Zach Yadegari, at at just 18, is certainly one of the most impressive young entrepreneurs of his generation. After unsuccessfully applying to all eight Ivy League schools, including Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, Zach has truly risen above his rejection, and has created a true comeback story. Zach is now a co-founder of Cal AI, a cutting-edge artificial intelligence startup that is now valued at over $30 million.
The app allows its users to track calories by way of an image recognition and has transformed the fitness tech space with millions of users around the world. Yadegari's story is incredible because it tracks all the way from receiving rejection letters to operating a multimillion dollar business and is a true example of the power of persistence, self-learning, and creating. Zach has shown us that success does not arise from education, but creates something.
Check Out: List of Top 10 Major Women Leaders in the World (2025)
Early Life and Passion for Technology
At an early age, Zach showed an interest in computers. By age seven, he had started to teach himself to code and experiment with software as a vehicle to break down and solve problems in the real world.
When he turned ten, Zach started teaching coding to others and charging $30 an hour. His curiosity and entrepreneurial spirit developed as he grew. “Totally Science,” one of Zach’s earliest projects, was a website for students to play games online safely without downloads or needing to sign in.
The website was an overnight success, and he earned his first six-figure-check before he graduated high school.
The Creation of Cal AI
When Zach was 16, he began to notice that most people struggle to accurately track what they eat. He realized that most calorie-tracking apps require users to enter data manually, which makes it difficult for people to maintain their usage over time. This observation led Zach to develop Cal AI, an app that uses artificial intelligence to analyze food photos and provide almost instant calorie estimates.
Cal AI was first publicly released in May 2024, and it quickly went viral for its accuracy and ease of use. Within months, the app garnered over 1 million downloads and subsequently generated over 1 million dollars of monthly revenue. By 2025, the startup would be valued at an impressive 30 million dollars, all created by a small and expert team.
Denial from Ivy League Colleges
Zach faced denial from 15 out of 18 of the universities to which he applied, including all eight Ivy League colleges, such as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, even with his previous accomplishments.
These denials surprised many who knew of his accomplishments. However, Zach did not let that hold him back. Instead, he questioned the traditional educational framework, arguing that universities generally do not appreciate entrepreneurial and pragmatic achievement outside of academics.
He wrote an open letter addressing the Ivy League institutions sharing his experience and beliefs about creativity and innovation, and his open letter gained enormous traction online and conversation about the value of how schools evaluate talent.
Making His Own Way
Out of the schools that accepted him, Zach chose the University of Miami. College for him is not about validation, but about experiences, meeting people, thinking about ideas, and growing as a person.
While pursuing his degree, Zach continues to run Cal AI, doing a healthy blend of education and entrepreneurship. He believes the real world often has methods of teaching that none of the classrooms have.
Young Entrepreneur Inspiration
Zach Yadegari’s experience shows us that rejection can lead to something bigger. His journey motivates students and young entrepreneurs to take chances, be creative, and pursue their unique ideas even if their plans fall flat. With a blend of intuition and a focus on innovation, Zach was able to take his failures, and have them turn into a launching pad for his success.
Cal AI ultimately became a reminder of what engineering different, purposeful passion and determination to succeed (not being approved by an elite institution or hundreds of grades) can create.
Conclusion
Zach Yadegari’s rise from being denied by elite Ivy League universities to running a $30 million AI company is a great relationship reminder with success that does not really depend on an elite education, or some perfect GPA (grade point average). Success relies on ideas, hard work, and the strength to think differently. His story means to motivate a generation to see that adequate significant ideas, along with hard work, can result in triumphs including significant failures and breakthroughs.
Comments
All Comments (0)
Join the conversation