Nocode a faster way to build products
Know its concept, scope, tools & resources, monetizing & things you might wonder - with Sahil Patel.
Hey everyone👋, welcome to the 6th newsletter.
After talking to more than 20 people last week about how they build products with nocode I can confidently say it’s a gaming changing tool (wishing I would have discovered it much earlier). People are able to build quick (literally in hours), low-cost & ship products faster than ever. Some of them have already got their first MRR and some are testing ideas & getting those early users.
Sisa Lleses has been a part of the OnDeck Nocode fellowship & build PinkySwear.xyz with nocode.
Sandy Lin has build an e-learning portal & community, Small Business Tips, with Bubble and Circle.
Yi Hui build ButterMilk with Webflow as a base, Google Form & Airtable used as forms & Zapier to send the entries from GF/Airtable to Webflow CMS.
With nocode, you really don’t have to risk on the uncertainty of spending thousands of dollars just to test an idea.
Special thanks to Sahil Patel for sharing his experience & knowledge on no-code with me. This newsletter wouldn’t have been completed without him.
Ritika: What have you build with nocode & what tools did you use?
Sahil: I’ve built 3 products with nocode -
1) A curated directory of tools and resources for startups and entrepreneurs Startuplyst, used Pory + Airtable to build it.
2) A curated list of all the songs by upvotes Song Hunt, used Pory + Airtable to build it.
3) A curated library of resources for breaking into VC - Become a VC, used Softr + Airtable to build it.
Ritika: The whole energy around nocode is amazing. How was your experience using it?
Sahil: It was a great experience. Created website very faster and cheaper. Since I've built apps at a much faster pace my productivity increased what used to take weeks or months, can now be completed in hours or a day.
Ritika: What do you think: Is no-code primarily good for building MVP or a full-fledged product?
Sahil: I think you can literally build anything with nocode, such as Getcuppa.io (a social media site), Vidpops.com (SaaS), Newsletter Stack (content directory), etc. Not all the nocode tools are useful & you can’t build something like Twitter, etc. but Bubble & Webflow can be a lot of help.
Ritika: So, especially with your products, have you thought about expanding it? And if so, will you keep working on no-code or shift to actual code in future?
Sahil: Yes, I'm thinking of expanding them. Low code will be the better option. Low-code is a way to design and develop applications with little coding. Low-code platforms empower businesses to build custom solutions with innovative functionalities that cater to specific business models. Kissflow, Zoho, Appsheet, etc. are some tools for Low-Code.
Ritika: Do you think no-code will replace the actual code?
Sahil: I think nocode will work in the future but not for complex apps anytime soon. If you've ever used and tried to build anything complex using Bubble you'll realise that it's just a wrapper around code, you still need to know all the concepts.
Ritika: What is the scope of generating revenue & fundraising when you've to build a product through no-code?
Sahil: There are many ways to generate revenue - monthly subscription, selling products with Gumroad, Buy me a coffee link, building membership using memberstack.com, etc. And when it comes to fundraising you can easily create MVP, raise funds and after that, you can hire developers.
Ritika: Lastly, what do you think are the limitations of no-code?
Sahil: If you're looking to build the next Tinder or Uber, nocode platforms may not be best suited to your needs and you may have to go down the road of custom development. However, not all applications can be created with no-code tools. Some with specialized requirements or complex functionalities require the best app developers’ experience and high-level programming and there are some issues like Security concerns and Rigid templates limits etc.
💭 My thoughts
As I am building multiple products and have no technical knowledge (and previously spend thousands of dollars on development), no-code is something I’ll go with when testing my idea & building MVP.
Though if I want to build something very intensive, complex & with a ton of integration & functionality, I won’t go for nocode. Maybe after validating the idea and getting a few paying customers I’ll move from nocode but it completely depends upon the complexity of the product.
I recently tried using bubble.io, you can build literally anything with it, at first glance, it’s very dynamic & has absolutely everything but I personally don’t find it handy. The learning curve is quite high. I might need to play around with it to get used to it.
But the best part is, it gives you complete control, you don’t have to pay developers each month to maintain the product, get some things fixed or even expand features.
No-code really has a high curve but to an extent, although, they are just the tools build around code.
If you’re overwhelmed with trying your hands on nocode when you have no technical knowledge, do this 👇🏻
🛠 Tools & Resources:
The industry just flourished with so many no-code tools & resources that it can get a little overwhelming but these links will definitely help you make decisions.
Here are more no-code tools & resources:
The tutorial you need: Learn how to rebuild your favourite apps with no code using Bubble.
No-Code Cheat Sheet by KP.
The little bird says 🐦
The nocode thread you need to see 👀
Looking for fellow nocoder’s & what they are building? 📣
🏗 The spirit of building something valuable doesn’t limit anything.
😃 You can actually build anything with nocode
👇🏻 For people looking for jobs in no-code industry
Until next time! 👋
👋 PS: I’m Ritika founder, product marketer and advisor for early-stage startups, find more here or connect with her here. If you’re a first-time founder looking for curated resources, download here. If you enjoyed this post, read the past issues here. You can also promote your product in this newsletter.
A big thanks for reading & sharing!