When ARR Becomes Theater, Anything Can Happen
An AI coding startup called Anything just pulled off what looked like a world record: two weeks after launch, it declared two million dollars in annualized recurring revenue, raised eleven million in fresh capital, and walked away with a one hundred million dollar valuation. Screenshots went viral, founders cheered, investors bragged — Silicon Valley loves a miracle, especially when it comes wrapped in a number with that many zeros.
But here’s the catch. Miracles in tech rarely appear out of nowhere. They are staged, rehearsed, and packaged long before the spotlight hits. Anything wasn’t born in August 2025. It was the reincarnation of another product called Create, a tool that had been grinding in the background for years. The overnight explosion was real in headlines, but in substance it was closer to a mirage, a calculated remix of old revenue, new branding, and perfectly timed storytelling.
