How This 17-Year-Old Built A $1M/Month Business From His Laptop

The Dealroom with Shamus Madan

Zach Yadegari joins the show to discuss his journey from self-taught coder to successful entrepreneur. He shares how he sold his first company, Totally Science, for $100k, his new venture, Cal AI, and the tactics they've used to scale to seven-figures per month in revenue. Balancing education with entrepreneurship, he emphasizes bootstrapping and rapid idea validation. He reflects on the challenges and costs of being a young founder, learning from failures, and understanding distribution.

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Learn More About CalAI: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cal-ai-calorie-tracker/id6480417616

(0:00) Introduction to Zach Yadegari and Totally Science (2:31) Zach's Self-Taught Coding Journey (4:01) The Impact of Totally Science's Popularity (5:59) Zach's Transition to the Startup World (7:40) Ambitions and Acquisition of Totally Science (11:04) Introduction to Cal AI and Its Functionality (13:39) Scaling Cal AI with Influencer Marketing (17:00) Balancing Entrepreneurship with Education (21:17) Bootstrapping and Rapid Idea Validation (24:28) Achieving Milestone Revenue at 17 (26:18) The Cost of Being a Young Founder (29:16) Learning from Failures and Understanding Distribution (32:07) Launching Viral Tech (33:42) Dealing with Failure and Privacy (36:45) Questionable Advice and Personal Rules (39:39) Zach's Advice to His Younger Self (41:16) Episode Outro