In an era dominated by AI-assisted “vibe coding,” Zach Yadegari and Henry Langmack, the teenage masterminds behind Cal AI, stand out in a refreshingly old-school way. At just 18 years old, fresh out of high school, their journey is reminiscent of a classic startup success story—driven by curiosity, ambition, and a touch of rebellious ingenuity.
A Simple Yet Powerful Concept
Launched in May, Cal AI has taken the health and fitness world by storm, surpassing 5 million downloads in just eight months. More impressively, the app boasts a customer retention rate of over 30% and generated a staggering $2 million in revenue last month alone.
But what makes Cal AI so special? The idea itself is straightforward: users snap a picture of their meal, and the app accurately logs the calories and macronutrients. While not a novel concept—MyFitnessPal’s Meal Scan and SnapCalorie have similar functionalities—Cal AI has a distinct edge. Built in the era of large-scale image recognition models, the app harnesses cutting-edge AI from industry leaders like Anthropic and OpenAI. By integrating Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technology and training on extensive open-source food databases, Cal AI has refined its accuracy to an impressive 90%.
“We’ve found that different AI models excel at recognizing different types of food,” Yadegari explains. The team faced significant technical hurdles, such as identifying ingredients from food packaging or mixed dishes in a bowl. Through relentless coding and testing, they developed an intuitive and highly efficient solution—one that has earned them a stellar 4.8-star rating on both the Apple App Store and Google Play, with tens of thousands of glowing reviews.
From High School to Startup Success
Yadegari’s entrepreneurial journey began long before Cal AI. While most middle schoolers were busy gaming, he was mastering Python and C#, developing his first business in ninth grade. At just 16, he sold that venture—a website called “Totally Science”—for $100,000. The concept was brilliantly simple: as schools handed out Chromebooks, students sought ways to bypass restrictions and play games. Yadegari saw the gap and built a platform that provided access to unblocked games, cleverly disguised under an academic-sounding name to avoid detection.
With that early success, he and Langmack immersed themselves in the world of startups, watching Y Combinator videos and engaging with coder communities online. That’s when they connected with Blake Anderson, a developer known for consumer AI applications like RizzGPT and Umax. Anderson, now 24, joined them as a co-founder, bringing valuable experience to their growing venture.
The inspiration for Cal AI came from a relatable teenage motivation: Yadegari wanted to bulk up for the gym and, as he humorously admits, “impress girls.” Recognizing a gap in the market for an AI-driven calorie tracking tool, the trio got to work.
A Hacker House and a Hard Lesson
Determined to build something groundbreaking, Yadegari and Langmack took a bold step—they moved to San Francisco and joined a hacker house, a rite of passage for many ambitious startup founders. Living and breathing tech, they worked around the clock, often crashing on the floor, fueled by their vision for Cal AI. The experience was intense, exhilarating, and eye-opening.
But amidst the late nights and relentless grind, Yadegari had a realization. Unlike many Silicon Valley hopefuls who forgo traditional education to chase startup dreams, he wanted a different path.
“Spending 24/7 in a room filled with people in their late 20s and 30s made me think—if I don’t go to college, is this what my life will be like?” he reflects. That realization led him to reconsider the classic tech dropout narrative. While he hasn’t yet decided which university he’ll attend, he’s determined to balance both education and entrepreneurship.
Scaling the Vision
Today, Cal AI is more than just a teenage experiment—it’s a rapidly growing business. The company has expanded its leadership team with the addition of Jake Castillo, 28, as COO, overseeing influencer marketing and operational strategies. They now employ eight full-time team members, including developers, designers, and social media managers, all working to scale the app’s reach and functionality.
With AI technology continuously evolving, Cal AI is poised to stay ahead of the curve, refining its algorithms and expanding its capabilities. The goal? To make calorie tracking seamless, accurate, and accessible for millions worldwide.
As these young entrepreneurs navigate the intersection of technology and business, their journey serves as a testament to innovation, resilience, and the power of taking a chance. For Yadegari and Langmack, this is just the beginning.
The future of Cal AI—and the future of AI-driven health apps—is looking brighter than ever.
