Day: October 19, 2025

• Zach Yadegari cofounded Cal AI, an AI-powered nutrition app, generating around $30 million annually.
• Yadegari sold his first app at 16, using the proceeds to fund Cal AI’s development.
• He said he used Google, the internet, and YouTube to learn more about building games and apps.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Zach Yadegari, an 18-year-old cofounder and CEO at Cal AI, an AI-powered nutrition and food tracking app, based in Miami. Business Insider has verified the financial claims mentioned in this article. This story has been edited for length and clarity.

I sold my first app at 16 years old for almost $100,000. It was called Totally Science, an unblocked gaming website that allowed students to play games in school. It earned me thousands a year for two years through Google AdSense before I sold it.

Every app or game I’ve built has been to solve a problem in my own life. I was a skinny kid growing up and tried going to the gym to put on weight, but learned very quickly that most results come from diet. My cofounders and I set out to build a calorie-tracking app that integrates AI technology.

I moved to San Francisco a couple of months after launching with one of the other cofounders, and we spent the summer of our junior year in high school there alone, just the two of us, 17-year-olds, building out the team from scratch.

Our app really took off over the next year and a half, bringing us to now, where we are a 30-person team and generating around $30 million in annual revenue.

I’ve been coding since I went to coding camp at 7 years old

My parents put me in a coding camp when I was 7. I didn’t learn that much, but it sparked my interest and showed me what was possible. YouTube taught me the rest. I would spend hours a day watching people program different video games.

I attempted to recreate some of the most complex video games with my own small tweaks. This didn’t quite pan out as a 10-year-old trying to replicate what a team of 100 people had accomplished, but I learned a great deal. After watching “The Social Network,” Mark Zuckerberg became a massive inspiration. He was the main reason I pursued programming past making video games.

I wasn’t that different from other kids. I got really good grades in school and had a social life with my friends. However, I spent multiple hours a day outside of school working on various projects. Even in class, I would always be building projects.

I put the money I made from the app I sold into Cal AI because I knew we had all the pieces for success

My cofounder, Henry, and I started building apps in the summer of 2023. It was just the two of us trying to figure things out from scratch, learning on our own. I messaged some people who built very successful apps to find mentors, and one of our other cofounders was one of the people I messaged. He had previously scaled a couple of apps to a few million downloads, and I had reached out to him for advice. He joined the team.

After that, we started working with a few influencers on videos, and the new app took off faster than any of us could have ever imagined. I quickly became aware that we had all the pieces for success to a much greater extent than any other project I had worked on, and I put the money from my previous app sale into it.

Henry and I spent July in San Francisco working on it, and that’s when Cal AI became more established. We realized this wasn’t just a flash in the pan, but something we could actually scale up.

The most beautiful and proudest moments in my life so far have probably been meeting people in person who show me Cal AI on their phone. It’s awesome to see that something I built is being used by people every single day.

My best advice for starting an app is very simple

My advice to anyone would be to get started. Ignore the noise, ignore the people telling you that it’s impossible to do it at a young age, and ignore the people trying to push you down a specific path to accomplish your goals.

It’s becoming easier and easier to be a founder. There’s a reason the age of these entrepreneurial kids making the headlines is getting younger. I had Google, the internet, and YouTube as my tools, but for the next generation of founders, it’s ChatGPT that they can use to teach themselves. Which is so much easier than watching YouTube videos, where I was limited to the content library that people have posted.

I’m still finding the balance between being a college student and a founder

I just enrolled as a student at the University of Miami, but I’m taking a pretty light course load right now. I’m still working on Cal AI, but I’m no longer needed in the day-to-day operations as much. We’ve put a lot of systems in place over the last year and a half, where I now just have to oversee the vision and guide us in the right direction.

The aspect of college that consumes a lot of time is the social life. The primary reason I’m enrolled in college right now is to meet and socialize with people my age and make friends. This definitely takes up a significant amount of time and mental space. So fun in the short term, but not super productive.

