We asked No Code Founders founder, Joshua Tiernan, about building an app that provides a community for founders who are building startups using no-code tools like Bubble. Joshua has built apps in the past including an app called Ernestly.co, which was voted number one on Product Hunt and has since been acquired. He chose Bubble because the no-code platform offers him the tools and support needed to build a fully functional web app quickly.

Tell us about your app and what it does.

No Code Founders provides a community online for founders who are building startups using no-code tools like Bubble. The closest comparison would be a site like Product Hunt or Indie Hackers that have various features for founders to connect with each other. No Code Founders includes lots of opportunities to mix with other no-coders with sections for posts, adding startups, no-code tools, agencies, meetups, jobs, tutorials, courses, perks and interviews. It started small and I’ve added more features along the way to help founders with their startup journeys.

How does your app work?

There are lots of options for new users. You can use many of the features without signing up, but you can then add your own content by creating an account for free. This might be sharing a question/update on our posts section, adding your startup to our “Builds” showcase or even posting a job or meetup. I’ve tried to make NCF all about the community so all of the site content comes from the community, not me and I just do my best to showcase the best bits.

Tell us a little about your background and how you discovered no-code tools like Bubble.

I discovered Bubble after trying to launch a job board app using an off-the-shelf job board builder. I was looking to create a niche job board for remote jobs and the job board builder just didn’t give me the functionality I needed. I ended up using lots of manual workarounds to get something near what I was looking for. When Bubble came up on my radar, I was skeptical but jumped in straight away. I managed to build an MVP of exactly what I wanted in under a month, just doing a few hours per night. I was sold. I ditched the other tool and went all in with Bubble. 12 months later, the app I built was acquired by We Work Remotely. I had sold a blog in the past, but it was mind-blowing for me that I could build real software with no limitations or workaround.

For the first time, I could literally build anything I could dream up and didn’t feel like an imposter in a sea of developers. I built another app called Ernestly.co which was no.1 voted on Product Hunt and has since been acquired too. In building these projects, I discovered the term “no-code” and the whole no-code world opened up to me. I wanted to meet others like myself so I started a Slack channel called No Code Founders and it grew from there. When I wanted to build a site for the community, I turned back to Bubble and started from there.

Why did you build your app on Bubble?

Bubble was the first truly no-code app that I ever used and to me was the perfect blend of power and logic. I could add pretty much any feature I wanted to, but the building still seemed very intuitive and followed straightforward logic. There were other no-code tools I could have tried that were easier to use but that wouldn’t have given me the functionality that I wanted, whilst more complex tools would have taken me much longer to get my app ready for market. To me, Bubble sits at the perfect intersection of no-code development for speed and power.

What have been your milestones or successes so far?

There have been a few key points along the way. The first was that after launching the app, it brought in $20k in the first 6 weeks through Pro memberships and paid partnerships. Another major milestone was at the beginning of this year when I received 3 offers to acquire the community and app. The next big milestone is going to be hitting 10,000 members which I reckon we should reach in the next few months.

What are your next steps or future plans for your app?

As well as growing the community, I want to help more people discover the power of no-code so want to add more features to help people get started with no-code. At the moment, our members tend to be a little more technical and the community isn’t really geared towards people who are just getting started so I’d like to add more features to help those users. The ultimate goal is to bring more entrepreneurs into the no-code movement and reach the founders who haven’t discovered the power of no-code tools yet.

Learn more about No Code Founders: LinkedIn |Twitter

About Bubble

Bubble is a leader in the no-code movement. Bubble offers a powerful point-and-click web editor and cloud hosting platform that allows users to build fully customizable web applications and workflows, ranging from simple prototypes to complex marketplaces, SaaS products, and more. Over 500,000 users are currently building and launching businesses on Bubble - many have gone on to participate in top accelerator programs, such as Y Combinator, and even raise $365M in venture funding. Bubble is more than just a product. We are a strong community of builders and entrepreneurs that are united by the belief that everyone should be able to create technology.

Do you want your app featured by Bubble? Reach out to us and tell us about your app. In addition to this series, we sometimes select our best apps to showcase on our website.