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Nov 20, 2018 · 23m · top-founders

1214 $3.5m ARR Any.do focused on doing your tasks for you

Omar Perchik · 11m spoken Nathan Latka · 9m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this episode of The Top Entrepreneurs, host Nathan Latka interviews Any.do founder Omar Perchik to explore how the productivity app achieved $3.5 million in ARR with 100,000 paying subscribers while transitioning toward an AI-driven autonomous task execution platform.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 44.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.8 Guest teaching 3.6 Guest disagreement 4.2 Nathan pushing back 5.6
05100:0010:0020:001:30–4:20 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Any.do Background, Pricing Model, and Acquisition Economics Nathan presses Omar when he refuses to give specific growth metrics, calling him out for saying they are growing rapidly without offering exact numbers. Nathan also breaks down the SaaS unit economics and instant cash payback based on Omar's upfront annual pricing.4:22–10:09 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Pivoting to AI-Driven Smart Task Execution Nathan challenges the premise of the smart assistant model, questioning whether users really save time talking to a bot rather than completing tasks manually. Omar defends the NLP and machine learning capabilities built into Any.do to automate high-friction tasks.10:13–15:39 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Sponsor Segment: Monday.com Project Management Platform Following a sponsor read for Monday.com, Nathan digs into Any.do's ARR, cohort retention, and churn metrics. When Omar reports a 40% annual gross logo churn, Nathan points out that 40% is high for SaaS while noting the nuances of B2C models.15:40–20:50 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Team Composition, Venture Funding, and Capital Allocation Debate A heated clash occurs over capital allocation and paid acquisition scaling. Nathan insists that if CAC is instantly profitable, Omar should spend infinitely, while Omar forcefully pushes back that diminishing returns make Nathan's theoretical question detached from real-world audience limits.20:51–23:28 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions and Episode Recap Nathan runs through the Famous Five rapid-fire questions, teasing Omar on vague CEO answers and clarifying his mathematical rule for hiring high-density talent.1:30–4:20 · Guest teaching 2/10 Any.do Background, Pricing Model, and Acquisition Economics Nathan presses Omar when he refuses to give specific growth metrics, calling him out for saying they are growing rapidly without offering exact numbers. Nathan also breaks down the SaaS unit economics and instant cash payback based on Omar's upfront annual pricing.4:22–10:09 · Guest teaching 5/10 Pivoting to AI-Driven Smart Task Execution Nathan challenges the premise of the smart assistant model, questioning whether users really save time talking to a bot rather than completing tasks manually. Omar defends the NLP and machine learning capabilities built into Any.do to automate high-friction tasks.10:13–15:39 · Guest teaching 3/10 Sponsor Segment: Monday.com Project Management Platform Following a sponsor read for Monday.com, Nathan digs into Any.do's ARR, cohort retention, and churn metrics. When Omar reports a 40% annual gross logo churn, Nathan points out that 40% is high for SaaS while noting the nuances of B2C models.15:40–20:50 · Guest teaching 6/10 Team Composition, Venture Funding, and Capital Allocation Debate A heated clash occurs over capital allocation and paid acquisition scaling. Nathan insists that if CAC is instantly profitable, Omar should spend infinitely, while Omar forcefully pushes back that diminishing returns make Nathan's theoretical question detached from real-world audience limits.20:51–23:28 · Guest teaching 2/10 Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions and Episode Recap Nathan runs through the Famous Five rapid-fire questions, teasing Omar on vague CEO answers and clarifying his mathematical rule for hiring high-density talent.1:30–4:20 · Guest disagreement 4/10 Any.do Background, Pricing Model, and Acquisition Economics Nathan presses Omar when he refuses to give specific growth metrics, calling him out for saying they are growing rapidly without offering exact numbers. Nathan also breaks down the SaaS unit economics and instant cash payback based on Omar's upfront annual pricing.4:22–10:09 · Guest disagreement 4/10 Pivoting to AI-Driven Smart Task Execution Nathan challenges the premise of the smart assistant model, questioning whether users really save time talking to a bot rather than completing tasks manually. Omar defends the NLP and machine learning capabilities built into Any.do to automate high-friction tasks.10:13–15:39 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Sponsor Segment: Monday.com Project Management Platform Following a sponsor read for Monday.com, Nathan digs into Any.do's ARR, cohort retention, and churn metrics. When Omar reports a 40% annual gross logo churn, Nathan points out that 40% is high for SaaS while noting the nuances of B2C models.15:40–20:50 · Guest disagreement 8/10 Team Composition, Venture Funding, and Capital Allocation Debate A heated clash occurs over capital allocation and paid acquisition scaling. Nathan insists that if CAC is instantly profitable, Omar should spend infinitely, while Omar forcefully pushes back that diminishing returns make Nathan's theoretical question detached from real-world audience limits.20:51–23:28 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions and Episode Recap Nathan runs through the Famous Five rapid-fire questions, teasing Omar on vague CEO answers and clarifying his mathematical rule for hiring high-density talent.1:30–4:20 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Any.do Background, Pricing Model, and Acquisition Economics Nathan presses Omar when he refuses to give specific growth metrics, calling him out for saying they are growing rapidly without offering exact numbers. Nathan also breaks down the SaaS unit economics and instant cash payback based on Omar's upfront annual pricing.4:22–10:09 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Pivoting to AI-Driven Smart Task Execution Nathan challenges the premise of the smart assistant model, questioning whether users really save time talking to a bot rather than completing tasks manually. Omar defends the NLP and machine learning capabilities built into Any.do to automate high-friction tasks.10:13–15:39 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Sponsor Segment: Monday.com Project Management Platform Following a sponsor read for Monday.com, Nathan digs into Any.do's ARR, cohort retention, and churn metrics. When Omar reports a 40% annual gross logo churn, Nathan points out that 40% is high for SaaS while noting the nuances of B2C models.15:40–20:50 · Nathan pushing back 8/10 Team Composition, Venture Funding, and Capital Allocation Debate A heated clash occurs over capital allocation and paid acquisition scaling. Nathan insists that if CAC is instantly profitable, Omar should spend infinitely, while Omar forcefully pushes back that diminishing returns make Nathan's theoretical question detached from real-world audience limits.20:51–23:28 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions and Episode Recap Nathan runs through the Famous Five rapid-fire questions, teasing Omar on vague CEO answers and clarifying his mathematical rule for hiring high-density talent.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 68.7% · guest 31.3%0:00 · Nathan 68.7% · guest 31.3%3:00 · Nathan 20.3% · guest 79.7%3:00 · Nathan 20.3% · guest 79.7%6:00 · Nathan 28.9% · guest 71.1%6:00 · Nathan 28.9% · guest 71.1%9:00 · Nathan 66.8% · guest 33.2%9:00 · Nathan 66.8% · guest 33.2%12:00 · Nathan 45.9% · guest 54.1%12:00 · Nathan 45.9% · guest 54.1%15:00 · Nathan 40.9% · guest 59.1%15:00 · Nathan 40.9% · guest 59.1%18:00 · Nathan 33% · guest 67%18:00 · Nathan 33% · guest 67%21:00 · Nathan 50.2% · guest 49.8%21:00 · Nathan 50.2% · guest 49.8%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 19:28 Theoretical question disconnected from reality