The biggest challenge is finding other like-minded people to relate to. I don’t want to talk about random classes. I want to talk about real-world problems, solutions, business models, and other things that most kids my age aren’t interested in.

Do you have a founder’s story to share? Contact this reporter, Agnes Applegate, at aapplegate@businessinsider.com.

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• For Love & Money is a column from Business Insider answering your relationship and money questions.
• This week, a reader is suspicious of whether her husband’s inheritance is being dispersed fairly.
• Our columnist suggests her husband hold off on hiring a lawyer and first talk to his siblings without their spouses present.
• Have a question for our columnist? Write to For Love & Money using this Google form.

Dear For Love & Money,

My husband had a maiden aunt who lived to 89. He has three sisters, and all of our families were involved in their aunt’s life; we helped with errands and appointments, and my husband often did repairs for her.

As his aunt got older, his eldest sister’s husband began helping her with her finances — paying her bills and handling any administrative tasks. In the last few years of her life, she expressed concern that our brother-in-law was the only one with access to her finances and wasn’t answering her financial questions clearly. She asked me, an accountant, to look into it.

She’s always been a little paranoid, so I told her I was sure there was no issue, but to ease her mind, I asked my brother-in-law for access to her accounts and told him I could help him with the work he was doing for her. He refused, saying that it would be inconvenient for me and that he would take care of it since he was retired.

Later, when my husband’s aunt became ill, she drafted a will leaving 25% of her estate — a total of over $1 million in assets — to each sibling. I witnessed my husband sign the will, and we were told we’d get a copy of the signed documents, but we never did.

After she passed, our brother-in-law, as executor, told us each sibling would receive about $195,000 in total — $100,000 from an inherited IRA and about $95,000 worth of CDs, an insurance policy, and other investments. As the money has been disbursed over time, I’ve asked to see documents on the accounts, but our brother-in-law has refused.

Recently, the last CD matured, and we were expecting the last payment to be about $37,500. However, we were told it will be around $25,000. When I asked our brother-in-law what was going on, he said that it all adds up to the $195,000 he originally told us about. The IRA’s rollover value ended up being higher than expected — about $113,000 per sibling — and I strongly believe that because of that, he believes that he can keep the cash difference.

I talked to my husband’s youngest sister and found out she wasn’t even paid as much as we were, and was given even less information. We also noticed that the funds came from the personal account of my husband’s eldest sister and her husband, not the bank where the investments were held. My husband feels conflicted about questioning our brother-in-law — he doesn’t want to be seen as not trusting his beloved sister, but he also feels gaslit by her husband. Am I right to feel this is fishy? Should we hire a lawyer?

Sincerely,

Suspicious Sister-in-Law

Dear Suspicious,

In case your husband’s reluctance to hire a lawyer has you second-guessing yourself, let me say it: “suspicious” is a mild word for your brother-in-law’s shady behavior.

That said, I understand your husband’s reticence to get involved in an inheritance squabble. Based on your use of the word “beloved” to describe his eldest sister and the fact that all of the siblings pitched in to support their aunt, your husband and his family seem to have a decently strong relationship. Plus, inheritance can feel like an unexpected blessing your husband didn’t directly “earn”, and therefore shouldn’t make too much of a fuss over.

This is the delicate balance of inheritance disputes: weighing the pursuit of justice and honoring the wishes of a recently passed loved one against potentially destroying a family over something as trivial as unearned money.

I’m sure you would agree, though, that the love your husband, you, and his siblings poured into their aunt was never about the cash, but about affection and care. And her will simply reflected this love right back to her nephews and nieces. Your husband’s aunt wanted them to have the money, had plenty to give, and at one point even asked you directly to make sure it was being managed correctly. In light of her concerns, your own are certainly valid. The question is how to go about addressing the concerns without shattering his relationships with his siblings.

My immediate thought after reading your letter was, “You should absolutely hire a lawyer.” But on further reflection, that seems like a premature jump to the nuclear option and will almost certainly damage your family’s relationships. The situation may devolve to the point that you have to hire a lawyer down the line, but until then, I would try a more sensitive approach first.

