This narrative is a segment ofMake It’sThe Moment series, which features accomplished individuals sharing the pivotal moment that altered the course of their lives and professions, exploring what motivated them to take the risk into the unknown.
Dhruv Amin and Marcus Lowe exited Google to establish a business that was “profitable from the very beginning,” achieving a $2.2 million annual run rate by September 2023, according to Amin. They anticipated ongoing growth, expecting monthly income to increase by at least five times by the end of 2024.
Afterward, they closed everything down to begin again from the beginning — all because of ChatGPT, according to Amin.
Currently, Amin and Lowe, both aged 33, are the co-founders and co-CEOs of Anything, avibe-codingstartup worth $100 million after a$11 million funding roundIn September, as stated by the company. The organization was initially called Create, a platform that links startups with freelance engineers and AI-driven coding tools to develop websites and applications.
Why destroy it? Amin refers to “the ChatGPT moment” in November 2022, when OpenAI introduced the generative AI chatbot. Its significant improvement in abilities from earlier AI models “came as a shock to everyone,” Amin mentions.
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By the spring of 2023, Amin and Lowe suggested that AI might one day come close to matching human developers in writing complex code. Should this occur, human engineers could potentially become unnecessary, making their profession outdated.
However, if they restructured their business around AI and the technology did not develop quickly enough, their new model would fail. Customers would leave and the company would run out of funds.
Following several months of tense consideration, in October 2023, Amin and Lowe went through the challenging task of dismissing half of their seven-member team and ending relationships with freelance developers, as stated by Amin: “Within two weeks, our office was completely empty.”
They initially introduced an AI-driven tool designed to create app elements such as login forms and calendar features. In April 2025, they launched a new offering for developing full online businesses, featuring backend authentication and payment systems, without requiring any coding skills — and rebranded the company as Anything.
“That was truly the point when it started to gain momentum,” says Amin. Within two weeks of the company’srelaunch announcement, Anything that achieved a $2 million annualized revenue run rate, he says.
The AI coding sector is “very nascent,” according to Amin, as shown byoverall mixed reviewsfor vibe-coding services. Nevertheless, individuals without technical backgrounds have developed operational commercial applications using Anything, such as a mobile app for a hair salon owner’s AI stylist and an application designed by a dental hygienist to monitor gum health,Amin posted on a Sept. 29 blog entry.
In this context, Amin talks about his awareness that AI might disrupt their whole business approach, the stress of deciding whether to begin again, and the challenge of choosing the right moment to launch a startup in a new sector.
Create It: You chose to close down and start over in October 2023. How difficult was that choice, and what was the response from your company’s investors?
Amin: We reverted to the starting point, which was challenging. We had to release half of the team. We needed to close the developer marketplace and inform our clients that we would no longer be working with developers.
Back then, people were somewhat dismissive, asking, “Is this AI trend going to be genuine? Are you truly going to develop real applications [using only AI]?”
We have secured [$3 million] in venture funding. We had assured [investors] that we would meet [specific] deadlines. Later, we returned to all of them and said, “Actually, no, we’re going back to square one.” Everyone responded, “Are you certain?”
As you and your co-founder followed the progress of AI, what were your discussions like?
We discussed continuously. We would review the situation, for example, once a month. It took me and Marcus an extremely long time to reach the decision [to restart the business], and it seemed like a choice that both of us, as co-founders, had to be in agreement with.
There were moments when I felt more optimistic about the potential of the [original] marketplace and the possibilities we had ahead. There were also times when Marcus was more optimistic. And there were instances when both of us thought, “This technology is evolving rapidly, and it’s being applied in more areas than ever—does it make sense to create a new product?” That was challenging.
I believe what ultimately resolved that deadlock for us was: We introduced a few prototype builders, solely to test and determine if there was interest in [code-generation products] that didn’t require any interaction with us, simply allowing users to utilize it. This provided us with initial feedback. When we spoke with our clients, it seemed like the code-gen system had achieved product-market fit.
How sure were you that the fundamental generative AI technology would continue to develop at an exponential rate?
Self-assured, yet uncertain about the timelines. That was the most frightening aspect. During 2024, large language models somewhat reached a limit in terms of their abilities. At that time, it was very unclear how advanced [this technology] would ultimately become. There were definitely [moments] when it felt like, “Oh, wow. Did we make an error by shifting direction?”
Is it possible for us to create something meaningful and beneficial enough that people would desire it and compensate us for it? We had several chances to shift towards a faster success, which would be: “Let’s develop a prototyping tool. Let’s create a design tool, as all [LLMs] can only handle components. We’ll market it to agencies.”
What stopped you?
Marcus and I always had this [mentality] that we had already gone through a major shift in direction to get more in line with the company’s mission. That change would have been pointless if we didn’t truly achieve the company’s goal, which is for people to be able to create real production products, even if they don’t know how to code.
It’s a compelling origin story now: This company will remain committed, even if the technology changes, even if the business approach evolves. Back then, it was challenging. Now, I can express with some pride: You don’t need to simply believe my words when I say we are dedicated to what we’re aiming to achieve here. We have poured our blood, sweat, and tears into it.
I anticipated that it would take roughly a year to refine this technology to the point where we could create actual production systems. In truth, it has taken around two years, and I still believe we are just beginning. The complexity of applications you can develop using Anything — how it will appear in a year, or even two years — is set to be significantly different.
I hope our intense shifts are behind us by now. Now, I believe we’re more in the [mentality]: Let’s carry out the plan, seize the chances, and truly expand it.
Where would your company be now if you had not closed the marketplace to concentrate on AI?
It’s really difficult to say. I wonder if the company would still be around? Would the business we were developing back then still appeal to [investors]? I believe that marketplace models, although trendy in 2021, have lost their appeal unless you’re more centered on [AI].
This discussion has been shortened and revised for better understanding.
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