Co-founder & CEO, Cal AI
Search every verified Zach Yadegari interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Zach Yadegari, co-founder and CEO of Cal AI, discussed his recent activities and business philosophy at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. He stated that Cal AI, a calorie-counting app that uses food photos, reached 15 million downloads and $30 million in annual revenue in under two years before being acquired by MyFitnessPal in March. Yadegari noted that he left MyFitnessPal a few months ago to launch Persona, a consumer AI agent startup that has raised $10 million and already has thousands of beta users and pre-orders for an AI wrist companion. He also mentioned that Cal AI was the second company he launched and sold while in high school. Yadegari attributed Cal AI's early growth to a partnership with an influencer who had documented his weight loss journey and had a large, engaged following. He said that a single story from this influencer generated a thousand downloads. Regarding funding strategy, Yadegari distinguished between bootstrapping, which he said suits smaller cash-flow goals, and venture capital, which he described as better for large-scale plays with high failure risk but potentially astronomical upside. He also expressed a view that the AI assistant market will not be winner-takes-all, comparing it to the smartphone market with multiple major players, and suggested that startups may find success by targeting specific demographics with tailored experiences.
What happens after a startup goes viral overnight? Cal AI’s Zach Yadegari explains how to turn breakout attention into lasting retention and a durable company. #TechCrunchDisrupt2026 Follow us across... / techcrunch https://x.com/techcrunch https://bsky.app/profile/techcrunch.com / techcrunch / techcrunch / techcrunch Read more: https://techcrunch.com/
Zach Yadegari Forbes 30u30 Talk.
Free course: Build a profitable AI side hustle in 7 days https://clickhubspot.com/efj Episode 802: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talk to 19-year-old Zach Yadegari ( https://x.com/zach_yadegari ) about selling his $50M/yr app to MyFitnessPal. — Show Notes: (0:00) How much? (1:57) getting rejected from Stanford (5:45) 60-second origin story (7:27) "your biggest skill is your audacity" (12:50) the truth about selling a company (23:24) dos and don'ts (27:04) Zach's douchebag arc (29:44) first dumb purchase (33:08) decisions that made the app wort…
00:05:49 Anthropic vs DoW 00:44:37 Paramount Wins Warner Bros. 00:48:44 𝕏 Timeline Reactions 01:02:17 Ben Thompson on AI, geopolitics, and new legal frameworks 01:36:43 James Beshara on building Magic Mind and operational focus 02:04:29 John B. Quinn on tariffs and Supreme Court fallout 02:34:18 Michael Grinich on WorkOS’s $100M raise and enterprise AI 02:45:51 Adam Simon on immersive AI-powered entertainment 02:59:05 Matthias Wagner on Flux’s $30M raise and AI PCB design 03:06:46 Joan Rodriguez on Quiver AI’s code-generated SVGs 03:11:39 Zach Yadegari on selling Cal AI to MyFitnessPal 03:17:2…
#software #app #ai Use Whop to accept payments for your software - http://whop.com/sell/?a=thebrettway Guest: Zach Yadegari X - https://x.com/zach_yadegari?lang=en Youtube - / @zach_yadegari
Just a day in my life! I didn't try to make it any more glamorous than what my normal days are like. Hope you enjoy!
Zach Yadegari, 18, is the co-founder and CEO of Cal AI, a calorie-tracking mobile app that uses AI to analyze photos of food. The app launched in May 2024 and has been downloaded 8.3 million times as of July 2025. Now, Cal AI is a 30-person company that brings in roughly $1.4 million in gross profit per month — after the Apple and Google Play app stores take their respective cuts — according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. Produced & Shot by: Valentina Duarte Senior Director of Video: Jessica Leibowitz Additional Camera: Natalie Rice Editor: Dennis Donovan Animator: Alisa Stern Senior…
Zach Yadegari is the founder of Cal AI, a groundbreaking app that simplifies calorie tracking with AI technology. Zach shares his journey from a fitness enthusiast to a successful entrepreneur, discussing how Cal AI allows users to track calories by taking pictures of their food. Discover insights into Zach's entrepreneurial path, the app's rapid growth, and his innovative approach to influencer marketing. Sign up today! https://www.calai.app/ Time Stamps 00:00 Intro 01:55 How Cal AI Works with Just a Photo 04:08 Edamame Shock & Early User Reactions 05:07 Zach’s Story: From Coding at 7 to S…
#calai #ai #app Zach Yadegari is an 18-year-old co-founder of Cal AI, an app making over $30m per year. At 7 years old, he learned to code. At 15 years old, he built an unblocked gaming website with over 5 million users that he sold for $100k. Today, Zach has just graduated high school and will be starting at the University of Miami this fall. 00:00 - Introduction 00:33 - What are AI Apps 2:42 - Zach’s AI Experience and the Future of AI 14:11 - Simulation Theory, Brain Chips, and Social Media 19:19 - Societal Impact of AI on Consumers and Producers 30:17 - Consumption of AI from a Philos…
Cal AI CEO and co-founder Zach Yadegari discusses entrepreneurship and the thought behind his design on 'Maria Bartiromo's Wall Street.' Subscribe to Fox Business: https://bit.ly/2D9Cdse Watch more Fox Business Video: https://video.foxbusiness.com Watch Fox Business Network Live: http://www.foxnewsgo.com/ FOX Business Network (FBN) is a financial news channel delivering real-time information across all platforms that impact both Main Street and Wall Street. Headquartered in New York — the business capital of the world — FBN launched in October 2007 and is one of the leading business networks…
Zach Yadegari Podcast - Interview With Jack Neel Covering Cal AI, 18 Year Old Teenage Millionaires, and Mobile Apps Work with me 1-on-1: https://jackneel.com/call This is the 34th episode of the Jack Neel Podcast, where I discuss crime, business, and psychology with fascinating individuals. If you have any suggestions to make the content more engaging or requests for specific guests, let me know in the comments below. Socials: Follow my Instagram: / jackhneel Add my Snapchat: @jack_neel We are hiring! https://jackneel.com/apply Business Related Emails: [email protected] Time Sta…
📺 Watch the full episode here: • How To Make $1.1M a Month With AI Apps (No... A masterclass in influencer marketing strategy from Cal AI, who scaled to thousands of users through strategic influencer partnerships. Learn their exact process for getting influencers to open DMs, why story posts outperform feed posts early on, and how they built a system to manage multiple influencers at scale. 🔑 Key Insights: Why starting with Instagram Stories beats feed posts for testing The exact DM template that gets responses from influencers How to avoid Instagram's DM spam limits The importance of…
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