I understand your husband’s worry that questioning his sister’s spouse might seem like he doesn’t trust her. However, it’s unclear how much she really knows. You mentioned that the money you’ve received so far came out of her and her husband’s shared account, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she knows anything about it. Or maybe she does. Perhaps her husband has already explained the numbers in a way that makes it all feel fair and correct to her. Or maybe he didn’t, and she just trusts him.

Also, your husband and his eldest sister aren’t the only ones to consider in these choices. It seems the younger sister may be getting the worst deal of all. She may want to take action as well. To this end, I suggest your husband and his sisters have a conversation with no spouses present. Without outside voices to accuse or excuse the inconsistencies you’ve observed, your husband and his sisters can ask their older sister what’s going on. Maybe she has the answers, or will recognize the validity of their questions.

One of the oddest parts of your brother-in-law’s behavior is his flat refusal to share information with anyone else. Perhaps your sister-in-law will recognize this as the root of the issue and push him toward transparency. However, there’s always a chance that she’ll back up her husband no matter what. Your husband should be prepared for that.

Challenging your brother-in-law’s suspicious behavior while maintaining your husband’s family bonds will require delicacy and discretion. This means avoiding a chain of private conversations that escalate until they end in toxic alliances and broken relationships. Be careful not to lose yourself in the weeds of the situation. Remember that the best outcome is one where everyone receives their fair share and remains close. Don’t get distracted by small grievances, like if your brother-in-law has a smug attitude because he’s the executor, or if your oldest sister-in-law communicates defensively. Not every battle is worth fighting.

You should also accept that your husband and his younger sister may want to avoid all of this by choosing family harmony over justice. As long as they can make that decision without holding resentment, it might be the best choice in accordance with their values. As galling as that may feel to you, take comfort in the fact that this is their decision to make.

At the end of the day, your husband will need to weigh what’s most important to him. Financially, is it crucial that he gets his fair share of his aunt’s inheritance? Will he be able to continue a loving relationship with his sister and her husband if he doesn’t get to the bottom of his brother-in-law’s refusal to be financially transparent? Or does he value the strong relationship he has with his sisters more than any amount of money?

For you, it’ll be important to remember that this is your husband’s family. Don’t risk becoming like your sister-in-law’s husband, creating turmoil among the siblings. The best thing you can do is to support your husband, whatever he decides.

Rooting for you,

For Love & Money

Looking for advice on how your savings, debt, or another financial challenge is affecting your relationships? Write to For Love & Money using this Google form.

• Eleven Madison Park, which has three Michelin stars, reintroduced meat to its menu this week.
• It shifted to a plant-based menu in 2021, but said it is now trying to be more “inclusive.”
• We visited the restaurant to see how its $365 tasting menu has changed.

Light streamed through the large windows, accompanied by hushed conversation and the gentle clink of cutlery as we arrived at Eleven Madison Park.

We dined at the three-Michelin-star restaurant on the opening night of its revamped menu as it shifted away from its strictly plant-based identity.

After its bold leap into a fully plant-based format in 2021, the restaurant, which first opened in 1998, is pivoting again, reintroducing select meat and fish options, including its signature honey-lavender duck.

The shift — welcomed by some, slammed as a money grab by others— was framed as a way to offer a wider range of choices to diners.

“Eating together is the essence of who we are, and I’ve learned that for me to truly champion plant-based cooking, I need to create an environment where everyone feels welcome around the table,” wrote chef and owner Daniel Humm when announcing the change in August.

The announcement left one of Business Insider’s editors reeling. Lydia Warren, a vegan for almost a decade, had long admired Humm’s outspoken commitment to plant-based dining and his role in proving it could be considered upscale. She bristled at how the change was heralded as a sign “the protein bros have won.”

Warren wasn’t alone. It appears that some staff members at Eleven Madison Park were upset by the change, Business Insider has learned.

One server we spoke with said some vegan staff members were disappointed when the change was announced publicly in August, but that none had left the restaurant as a result. Staff learned about the chef’s plans to reintroduce meat to the menu at the same time as everyone else, they added.

