Zach Yadegari – Cal AI
Zach Yadegari has a story that should make everyone wonder, what more could I do if I put my mind to it? From the age of 7, Zach had an entrepreneurial and business mindset. He had developed an interest in computers at a young age which led to teaching himself how to code and experiment with software at 7 years old. By the age of 10 he had started teaching coding to others for $30/hour and soon after that developed a website for students to safely play games online without downloading or needing to sign in. With this overnight success he had made 6 figures before he graduated high school. That, now, is a small number, and these successes figuratively and literally look like child play in comparison to what he does now.
The idea for Zach’s now multimillion dollar success, Cal AI, came when he noticed that most people struggle to accurately track what they eat because of the hassle most have manually entering the information. This led Zach to develop the app Cal AI, which uses artificial intelligence to analyze photos of food and provide calorie estimates. The company was first released in May of 2024 and grew exponentially as it went viral for its accuracy and usability. Within months, the app generated over 1 million downloads and over 1 million dollars of monthly revenue. In 2025, its small, expert team has raised this startup to being valued at $30 million with more growth sure to come.
Zach applied to all 8 Ivy League schools yet was denied from all of them. In fact, he was denied from 15 of the 18 universities for which he applied. Yet he did not let that deter him. In fact, Zach was able to use that rejection as a launch pad to create something bigger and better, the multimillion-dollar company he is now a part of. Now a student at the University of Miami, Zach continues to run Cal AI and his story is one that should encourage all. No matter what rejection you may face it is important to know that success relies on ideas, hard work, and the ability to innovate and think about things differently and should motivate us all to continue to cultivate ideas; we never know when a breakthrough is about to happen.
Who is Zach Yadegari? From Ivy League Rejections to Founding a $30 Million AI Startup