When David Bressler went on paternity leave in 2023, he had six weeks, a new baby, and a long-held dream to build something of his own. Despite not being a programmer, he discovered Bubble and built an AI-powered Excel formula generator that quickly went viral.
Less than two years later, his one-person company Formula Bot reached one million users with what’s now evolved into a comprehensive AI data analyst tool.
From weekend project to viral sensation
Despite a background in marketing analytics in corporate and agency settings, David had always wanted to build his own product. He wasn’t a programmer, but his experience working with databases and analytics platforms gave him technical knowledge that proved valuable.
After hearing about Bubble from other non-technical founders on social media, David decided to give it a try. He learned by watching community tutorials and videos from Bubble community members. “I’ve been saying this for years: I had no idea how easy it is to build something like this, especially in Bubble,” David says.
In just a weekend, he built a basic MVP — an output box and a button where users could input text instructions for Excel tasks and get formula solutions. After sharing it on Twitter, Reddit, and other platforms, Formula Bot quickly gained traction. The next day, it started trending on TikTok. “Someone sent me a link, and this guy had about five million views,” David recalls.
With no subscription model or API limits in place, success came with a cost. “In just the first couple weeks, I racked up about a $5,000 bill from OpenAI,” he said. Rather than shutting down, he committed to building a business.
“After a few months, I was $10,000 in the hole. So I was motivated more than ever to build and ship fast. And thanks to Bubble, I was able to do that.”
Building a more powerful solution
Today, Formula Bot has evolved far beyond its initial purpose as a simple Excel formula generator. It’s now a comprehensive AI data analytics tool that performs both quantitative and qualitative analysis — something that sets it apart from general-purpose AI tools like ChatGPT.
“While we still have that initial functionality, the full product is a lot more,” David says. “It’s really an all-encompassing data analyst.”
"I had no idea how easy it is to build something like this, especially in Bubble.”
Users can upload files of customer reviews and analyze sentiment, integrate with Google Sheets, Google Analytics, and other marketing platforms, and directly chat with their data. As David explains, “You can integrate your Google Search Console, databases, Google Trends, the Federal Reserve data. You can configure your own report or you can just start chatting directly.”
Scaling with Bubble
For the first few months, David ran Formula Bot entirely on his own while still working his other job. “I worked a full-time job exactly a year to the day — September 1, 2023 to September 1, 2024,” he says. At that point, he dedicated himself to Formula Bot full time.
But as revenue grew, he realized he needed to make a change in order to keep pace with the rapidly evolving AI landscape. “I think of it like the movie Interstellar where Matthew McConaughey and [Anne Hathaway] are on a planet and every minute we’re on this planet is seven years on Earth,” David explains. “It’s the same thing for AI, where this space moves so quickly, and if you’re not moving just as quickly, you’re going to fall behind.”
Once Formula Bot was generating about $5,000 in monthly recurring revenue, David decided to invest in development help. He hired Bubble Silver agency partner Zeroic, founded by Bubble Ambassador Prashant Abbi. Now he works with two dedicated Bubble Developers who spend about 20 hours a week on Formula Bot.
“While it’s a one-person company, it’s also not a one-person company,” David says.
David’s role has evolved alongside his product. Last year, he spent 90% of his time focused on product development. “I was in a fortunate situation [where I didn’t need to focus much on marketing] because I was riding the wave of AI. I had a huge user base thanks to virality and some of the SEO growth that I had experienced,” he says.
This year, with the product in a place he’s proud of, David has shifted to a 50/50 split between product development and marketing. His developers handle most of the technical work — including managing middleware integrations with tools like Make, AWS, and Render — allowing him to focus on vision and marketing.
But even with developers on board, David still works in the Bubble editor regularly. “Oftentimes I’ll put together a very basic proof of concept. Here’s the data flow. Can you guys build it just better, more optimized, making sure everything is secure?” And they do.
Built to last in the AI age
For David, Bubble offered the perfect solution for someone without coding experience who still wanted to build a robust, production-ready application. “I’m someone who looks for convenience,” he said. “I can probably do all these things. I can integrate all these different code bases, but if there’s a tool where it’s just a lot easier and they handle a lot of the heavy lifting for me, why would I not do it?”
"If there’s a tool where it’s just a lot easier and they handle a lot of the heavy lifting for me, why would I not do it?”
With a million users and growing, Formula Bot stands as a testament to what’s possible with visual development. What started as a simple tool built during paternity leave has become a thriving business — one that’s reaching new heights not by rushing to secure venture capital, but by steadily improving its product and delighting its users.
“I live a pretty good, calm life, and make good money,” David said. “Instead of raising capital, I’ve decided to just keep calm and keep chugging along because I absolutely enjoy it.”
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