Eleven Madison Park declined to comment.

Still, on October 14, the opening night of the menu relaunch, Warren and another reporter, Erin McDowell, who eats meat, went to see how the restaurant was approaching its new edict.

As a vegan and a meat-eater seated side by side, did Eleven Madison Park’s new menu bridge the gap?

On the first night of the updated menu, the dining room buzzed with excitement.

When we arrived for our 5:45 p.m. reservation, we gave the hostess our name and were immediately shown to our table. We noticed how the Eleven Madison Park team was well-oiled.

There was no need to check an iPad for our reservation — it was as if they had memorized the names of every reservation and were expecting us.

When we were seated at a plush corner table in the cavernous dining room inside the unassuming yet glamorous Art Deco-style building, one staff member informed us that bookings were filling up quickly — faster, even, than when Eleven Madison Park first introduced its plant-based menu.

In fact, the restaurant was fully booked on the night of our visit, and the next available slot was at 10:30 p.m., five days later.

Guests can still order a completely plant-based tasting menu or opt for the new menu, which features both plant-based and meat options.

Of the eight courses we tried, three could feature meat and seafood if we wished. As such, Warren opted for the fully plant-based menu, while McDowell asked for the meat options.

The cost of the tasting menu was $365 per person, which was paid for in advance when we made our reservation. Any drink purchases and the tip were added to the total.

Eleven Madison Park offers a selection of signature cocktails, an extensive wine list, and mocktails.

At our table, McDowell began the night with a dirty gin martini ($22).

The server was attentive, asking what kind of gin she’d like, and happily accommodated her request to have more olive brine in the drink.

It was perfectly cold and just the right amount of “dirty.”

Our vegan reporter ordered a mocktail.

The apple blossom mocktail ($18) featured the alcohol-free aperitif Everleaf Mountain, a tequila alternative, Seedlip Notas de Agave, along with blue malva flowers, dragonfruit, lemon, and aquafaba.

It was the aquafaba that made this cocktail particularly intriguing. The starchy liquid left over from cooking chickpeas or beans is often used as a stand-in for eggs in plant-based baking, or, in this case, egg whites.

It created a froth that held its shape atop the fruity, candy-like mocktail.

When we sat down at our table, we were given warm towels for our hands.

This simple gesture set the tone for our meal, allowing us to fully relax before diving into the tasting menu.

The first course was two laminated bread rolls, onion butter, and a roasted onion broth.

The laminated bread looked more similar to a pastry than a traditional bread roll we typically get at restaurants.

It had a luminous golden crust that gleamed under the restaurant’s low lights.

This was the best restaurant bread either of us had ever had.

The caramelized onion flavor came through in a symphony of flavor, while the perfectly airy middle was stretchy and fluffy, balancing out the flaky, salty crust.

Despite knowing we had many more courses coming, we both wished we had been given more bread and onion butter, as we were still thinking about this course by the end of the meal.

The second course was a leek salad, which was beautifully presented.

The marinated leeks, perched atop an aioli and dusted with tiny Os of cilantro stems, were exquisitely plated. Each bite was delicate and delightfully acidic, finished with a touch of fat from the aioli.

The leeks practically melted in our mouths.

“This was a dish unlike anything I’ve had at any other restaurant,” said McDowell, who eats meat. “It was experimental, yet still approachable — even if you’re not a truly adventurous eater, I’m convinced anyone would enjoy most of the courses on the tasting menu.”

With the leek salad course, we were also each given a steamed collard green dumpling.

The dumpling — brought to the table in a small wooden box — was savory and perfectly pillowy, while the collard greens gave it an earthy flavor.

It was served in a soy-sauce broth that we sipped afterward.

Next was the first course to feature a type of meat.

McDowell received a scallop ceviche made with golden beets and grapefruit.

The first bite was a quiet surprise: the scallop’s silkiness gave way to a bright, citrusy rush from the grapefruit.

This dish exemplified how Eleven Madison Park is reimagining its menu.

