Zach Yadegari, founder of the AI-powered calorie tracking app Cal AI, detailed the company’s rapid rise to viral success during a session at TechCrunch Disrupt. At just 19 years old and a recent high school graduate, Yadegari launched Cal AI in 2024, and within two years, the app generated more than $30 million in revenue and was acquired by MyFitnessPal.

Yadegari attributed much of Cal AI’s growth to a deliberate strategy of leveraging a network of influencers. Early on, a single influencer’s post brought in about a thousand new users in two days, prompting the company to scale this approach by recruiting and paying numerous influencers to promote the app. He described the process as a linear but rapid formula where each post converted a predictable number of viewers into users.

The founder emphasized negotiating clear payout agreements with influencers, many of whom were college students seeking cash. Cal AI set performance targets for these influencers, requiring them to continue posting until reaching a specified user acquisition threshold. A key factor in their success was identifying influencers with tightly knit communities, which allowed for measurable and effective reach.

Yadegari also shared personal insights, crediting his family for supporting his entrepreneurial ambitions and expressing a skeptical view of higher education’s role in his success, suggesting college is more valuable for social experiences than career preparation.

In addition to Cal AI, Yadegari recently launched Persona, an AI agent startup that has secured $10 million in funding. Persona aims to integrate AI assistants seamlessly into everyday computing environments such as messaging apps, email, and phone calls, with plans to develop a supporting hardware ecosystem. This reflects Yadegari’s broader mission to make computing more intuitive and integrated with daily life.