Omar rejects Nathan's line of questioning about spending a billion dollars on acquisition, calling it a purely theoretical point with no connection to the real world.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 2:13 Refusing vague growth claims

Nathan bluntly refuses to accept Omar's evasive answer on growth, telling him he cannot come on the show claiming rapid growth without giving real numbers.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 19:14 Omar explains ad channel saturation and diminishing returns

Omar educates Nathan on why paid spend cannot scale indefinitely, explaining that marginal spend targets less relevant audiences and deteriorates ROI.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 4:02 Instant cash payback vs revenue recognition

Nathan demonstrates sharp financial acumen by instantly identifying that a day-one CAC payback on upfront annual plans represents a cash basis payback rather than accrual revenue recognition.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Any.do Background, Pricing Model, and Acquisition Economics 6246 Nathan presses Omar when he refuses to give specific growth metrics, calling him out for saying they are growing rapidly without offering exact numbers. Nathan also breaks down the SaaS unit economics and instant cash payback based on Omar's upfront annual pricing.
Pivoting to AI-Driven Smart Task Execution 6546 Nathan challenges the premise of the smart assistant model, questioning whether users really save time talking to a bot rather than completing tasks manually. Omar defends the NLP and machine learning capabilities built into Any.do to automate high-friction tasks.
Sponsor Segment: Monday.com Project Management Platform 6335 Following a sponsor read for Monday.com, Nathan digs into Any.do's ARR, cohort retention, and churn metrics. When Omar reports a 40% annual gross logo churn, Nathan points out that 40% is high for SaaS while noting the nuances of B2C models.
Team Composition, Venture Funding, and Capital Allocation Debate 7688 A heated clash occurs over capital allocation and paid acquisition scaling. Nathan insists that if CAC is instantly profitable, Omar should spend infinitely, while Omar forcefully pushes back that diminishing returns make Nathan's theoretical question detached from real-world audience limits.
Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions and Episode Recap 4223 Nathan runs through the Famous Five rapid-fire questions, teasing Omar on vague CEO answers and clarifying his mathematical rule for hiring high-density talent.

