The high schooler making $20M a year
About This Episode
This episode features 18-year-old entrepreneur Zach Yadegari, who scaled his AI calorie-tracking app Cal AI to a $24 million revenue run rate in less than a year. The hosts explore Zach's 'marketing first' approach to product development, his history of building unblocked gaming sites, and his unique perspective on balancing high school with a multi-million dollar business.
Episode Description
Show Notes
- 0:00Intro
- 3:45$0 - $20M in 10 months
- 17:12Sold first business for $100K at 16
- 20:42Zach's Influencer marketing playbook
- 24:23Being worth $30M at 18
- 34:40How to find problems to solve with AI
- 38:28IDEA: AI journal
- 41:09IDEA: iOS to Android project converter
- 44:01IDEA: Remotely-configurable onboarding flows for mobile apps
- 47:05Running away from home at age 10
- 51:10Being peerless
- 54:41Who Zach admires
- 56:02Gen Z trends
- 1:00:06Aging out as a prodigy
- 1:06:43Keeping a beginner's mind
Check Out Shaan's Stuff
- Shaan's weekly email
- Visit
- Mercury - Need a bank for your company? Go check out Mercury (mercury.com). Shaan uses it for all of his companies!
- Mercury is a financial technology company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members FDIC
Check Out Sam's Stuff
Key Takeaways
Stack the 'Bear on a Bicycle' skill set by combining technical coding ability with short-form video marketing expertise to create a massive competitive advantage.
Launch as an 'AI Wrapper' to prove a concept quickly—similar to dropshipping in e-commerce—and then vertically integrate and build custom features once the market demand is validated.
Work backwards from the 'Aha Moment' in marketing to find features that perform well in short-form video ads, such as instant photo-to-calorie identification.
Business Ideas Mentioned
AI Emotional Insights Journal
SaaS
Cross-Platform Native Code Converter
AI & Automation
Remotely Configurable App Onboarding
SaaS