The raw scallop, sourced from Prince Edward Island in Canada, was the star of this dish — buttery and unbelievably fresh — but it was the plant-based elements that elevated it and made it truly memorable.

The brightness of the grapefruit and the slightly earthy sweetness of the beets made this dish a true showstopper.

The plant-based option was a radish salad.

As McDowell received her scallops, Warren was presented another artful plate: an exquisite flower of radish and apple discs, dotted with mustard seeds and horseradish.

While it was a feast for the eyes, the acidity felt similar to the leek course, and it might have been more welcome later in the meal, between some of the heavier, saltier courses.

Up next was a cold course of soba noodles in a tomato broth.

Our waiter explained that the dishes would alternate between warm and cold to create a contrast throughout the tasting menu.

The soba noodles were served in a tomato broth made with confit tomatoes, Thai basil, sesame seeds, garlic, scallions, shallots, and saffron for garnish.

The noodles were hearty, with most of the flavor coming from the tomato broth.

The texture of the broth was slightly gelatinous, like it was made from the juice that you get when you slice into a ripe tomato.

The noodles were starchy and easy to pick up with the provided chopsticks.

We were encouraged to drink the clear broth afterward, but it was so rich that we only managed a couple of sips.

The fifth course was a choice of butter-poached lobster or red kuri squash.

The lobster was plated beneath a thin, golden disc of squash, its surface glistening under the dining room’s soft light, and accompanied by a side of tender kale.

The portion was modest, but every bite counted. The lobster was tender and sweet, its richness lifted by the squash’s nut notes.

The colors of the lobster dish complemented those of the plant-based option.

While McDowell tucked into the lobster, Warren savored a slab of red kuri squash, topped with chili jam, and bathed in a lemongrass curry.

After enjoying the tender squash, she scooped up the curry with a spoon.

This was another dish where the seasoning was ramped up, and the hint of sweet jam helped cut through those salty, savory flavors.

The next course offered some theatrics.

The dish was plated tableside by our waiter, who revealed smoked potatoes from inside a gourd-shaped vessel.

This was among our favorite courses of the evening.

The sixth course was potatoes three ways: a smoked hasselback potato, potato purée, chive blossom crema, a dusting of powdered potato, and the restaurant’s famous “land caviar,” made from seeds.

Each bite was bursting with flavor.

Each layer of the sliced potato fell apart effortlessly, bringing a salty yet buttery flavor to each bite.

The land caviar, seasoned with nori, didn’t mimic the taste of traditional caviar but added a pleasing textural contrast to the dish.

Up next was the dish our meat-eating reporter couldn’t wait for: the famous honey-lavender duck.

Eleven Madison Park’s honey lavender-glazed duck isn’t just another dish on the restaurant’s menu — it’s a symbol of the restaurant itself.

Created early in Humm’s tenure, it quickly became one of EMP’s most iconic offerings and stayed on the menu for years, virtually untouched.

The duck had a crispy, crackling skin and was served with plum sauce.

With each bite, the duck revealed layers of flavor: crisp skin, succulent meat, and a depth that stopped our non-vegan reporter in her tracks.

“I’ve had duck plenty of times in my day, but never like this,” McDowell said.

The final meat course certainly lived up to the hype.

Once described by Humm as a “perfected” recipe, the duck certainly lived up to all the expectations.

It was unbelievably tender, with notes of floral lavender and sweet honey coming together to create a dish that was well-balanced and clearly thought out.

“I’m still dreaming about it,” McDowell said.

At first, we thought the plant-based option had been placed in front of the wrong person.

The maitake mushroom entrée looked so much like meat, it seemed there had been a mix-up. This was one of the first protein-dense ingredients in the plant-based tasting menu.

Tender layers of grilled mushrooms were interspliced with squares of seitan, a meat alternative made from wheat gluten. The kebab-like entrée was served with spinach.

This umami-packed dish was a great example of how satisfying plant-based dining can be.

It was unlike anything our vegan editor had tried before in almost a decade of being vegan — its ingenuity and combination of textures made it a satisfying and memorable dish.