Statements from this episode (12)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Perchik: Any.do reaches 20 million users and 100,000 paying subscribers
“So AnyDo is the world's most popular task management app with over twenty million users with a current business model of subscription where people can pay us for features within the product. We have over a 100,000 paying subscribers growing pretty rapidly.”
Omar Perchik Nov 20, 2018 ▶ 1:44
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Perchik: Any.do grew 150% over the last six months
“So the, so I can say that like within the last six months, only the last six months we've grown like a 150%.”
Omar Perchik Nov 20, 2018 ▶ 2:22
Insight
Perchik: Productivity app subscriptions follow gym psychology with early upfront conversions
“One of the unique things about our product is that it's very similar to the psychology of a gym. So a lot of people are willing to pay upfront for a subscription model because they're kind of like want to show commitment to the type of product that they'll be …”
Omar Perchik Nov 20, 2018 ▶ 3:22
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Perchik: Any.do achieves CAC lower than day-one ARPU on paid acquisition
“And more recently we just started doing paid acquisition. So until December of last year, we've never done any paid acquisition whatsoever, and in December we started, and very, very quickly we got to the point where customer acquisition cost is actually lower…”
Omar Perchik Nov 20, 2018 ▶ 3:42
Disclosure
Perchik: Any.do shifting model from subscriptions to automated task completion
“Because the business model that we, the company aims to go like aims to become over time is less premium subscription and more about completion of tasks. so the idea behind the company is not to really build a to-do list with subscription. It's to build a to-…”
Omar Perchik Nov 20, 2018 ▶ 4:22
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Perchik: Any.do gets over 1M daily tasks, AI can handle at least 20%
“Tens of percents. Like, you know, it's over 20%. Of what? Of the tasks we're getting on a daily basis. Oh, I see. And every day we're getting over a million tasks. Got it. Every new day, so. So there's 200,000 tasks that you think you can use with machine lear…”
Omar Perchik Nov 20, 2018 ▶ 7:41
Disclosure
Any.do alpha tests task marketplace with 1,000 US users
“It's already launched, but we're still like in alpha mode. So there's about a thousand users in the U S that are currently getting AB tested. And we are walking on kind of like what we define as KPIs that will that are like the answer for, yes, we have product…”
Omar Perchik Nov 20, 2018 ▶ 12:31
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Perchik: Any.do experiences 40% annual paying subscriber churn
“So like, okay, so churn for paying customers year over year, because like, we're mostly like, it's mostly yearly users. So like it's 40% which is, I think is okay.”
Omar Perchik Nov 20, 2018 ▶ 13:25
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Any.do claims retention is 5 to 10x higher than competitors
“I can say that from benchmark tests that we've had, both from, you know, third parties, like SimilarWeb, or even Google gave us some data, we have about five to 10 X the retention of our competitors, like day seven, day 30, day one. No, day one, no, but like d…”
Omar Perchik Nov 20, 2018 ▶ 14:01
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Perchik: Any.do has raised more than its publicly reported $6.5M
“So publicly it's 6.5, but it's actually more than that, but we haven't shared the data yet.”
Omar Perchik Nov 20, 2018 ▶ 16:17
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Perchik: Any.do is currently profitable
“We're profitable. So it's not about bridge rounds.”
Omar Perchik Nov 20, 2018 ▶ 16:52
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Perchik: To-do list apps will not be a multi-billion dollar market
“Subscription-based model for a to-do list is a relatively capped market. It's not going to be a multi-billion dollar market. Assistant has the potential of being that.”
Omar Perchik Nov 20, 2018 ▶ 20:12
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