DEVELOPER SPOTLIGHT
Your 24/7 Personal Assistant
24me: Calendar & To-Do List
Personal Assistant, Reminders
‣ Company: 24me
‣ Founders: Liat Mordechay Hertanu and Gilad Hertanu
‣ Mission: To create a unified place for all your to-dos—no matter what they look like
‣ App launched: 2013
‣ Team size: 9
‣ Go-to emoji: 🚀🚀🚀
There’s busy, and then there’s busy.
Back in the early 2010s, Liat Mordechay Hertanu and her husband, Gilad Hertanu, left their tech jobs and moved from the U.S. to their native Israel with their three kids. It was not a quiet time.
“We felt overwhelmed with all the day-to-day life activities,” says Liat. “We were looking for solutions to better manage our time, but couldn’t find anything we really loved.”
Their solution was 24me, a personal assistant in app form that could collect all their errands, appointments, bill reminders, babysitting schedules, work to-dos, and recipes in one place. “We saw other young parents fighting the same small wars,” says Liat, who handles the app’s marketing and outreach (her husband focuses on coding). “We built it for users like us.”
We spoke to the couple about juggling work and family (which now includes a fourth child), the importance of asking for help, and the power of what Gilad calls “oops moments.”
What were those early years like with a new app and young kids?
Gilad: The nights were very productive! And they could be very, very long.
Liat: We can write a book about how to do potty training when launching new versions of your app. It was hectic! But we had a lot of support from our families. Gilad’s mom helped a lot and my parents came often. And a couple that works together is also a team at home: We spread the work around there as well.
How did you grow the app with so much going on?
Gilad: By using it ourselves. One day we had something on the calendar and forgot it. That’s how we came up with the “procrastination fighter.” <This feature finds open spots on your calendar and encourages you to fill them with tasks.> Many, many things came out of “Oops! We forgot something.”
What is the typical workday like for you now?
Liat: Before COVID, we’d wake up, make sandwiches, get the kids ready for school. Eventually, we’d meet at the office around 8:30 or 9, do video calls with the team, and catch up with whatever tasks needed to be done. Gilad would be coding a lot too. Then we’d get home in the evening and…
Gilad: …keep coding!
Liat: Now we’re in lockdown with four kids, and we’re all doing our best.
Any words of wisdom to share?
Liat: I’m always asked how to be a female entrepreneur, and I always say: If you don’t have help from relatives, hire help if you can, so you can get some time to do the things you love.
24me is a part of the App Store Small Business Program. If you are a developer and would like to learn more about the program, follow the link below.