Conrad Kramer (’14) and Ari Weinstein were sitting in their office in San Francisco, CA when they got some of the best news of their lives. Their app, entitled Workflow, had reached number one on the app store.

In January of 2014, Kramer and Weinstein, along with team members Veeral Patel and Nick Drey, competed in the MHacks Hackathon. Hackathons are competitions in which teams of around four have 24-48 hours to program an innovative new hack. Prior to the hackathon, Weinstein and Drey had come up with the idea for Workflow. The app took first place in the competition.

“We were very happy with how it turned out,” said Kramer of the hackathon. “We saw the potential and wanted to make the app better.”

When Kramer and Weinstein were accepted into the Thiel Fellowship, “an elite program created by Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel that allows students to [step] out of formal schooling and instead focus on independent projects and startups,” they decided to pursue this idea further. Kramer and cofounder Weinstein have worked for the past six months to program Workflow.

According to Kramer, the app “allows you to automate the things you do every day.” It creates shortcuts on your phone, such as creating an app to find a nearby coffee shop or call a loved one.

Although the app currently holds the number one spot on the app store, Kramer and Weinstein are not finished. By reading user comments and suggestions, the pair can make useful updates to perfect the program. They also want to allow developers to design their own actions using the app.

“There is so much more to be done,” said Kramer.

Kramer and Weinstein are completely focused on improving Workflow. Currently on sale for $2.99, the app will soon go back to its normal price of $4.99.

Kramer serves as an inspiration to all East students, especially those interested in programming. With a great deal of hard work and determination, teens can achieve amazing feats.