It was, however, yet another heavily seasoned dish, so the additions of spinach and crema helped balance out those salty flavors.

While Warren is somewhat accustomed to seeing people eat meat, the worst part of this course — and the entire meal — was seeing the duck dish and feeling a sense of anger and sadness. To her, it spoke to how EMP is alienating its original core base.

The dessert course was a trio featuring pear.

The course was a poached pear that contained a type of pudding inside, along with a ball of caramelized white chocolate.

The course was sweet and the perfect way to wind down the meal, without being too heavy or decadent.

The final course was a sesame pretzel with chocolate.

Served alongside coffee, it was the perfect end to the meal — especially since, after eight other courses, we both felt extraordinarily stuffed.

We were also given a tub of the restaurant’s famous granola to take home with us, intended for breakfast the next morning.

Three and a half hours later, we paid the bill and ended our once-in-a-lifetime experience at Eleven Madison Park.

Despite costing a total of $855.76 before tip, we both felt the experience was well worth the investment. Every dish was memorable, from balanced yet exciting flavors to the presentation and bigger-than-expected portion sizes.

Eleven Madison Park’s pivot back to meat may be provocative, but we could see Humm’s vision playing out: It seems capable of getting meat-eaters in the door and then opening their minds to experimenting with more plant-based dishes. After all, vegetables still felt like the backbone of the menu and experience.

McDowell said she enjoyed all three of the meat-based dishes she was served, but would likely have been just as satisfied with the plant-based tasting menu.

“I’d be much more open to eating at a vegan restaurant after this experience,” she said.

That was the most thrilling part of the experience for Warren: that her dinner date realized just how inventive, delicious, and satisfying plant-based dining can be.

“I’d obviously prefer Eleven Madison Park to stay completely vegan,” Warren said, “but if an experience like this shows meat-eaters how fun and delicious plant-based food is, and they are open to eating less meat as a result, that’s progress.”

• Michael Salvatore has had to make some business changes due to tariffs and uncertainties.
• He has raised the price of coffee drinks and will evaluate whether other items need to be changed.
• While COVID was a hard time to operate, he thinks this period rivals that.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Michael Salvatore, 44, the founder of Heritage Hospitality Group, a company with a few bars and coffee shops in Chicago. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I own Heritage Hospitality Group in Chicago, and we’ve been around since 2011. It started as a bicycle manufacturing company, and I paired that with a café. I did that for a few years as I pursued my interests throughout the hospitality industry. We now have five different brands: Froth, Heritage Outpost, Heritage Bikes & Coffee, Larry’s, and Bunker.

I love the customers. I love solving the problems that arise. I love experimenting with food. I love coming up with new drinks. I love my employees, and the interactions I have with everybody I get to work with.

My teenager is now working at the shop as a dishwasher. That’s so fun to see. We started this company when he was several months old.

It’s always been about the people, it’s always been about the hospitality, and that keeps me going. I love it.

COVID was one of the hardest points in my life operating a business. Everything was uncertain, and everything was shut down. We paused, we took a break, and figured it out.

Now, it feels like everything’s uncertain, but no one’s giving it the attention it needs. The current moment with inflation and policy uncertainty is starting to rival running a business during COVID.

It feels like tariffs are hitting almost every aspect of the business

Any bicycle parts, anything coming from overseas, that’s getting hit, whether it’s tariffs or lack of inventory at this point, because the wholesalers don’t have it either. Coffee bean prices have obviously gone up. Tariffs on South America, Brazil in particular, have carried that weight of the tariffs.

Even things like cups, paper goods, anything that we rely on — essentially, nothing’s manufactured in the States. It’s a global economy, so everything gets hit.

The biggest issue is not knowing what is going on. You can’t operate a business with uncertainty.

Every day is a win or a loss, and you can’t really run a business that way. This uncertainty creates this temperature where I’m going to hold off on any major decisions because I don’t know how that’s going to affect my bottom line tomorrow.

