The archive · Developer & Business Tools · Financial decision · 2007–2026
Doist: bootstrapped Todoist maker hits ~$25M ARR with $0 VC, remote-first since 2007
Amir Salihefendić started Todoist from a dorm room in 2007; the company stayed uninvested and profitable, reaching ~$25M ARR and 55M+ sign-ups.
Doist · Todoist
What the business is
Doist makes Todoist, a task manager used by millions, and Twist, an async team-chat app, run as a fully remote, bootstrapped company.
How it started
Amir Salihefendić built Todoist in 2007 in his college dorm to manage his own tasks. The company that grew around it, Doist, was remote-first from its earliest days and funded itself from revenue, never raising venture capital.
What happened
Doist grew deliberately for 17 years without outside money. Amir turned down investment offers — including one that would have replaced him as CEO — and kept the company fully remote and asynchronous, with roughly 100 people spread across 30+ countries by 2026. The founder has publicly framed the bootstrapped model as an edge: no need to buy growth with capital when rates and valuations turn.
How it ended up
Still independent, profitable and growing: ~$25M ARR and 55M+ sign-ups as of 2026, a $1M employee stock buyback that year, and a stated commitment to never sell or raise. The company says it is 'here for the long-run'.
Background
Todoist began as a dorm-room tool Amir Salihefendić built in 2007 to organize his own tasks. It became the wedge for Doist, a company that has spent nearly two decades proving a productivity product can go mass-market without a single venture-capital dollar.
The operating model was as unusual as the financing: Doist was remote-first and asynchronous from day one, before either practice had a name. The company treated that as a competitive edge — hiring globally, documenting heavily, and keeping a lean, high-trust team of about 100 people across 30+ countries.
Financially, the bet was profitability over growth. Amir turned down investment offers, including one whose investors wanted him out as CEO, and kept the company 'default alive' — able to cover its own costs and weather downturns. The founder's media profile puts Todoist at 55M+ sign-ups and roughly $25M in annual recurring revenue, with revenue per employee around $200k per a 2024 podcast profile.
In 2026 the company ran a $1M stock buyback for current and former employees — an uncommon move for a private, bootstrapped firm — and publicly reaffirmed that it has no plans to raise or sell. Its homepage states the thesis plainly: 'We're bootstrapped, profitable, and here for the long-run.'
What has to be true
- Zero VC meant no growth-at-any-cost pressure, so the company could stay profitable while competitors burned capital on features and marketing.
- Remote-first, async work cut real estate and meeting overhead and let Doist hire the best people anywhere, compounding product quality.
- Refusing the investment offer that demanded a CEO change protected the product vision that users actually signed up for.
- A freemium, quality-first product created durable word-of-mouth — 55M+ sign-ups with no paid acquisition arms race.
- Independence itself became a brand promise: users trust a company that says it will never sell out or be acquired.
What can be applied
Profitability and independence are a moat: a bootstrapped company can refuse the grow-at-all-costs playbook, keep control, and still reach tens of millions of users.
Aftermath
As of Sept 2026 Doist remains private, profitable, and growing. Public figures from the founder's 2026 media profile: ~$25M ARR, 55M+ Todoist sign-ups, ~100 employees in 30+ countries. The company completed a $1M employee stock buyback in 2026, continues to ship Todoist and Twist, and states on its homepage that it has no exit strategy and will not raise capital or sell.
Sources
- 17 years of bootstrapping with $200k revenue per employee with Amir Salihefendic @Doist
- Amir Salihefendić | Source | Founder and CEO at Todoist
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