Zach Yadegari is the perfect example of a GenZ entrepreneur, if there is one. He started off his entrepreneurial journey by teaching coding lessons when he was 10 years old. Once he got three clients at $30 an hour, he was hooked on it and began looking for new ventures that were more scalable. 

His next business was an unblocked website that consolidated computer games. This ended up being a real success because it gave students games to play on their computers while they were in class during the Covid-19 Pandemic. It quickly gained 5 million users, and he sold the company for six figures. 

After he sold his website, he partnered with one of his friends that he met at coding camp to create an app called Grind Clock. Its purpose was to provide motivation in the morning with David-Goggins style wake up calls. It quickly reached 20,000 downloads but then struggled with further growth. 

This is when they shifted and started a new business, Cal AI. Zach was trying to track his calories throughout the day in order to make healthier choices, but he quit after the apps he was using all required manual input and were not very user friendly. That’s where he got the idea for Cal AI, an AI powered app that helps you track the number of calories in a meal just by taking a picture of it. 

This is revolutionizing the health and fitness industry. Within 6 months of launching, he has reached over 1 million downloads, $12 million recurring annual revenue, and has built his team to 17 people. Zach is a great example of a young entrepreneur because he’s building this business while he’s still in high school. He regularly talks with his team during school hours and schedules meetings in the afternoons and evenings. He is hopeful for the future of the app and would like to continue using influencer marketing and more precise technology to scale it. 

Ava McDonald, founder of Zfluence, is inspiring teen entrepreneurs across the country with her innovative approach to influencer marketing. Founded when she was just 16, Zfluence is a platform that connects teenage influencers (ages 16-25) with brands they love. Influencers apply to the platform and are accepted if they demonstrate that they are active in their communities and excel academically. Once accepted, they are connected with brands looking for Gen Z content on the website, with brands being charged $100 per month to be on the platform. This gives companies the opportunity to reach a younger audience with their advertising, while also giving high school and college students a chance to build their resumes, gain experience, or simply earn free products.

The inspiration behind Zfluence is perhaps the key reason for its success. It is unique in that it is built specifically for Gen Z. Teenagers spend a lot of time on social media, and many companies try to tailor their short-form content to appeal to this younger demographic. McDonald noticed that many of these content strategies felt ingenuine due to their highly produced and celebrity formats. She understood that younger audiences resonate more with videos they can relate to. This is where she got the idea for Zfluence—an organic way for companies to target Gen Z students. On the platform, influencers are paid in products rather than cash, ensuring that they create content for items they actually enjoy using. This creates a more genuine dynamic and supports McDonald’s belief that young people prefer relatable content.

Ava McDonald is proud of the fact that she bootstrapped her business entirely on her own. She saved money from working at a theater to launch her website and marketing campaigns. Now attending Georgetown University, she continues to pursue her business venture, revolutionizing the influencer marketing industry.