The uncertainty stems from a few factors. It’s tariffs, it’s political, it’s immigration, it’s labor. We’re going into the slow season. That’s going to be uncertain. I’m frozen for at least six months.

It’s like we’re operating in a hurricane with all these things flying in our faces, and we’re just trying to make sure that the kitchen’s open and the coffee’s warm.

We just raised prices a few weeks ago, although I didn’t want to

Tariffs are a key reason. But we’re also raising prices due to across-the-board cost increases: labor, insurance, coffee, paper goods. Everything is up. Tariffs were the tipping point.

We’re raising prices in stages, starting with coffee. Next, we’re looking at pastries, packaged drinks, and eventually our food menu. We’re reviewing item by item over the next two months and adjusting where the margin hit is greatest. We’re not taking a blanket approach — it’s strategic and staged.

At Froth, we raised the price of a cappuccino from $4.50 to $4.75. A 12-ounce drip coffee went from $3.00 to $3.15. A cold brew went from $4.75 to $5.00. At Heritage Bikes & Coffee, a cortado went from $4.25 to $4.50. Most changes were in that 5% range, rounded up.

I don’t want to bombard everybody, but it needs to be done. Right now, we are just increasing prices on coffee drinks, where we lost a ton of margin, and I needed to recoup some of that. So that’s where the first step was. We’ll continue to do that throughout the next few months and slowly but surely raise prices where it makes sense.

Raising prices is really hard for me. It’s been years since I’ve done that for coffee. It needed to be done because I see that we’re making more revenue, but we have less margin for any profit to pay our folks.

I have a hard time raising prices on my customers, who come in and spend their money on a coffee, bike, service, beer, or food. Growing up, we didn’t really go out of our way to go out to coffee or go to the local restaurants. So I know how special that can be. I’ve always wanted that to be within striking distance of most people.

We debated announcing the increase widely by email, but ultimately decided to explain it directly when asked, which felt more aligned with how we do things.

Reactions have been surprisingly quiet. Most people haven’t noticed or haven’t said anything. A few regulars asked about the change, and when we explained it was tariff and cost-related, they nodded and moved on. I think people generally understand that everything is getting more expensive.

When I look at what our margins are and how thin they’ve become in order to operate, I’ve had to raise those prices.

We’ve had to make some drawbacks on staff

We cut staff in September due to tariffs, but also to streamline operations in response to thinning margins.

There are some key points where we thought we could run more efficiently. Our margin for labor, it should be a certain point, a certain percentage of your income. We couldn’t meet that.

We made operational changes focused on efficiency — eliminating overlapping shifts, reducing prep cook hours, and cutting a few key middle-management roles like kitchen manager, events, and social media.

I’d love to be able to have someone on social media and marketing. It would help business, but I don’t think it would help it enough to make up for their salary at this point.

We implemented a hiring freeze in late September due to tariffs and economic uncertainty more broadly. We’re being extremely selective so while there may be a few specific roles open (like event-based or part-time), we’ve halted active recruiting across the company.

Despite having one of our best years in terms of revenue, our net profit is smaller

People are coming in. People are buying. Even with that, even with great revenue coming in, because coffee prices went up, because paper goods went up, because labor went up, because insurance went up, every line item in our expense sheet has gone up.

When you’re operating at thin margins as it is, those matter hugely. So if you’re talking about every expense that’s gone up throughout your QuickBooks account, no matter how much revenue comes in, unless you have an incredible year, you can’t keep up with the expenses unless you raise your prices.

As a group, as a management, we talk about finances weekly. We’re planning for those slower months, making sure that we are realistic about the hours we can provide for our staff. We’re realistic about what we can offer, what we can buy, just trying to run a skeleton operation until we understand where the other side of this is. I’m not necessarily going to have to take out loans or anything.

I always try to operate within our revenues. As long as we can do that week to week, we keep track of what’s going on week to week, we make sure we’re running cost of goods, labor within line of a certain formula, we’ll be OK. But it’s going to get thin for sure.

How have tariffs or other factors affected your business? Reach out to this reporter at mhoff@businessinsider.com.