The 18-Year-Old Making $20M (And What You Can Learn From Him)

Hey Hustlers,

Imagine skipping class, not to goof off, but to hop on a podcast about your $20M-a-year business. That’s exactly what Zach, an 18-year-old high school senior, is doing.

This kid built Cal, an AI-powered calorie-tracking app, and turned it into a rocket ship with zero outside funding and 100% hustle. And guess what? He’s not stopping. Today, I’m breaking down what he did right and how you can steal his playbook.

🚀 How a High Schooler Built a $20M Business in Less Than a Year

Most teenagers worry about grades, dating, and their social status. But Zach? He was focused on solving problems with technology.

A few years ago, he struggled with calorie tracking. Manually inputting food into apps was slow and annoying, and most apps weren’t accurate anyway. That frustration became the foundation for Cal—a game-changing AI-powered calorie tracker that lets you snap a pic of your food and instantly get an estimate of its nutritional value. No more guesswork. No more tedious logging.

The kicker? It works. With 90% accuracy, his AI-powered app is now competing with billion-dollar companies like MyFitnessPal.

And here’s the best part:

• It took only 10 months to go from an idea to $2 million in monthly revenue.

• The app is fully bootstrapped, meaning he owns 100% of the company.

• He’s built a 15-person team, including senior engineers twice his age.

• He mastered influencer marketing instead of relying on expensive ads.

• He did all this while keeping a 4.0 GPA and scoring a 34 on the ACT.

The dude is building a multi-million dollar empire while still in high school.

🛠 Framework for Success (Even If You’re Still in School)

🔹 Find the Friction – Zach hated manually tracking calories. He turned that frustration into an AI-powered solution. The best business ideas solve personal pain points. If something frustrates you, millions of others probably feel the same way.

🔹 Test Fast, Pivot Faster – Instead of over-engineering, he launched a basic version of the app, then refined it based on real user feedback. If you spend a year perfecting a product before showing it to the world, you're already losing.

🔹 Leverage Influencers – Forget ads. Zach went all-in on influencer marketing, targeting fitness creators on TikTok and Instagram. His first big break came after two weeks of constant DMs. Influencers = free audience leverage.

🔹 Think Bigger, Act Smaller – Instead of daydreaming about a billion-dollar company, he focused on one simple, viral-worthy feature (take a photo, get instant calorie estimates). That’s what got users hooked. Once they were in, he built an entire ecosystem around it.

🔹 Momentum > Perfection – He started coding at 7 years old, ran a gaming site in high school, and flipped it for $100K. That cash seeded Cal’s launch, proving that tiny wins stack up.

📈 How He Went From 0 to $20M—Fast

1️⃣ Built the App in Months, Not Years – Instead of waiting, he quickly built a barebones prototype and got it into people’s hands ASAP.

2️⃣ Took Advantage of AI – Instead of trying to compete with big tech companies on software alone, he leveraged AI as a differentiator. His app was smarter, faster, and easier than anything else on the market.

3️⃣ Used Viral Marketing Instead of Paid Ads – He didn’t have millions for marketing, so he used TikTok and Instagram influencers to drive downloads. A few key partnerships brought in thousands of users overnight.

4️⃣ Kept the Business Lean – Instead of raising VC funding and giving away equity, he bootstrapped. This means he controls everything and keeps all the profits.

5️⃣ Created a Subscription Model – Instead of selling a one-time product, he made Cal a subscription-based business—which means recurring revenue every single month.

6️⃣ Didn’t Let School Hold Him Back – He’s still technically in high school, but he’s already building a billion-dollar mindset.

💡 What You Can Do Right Now

✅ Look at your frustrations – What’s one annoying thing in your life that tech could fix? (Hint: Start with AI-enhanced versions of everyday tools.)

✅ Launch first, perfect later – Build a minimum viable product (MVP) and get real feedback ASAP.

✅ Use audience arbitrage – Find influencers who can market your product cheaply before the rest of the world catches on.

✅ Don’t play the waiting game – Zach didn’t wait for permission. He started. You should too.

🔮 What’s Next for Zach?

Zach isn’t stopping with Cal. He’s already looking at other AI-powered opportunities, including:

• AI-powered therapy apps that act as a personal counselor.

• AI-enhanced journaling apps that give life insights based on what you write.

• Automated code conversion tools that translate iOS apps to Android instantly.

He’s thinking 10 steps ahead, while most people are still figuring out what to do next weekend.

🚀 Want More?

If you’re serious about starting a profitable side hustle, check out our free Side Hustle Idea Database—100+ business ideas you can start today. Click here to grab it!

Stay scrappy,

[Your Name] Founder, [Your Newsletter Name]