No-Code: Custom GPTs, Getting Early Users, Million-Dollar Businesses

Uncategorized 6 Minutes

“A world where only 0.3% of people can create software is a world missing 99.7% of its potential.” — Adalo

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❓ What You’ll Learn

  • Who makes $10,000 MRR with a no-code directory?
  • Who sold a newsletter marketplace for 5 figures?
  • Who grew a no-code form builder to $60,000 MRR in public?
  • Who made $12,000 by interviewing no-code founders?
  • Who grew a no-code chatbot builder to $18,000 MRR in 6 months?
  • Who runs a $3,000,000 ARR business on a $100 no-code stack?
  • Who runs a $5,000,000, one-person business using no-code tools?
  • Who runs a $1,500,000 ARR unlimited service in Trello?
  • How to build no-code apps inside ChatGPT?
  • Who made ~$2,200 with a no-code app built inside ChatGPT?
  • How to build AI agents without code?


🔍 Problem

Repetitive work wastes time, money and energy.


💡 Solution

No-code tools help you:

  • Build products faster
  • Automate repetitive tasks
  • Make systems easier to maintain 

Without writing code.


🏁 Players

No-Code Apps

  • UserLoop • AI-powered surveys for Shopify
  • Strabo • Investment portfolio tracker
  • SubSocket • Set up recurring and one-time payments with PayPal
  • Riku • Build and deploy AI models
  • Packfleet • Delivery platform for ecommerce businesses
  • beegle • Marketplace for on-demand helpers

No-Code Tools

  • Craftar • Build scalable APIs and automations
  • Adalo • Build custom responsive apps
  • Softr • Build directories, client portals and internal tools
  • Make • Build no-code automations
  • Framer • Build websites with AI
  • Zapier • Build automated workflows

No-Code Founders


🛠 How to Build No-Code Businesses


🌱 How to Grow No-Code Businesses


💰 How to Monetize No-Code Businesses


🔮 Predictions

  • We’ll see no-code tools for building AI agents. They will take the guesswork out of building, training and running autonomous AI models.


😠 Haters

“No-code tools are less powerful and flexible.”
No-code tools are easier to use but less powerful. Custom software is more powerful but complex. Tradeoffs are a fact of life.

“Bubble’s pricing changes took some companies out of business. Platform risk is too high.”
While this is true. The accessibility, cost and development speed often outweigh the downsides. Bubble is a unique case. They tried to find a fair price in 2022. They tried again in 2023. Most no-code tools don’t have this problem.

“There’s little-to-no technical moat here.”
There are other types of moats to build around your business. Scale economies, network effects, branding and more.

“Using ChatGPT to write and debug code is not ‘no-code’.”
True. But this is better than hiring a developer if you need to add custom code to your no-code product.

“User-based pricing limits growth.”
While it adds obstacles to user growth. There are some benefits. You can align your expenses with the workload produced by your user base. Your revenue grows as your customers’ teams grow. You get engaged customers who pay for real users instead of subscriptions they forgot to cancel.


🔗 Links

  1. ​Growing a No-Code Form Builder to $60,000 MRR • The thread behind this report.
  2. Building a Report on No-Code Businesses • The tweet behind this report.
  3. What Is No-Code? • Simple guide to no-code tools.
  4. Bubble Crash Course • Learn the fundamentals of Bubble by building a marketplace app.


📁 Related Reports

  • ​​​​​Micro-SaaS • Build a no-code tool to solve a specific problem for a specific group of people.
  • Product-Led Growth • Distribution matters more than product.
  • AI Agents • AI agents can think, plan and do tasks on your behalf.
  • Low-Code • Focus on solving problems without wasting effort.
  • Directories • Save people’s time and build a defensible business.


🙏 Thanks

Thanks to Marc Kreuzer, Onu Ocholi, Bernhard Friedrichs and Uwe Dreissigacker. We had a great time jamming on this report.

✏️ Emin researched and wrote this report. Dru researched and edited this report.


📈 What else?

Trends PRO #0139 — No-Code has more insights.

What you’ll get:

  • 14 No-Code App Examples (133% More)
  • 15 No-Code Tools (150% More)
  • 14 No-Code Founders (100% More)
  • 16 Ways to Build No-Code Businesses (433% More)
  • 12 Ways to Grow No-Code Businesses (300% More)
  • 13 Ways to Monetize No-Code Businesses (333% More)
  • 14 Predictions (367% More)
  • 9 Links (125% More)

With Trends Pro you’ll learn:

  • (📈 Pro) How to monetize your no-code expertise?
  • (📈 Pro) How to piggyback on no-code platforms?
  • (📈 Pro) Who sold a website builder with $6,300 MRR for $300,000?
  • (📈 Pro) How to find an idea for your product?
  • (📈 Pro) Who pre-sold a Chrome extension built with ChatGPT?
  • (📈 Pro) Who sold $1,000,000 worth of Notion templates?
  • (📈 Pro) Who made $10,000 with a lifetime deal to fund product development?
  • (📈 Pro) How to monetize open-source products?
  • (📈 Pro) How to build websites with natural language?
  • (📈 Pro) How to build Chrome extensions without code?
  • (📈 Pro) How to turn sketches into functional code?
  • (📈 Pro) What accelerators help to launch, market and scale no-code companies?
  • (📈 Pro) Who raised £300,000 for a prototype made with Bubble?
  • (📈 Pro) What is the top mistake no-code founders make?
  • (📈 Pro) How to grow a no-code recruiting agency?
  • (📈 Pro) How to build a SaaS without code?
  • And much more…

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