No-Code: Smaller Firms, Competitive Advantages, Opportunity Costs

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“Software is eating software.”

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❓ What You’ll Learn

• Who’s building a no-code agency?
• What are 8 examples of web3, no-code tools?
• How to show your work?
• How to automate tasks and save time?
• Why will no-code tools lead to more million-dollar, one-person businesses?
• What are 8 examples of no-code communities?
• Why is no-code a gateway drug to code?

💎 Why It Matters

No-Code makes building products more accessible

🔍 Problem

Duplicating work wastes time, money and energy

💡 Solution 

No-code tools help you automate work and build products faster, cheaper and better.

Without writing code.

🏁 Players

No-Code Tools

• Zapier • Connect apps and automate workflows
• WordPress • Build websites and blogs
• Shopify • Build ecommerce sites
• Webflow • Build websites
• Bubble • Build web apps
• Bildr • Web3 tools, templates and building blocks
• Juicebox • Funding for people and projects
• Aragon • Build a DAO

Apps

• Lanva • Create shareable videos
• Teal • Manage the job application process
• Dividend Finance • Finance solar and home improvement projects
• Virtual Ghost Writer • Resolve writer’s block

Who to Follow

• Ben Tossell • Makerpad
• KP • Build in Public
• Naya Moss • Frauvis
• Max Haining • 100 Days of No-Code
• Lola • ​​Lunch Pail Labs
• Janel • NewsletterOS
• Samuel Thompson • Proven Ventures
• Doc Williams • Build with Me
• Yves Jean • Kodou
• Curtis Cummings • On Deck

🔮 Predictions

• No-Code tools will give individuals more leverage. This leads to smaller firms and more million-dollar, one-person businesses. Newsletter writers, podcast hosts and course creators benefit from no-code tools.
• No-Code tools will make web3 building more accessible.
  • Aragon helps you start DAOs
  • Juicebox helps you fund projects
  • Fractional helps you fractionalize NFTs
  • MintGate helps you sell token-gated content
  • NFTX helps you build liquidity pools for NFTs
  • Bildr will help you build sites to launch and mint NFTs
  • Thirdweb helps you build smart contracts without coding
  • Nifty Generator helps you build generative art NFT collections
• The types of products that you can build with no-code tools will expand. Blogs, online stores and marketplaces are table stakes. SaaS, mobile apps, games, cryptocurrencies and DAOs are becoming easier to build.

☁️ Opportunities

• Build a portfolio of work to break into no-code. Show proof of work to land a job or clients for your agency.
  • KP built no-code projects before becoming a program director for On Deck.
  • Héctor Reyes built and sold Coda templates before joining the Coda team.
  • Lola documents her no-code journey on the Lunch Pail Labs podcast.
  • Doc Williams makes no-code tutorials.

• Join a no-code community. Meet peers, build habits and discover opportunities. See:
  • 100 Days of No-Code
  • No Code Founders
  • On Deck No-Code
  • No Code MBA
  • NoCode.Tech
  • NoCodery
  • Makerpad
  • Nucode

• Automate tasks to save time and build no-code skills. Ask: “What are my routine, boring tasks?” Zapier, IFTTT and Integromat have thousands of integrations. Need ideas?
  • Automatically share Instagram posts to Twitter
  • Get alerts when new leads come in
  • Track Shopify orders in Slack

• Start a no-code agency. Time-to-revenue for services is shorter than products. See Minimum Studio, 8020, Lunch Pail Labs and Finsweet. Build the first version of your product with a no-code tool. No-Code helps you validate ideas faster and cheaper. Alex is building a video editing app with Bubble.

🏔️ Risks

• Platform Risk • What if a no-code tool shuts down, changes policies or gets acquired? Unlike open-source frameworks (such as Ruby on Rails and React), most no-code tools are closed-source.
• Missing Concepts • No-Coders may not understand database design at first. This can lead to technical debt. Or is it non-technical debt?

🔑 Key Lessons

• You don’t have to understand how everything works to use it. Most developers have not built an operating system or programming language. Yet they use them. You can use no-code tools without understanding every aspect.
• No-Code gives you a competitive advantage. Why recreate the wheel? No-code apps are easier to build and maintain.
• No-Code is a gateway drug to code. Building end-to-end products with no-code tools helps you become comfortable with code.

🔥 Hot Takes

• The no-code movement will create more developers. Not less. No-code is on-ramp for those initially intimidated by code.
• The best developers focus on outcomes. They don’t have not-invented-here syndrome. They embrace no-code tools, keep things DRY and understand opportunity costs.

😠 Haters

“There’s code under the hood. Why is it called no-code?”
There’s code. But you can build things without writing code.


“No-Code apps can’t scale.”
Most can. The need to scale is a good problem to have.
Most products don’t get that far. Solve it when you get there.

🔗 Links

• Who should I talk to about no-code? • The tweet behind this report.
• The No-Code Movement • See how no-code affects your ability to bootstrap.
• Building the Future of No-Code • On the possibilities of no-code and crypto.

📁 Related Reports

• The Creator Economy • Lower transaction costs lead to smaller firms.
• Low-Code • Low-Code tools reduce repetition along with No-Code.
• Competitor Risk • No-Code tools make it easier to reach feature parity. 
• Million-Dollar, One-Person Businesses • Individuals have more leverage than ever. 
• Paid Newsletters • No-code democratized publishing.

🙏 Thanks

Thanks Stewart Townsend, Prabhjot Singh Lamba, Ash, Dan Parry, Max Haining, Chris Strobl, Will Dyess, Philip Lakin, Yves Jean and Nile Frater. We had a great time jamming on this report.

📈 What else?

Trends PRO #0078 — No-Code has more insights.

What you’ll get:

• 30 No-Code Tools (275% More)
• 8 Apps (100% More)
• 28 People to Follow (180% More)
• 10 Predictions (233% More)
• 12 Opportunities (140% More)
• 6 Key Lessons (100% More)
• 4 Hot Takes (100% More)
• 10 Links (233% More)
• 12-minute audio episode with exclusive No-Code stories, insights and opportunities.

With Trends Pro you’ll learn:

• (📈 Pro) How to build a no-code productized service?
• (📈 Pro) Which no-code tools are used to make games?
• (📈 Pro) How to use no-code tools to generate leads?
• (📈 Pro) How to get no-code versions of popular apps like Upwork and Product Hunt?
• (📈 Pro) How to build a marketplace with no-code tools?
• (📈 Pro) How do no-code tools help The Creator Economy?
• (📈 Pro) Why are technical moats fading?
• (📈 Pro) How does no-code affect fundraising?

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