In a world filled with “vibe coding,” Zach Yadegari, teen founder of Cal AI, stands in ironic, old-fashioned contrast.
Ironic because Yadegari and his co-founder, Henry Langmack, are both just 18 years old and recently graduated from high school. Yet their story, so far, is a classic.
Launched in May, Cal AI has generated over 5 million downloads in eight months, Yadegari says. Better still, he tells TechCrunch that the customer retention rate is over 30% and that the app generated over $2 million in revenue last month.
Although TechCrunch couldn’t validate his download and revenue claims, Cal AI does have a 4.8-star rating on the Apple App Store, with 66,000 reviews, and over 1 million downloads on Google Play with a 4.8-star rating on nearly 75,000…