The Scarlet Pimp
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- Apr 2, 2008
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If you'd rather listen: https://static.nytimes.com/narrated...-59d6-b865-cb7ddfb6c368-job-1775771530694.mp3
Matthew Gallagher took just two months, $20,000 and more than a dozen artificial intelligence tools to get his start-up off the ground.
From his house in Los Angeles, Mr. Gallagher, 41, used A.I. to write the code for the software that powers his company, produce the website copy, generate the images and videos for ads and handle customer service. He created A.I. systems to analyze his business’s performance. And he outsourced the other stuff he couldn’t do himself.
His start-up, Medvi, a telehealth provider of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, got 300 customers in its first month. In its second month, it gained 1,000 more. In 2025, Medvi’s first full year in business, the company generated $401 million in sales.
Mr. Gallagher then hired his only employee, his younger brother, Elliot. This year, they are on track to do $1.8 billion in sales.
A $1.8 billion company with just two employees? In the age of A.I., it’s increasingly possible.
Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, predicted the rise of a new breed of superefficient company in 2024. A one-person business worth $1 billion “would have been unimaginable without A.I.,” he said on a podcast, “and now it will happen.”
Now as A.I. tools spread, entrepreneurs are harnessing the technology to expand their start-ups to an enormous scale at breathtaking speed with very few humans. Big companies, especially in tech, are getting in on the disruption, too. Pinterest, Block and others have cut thousands of workers in recent months, citing efficiencies enabled by A.I.
Mr. Gallagher, who formerly ran a start-up that sold wristwatches, said he thought Mr. Altman’s prophecy of a one-person $1 billion company would be a firm that built A.I. He was excited when he realized he may have done it, taking an old idea — being a middleman for weight-loss drugs — and using A.I. to turbocharge it.
“It’s not an A.I. company, but I did it with A.I.,” he said.
In an email, Mr. Altman said that it appeared he had won a bet with his tech C.E.O. friends over when such a company would appear, and that he “would like to meet the guy” who had done it.
Medvi is technically not a one-person $1 billion company, since Mr. Gallagher hired his brother and has some contractors. The start-up, which has not raised outside funding, also has no official valuation. But many highly valued tech companies can only dream of hitting $1 billion in revenue with so few workers. Medvi is also profitable, Mr. Gallagher said.
The New York Times was given access to Medvi’s financials to verify its revenue and profits and interviewed Mr. Gallagher’s business partners.
On a recent afternoon at the Soho House club in Los Angeles, Mr. Gallagher, sporting unkempt curly hair, a baggy T-shirt and tattoos on his arms and hands, said the last 18 months had been a whirlwind.
He works on Medvi from his house basically anytime he’s not showering, sleeping or spending time with his two children, he said during a two-hour conversation. He even made an A.I. clone of his voice to help manage his personal life, using it to call and schedule appointments so he would have more time to work.
Not everyone can build such an A.I.-enabled company, though many may try. Mr. Gallagher is suited to the moment because he knows marketing and how to use cutting-edge A.I., said Kobie Fuller, an investor at the venture capital firm Upfront Ventures who has advised him.
“Those folks that have those skills, it’s kind of like their superpower,” Mr. Fuller said. “This is an extreme example, but I don’t think it’s going to be the last by any stretch.”
Mr. Gallagher has told hardly anyone about his company, which he said was raking in more than $3 million a day. He was nervous to talk publicly about it, he said.
“I mean, it’s crazy, right?” he asked, before answering himself. “It’s crazy.”
Read More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/technology/ai-billion-dollar-company-medvi.html
- Published April 2, 2026 --- Updated April 9, 2026
Matthew Gallagher took just two months, $20,000 and more than a dozen artificial intelligence tools to get his start-up off the ground.
From his house in Los Angeles, Mr. Gallagher, 41, used A.I. to write the code for the software that powers his company, produce the website copy, generate the images and videos for ads and handle customer service. He created A.I. systems to analyze his business’s performance. And he outsourced the other stuff he couldn’t do himself.
His start-up, Medvi, a telehealth provider of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, got 300 customers in its first month. In its second month, it gained 1,000 more. In 2025, Medvi’s first full year in business, the company generated $401 million in sales.
Mr. Gallagher then hired his only employee, his younger brother, Elliot. This year, they are on track to do $1.8 billion in sales.
A $1.8 billion company with just two employees? In the age of A.I., it’s increasingly possible.
Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, predicted the rise of a new breed of superefficient company in 2024. A one-person business worth $1 billion “would have been unimaginable without A.I.,” he said on a podcast, “and now it will happen.”
Now as A.I. tools spread, entrepreneurs are harnessing the technology to expand their start-ups to an enormous scale at breathtaking speed with very few humans. Big companies, especially in tech, are getting in on the disruption, too. Pinterest, Block and others have cut thousands of workers in recent months, citing efficiencies enabled by A.I.
Mr. Gallagher, who formerly ran a start-up that sold wristwatches, said he thought Mr. Altman’s prophecy of a one-person $1 billion company would be a firm that built A.I. He was excited when he realized he may have done it, taking an old idea — being a middleman for weight-loss drugs — and using A.I. to turbocharge it.
“It’s not an A.I. company, but I did it with A.I.,” he said.
In an email, Mr. Altman said that it appeared he had won a bet with his tech C.E.O. friends over when such a company would appear, and that he “would like to meet the guy” who had done it.
Medvi is technically not a one-person $1 billion company, since Mr. Gallagher hired his brother and has some contractors. The start-up, which has not raised outside funding, also has no official valuation. But many highly valued tech companies can only dream of hitting $1 billion in revenue with so few workers. Medvi is also profitable, Mr. Gallagher said.
The New York Times was given access to Medvi’s financials to verify its revenue and profits and interviewed Mr. Gallagher’s business partners.
On a recent afternoon at the Soho House club in Los Angeles, Mr. Gallagher, sporting unkempt curly hair, a baggy T-shirt and tattoos on his arms and hands, said the last 18 months had been a whirlwind.
He works on Medvi from his house basically anytime he’s not showering, sleeping or spending time with his two children, he said during a two-hour conversation. He even made an A.I. clone of his voice to help manage his personal life, using it to call and schedule appointments so he would have more time to work.
Not everyone can build such an A.I.-enabled company, though many may try. Mr. Gallagher is suited to the moment because he knows marketing and how to use cutting-edge A.I., said Kobie Fuller, an investor at the venture capital firm Upfront Ventures who has advised him.
“Those folks that have those skills, it’s kind of like their superpower,” Mr. Fuller said. “This is an extreme example, but I don’t think it’s going to be the last by any stretch.”
Mr. Gallagher has told hardly anyone about his company, which he said was raking in more than $3 million a day. He was nervous to talk publicly about it, he said.
“I mean, it’s crazy, right?” he asked, before answering himself. “It’s crazy.”
Read More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/technology/ai-billion-dollar-company-medvi.html
