Since its launch, it’s grown into the most popular app I’ve ever built. By quite a margin. My current goal is to make sure that everyone who pays for it gets more than their money’s worth,” Louis added.