Episode #5 - No Code, No Problem
The latest buzzword to dominate the tech sphere, "no-code" what is it and how can you leverage it for opportunities?
đ€Preamble
As a developer, I have taken notice of the growing trend of âno-codeâ over the last couple of years. While the concept of no-code isnât exactly new (you can trace no-code solutions back a couple of decades, at least) the modern web has opened up a plethora of new opportunities as hardware gets better and browsers become more capable.
Not too long ago to build an online store or nicely styled blog, you need to know how to code. In 2020, there are now tools and platforms that make building almost anything you can think of possible and all without writing code. Fancy well-designed UIâs, drag and drop building blocks, one-click payment integration. I mean, youâre reading this newsletter which is built on Substack.
Itâs possible you have used a tool that falls under the no-code umbrella, site builders like Wix and Squarespace make it easy to build a site without writing code. Then you have Big Commerce and Shopify making it easy for anyone to start an online store. You have maker platforms like Zazzle and RedBubble making it easy to sell your own designs on shirts, hats, hoodies, stickers and even clocks.
đResearch
Kylie Jenner launched her own company Kylie Cosmetics in 2015. Sure, she had the famous name, reality TV show and wealth of her family to back her up, but she did it without writing any code using Shopify. Kylie became the youngest billionaire on the Forbes list two years after launching.
In January 2019, Product Hunt founder Ryan Hoover wrote about no-code and made some predictions about venture capital-backed companies built on no-code are starting to appear.
Despite its detractors, no-code solutions might possibly scale better than custom code solutions and increasingly have shown they are not just for âsimple appsâ from online stores to phone apps.
Investment funds like Y Combinator see the value in the no-code trend and have backed a few companies creating tools for the no-code and low-code segments. One such company is Paragon who have a clever workflow-driven UI that makes integrating with different APIs with very little code simple.
Turbo Systems recently announced a Series A extension of $3.45 million US dollars as distributed teams flock to no-code/low-code tools.
Dumpling is a VC backed company that is making it easy for people to build their own Instacart-type businesses without code.
One of the original no-code platforms is IFTTT (If This Then That) allowing you to perform workflow-based integrations with APIs. Even WordPress despite the fact that you can write code in it is a no-code solution in itself.
đ§Observations
No-code isnât just another hype trend that will die out or be replaced.
Investment funds and VCâs are investing in no-code/low-code startups catering to this market.
There are opportunities to take established apps, tools and platforms, spinning no-code solutions out of them (build your own Uber, build your own AirBnB).
The pandemic and widespread global unemployment are going to create a lot of startups and businesses, as people seek stability and attempt to start their own businesses. Most of these people will be non-technical and will use no-code tools as they have very little to none starting capital.
Youâre going to see job titles shift. Before too long people will be calling themselves, âNo-code Developerâ, âLead No-code Developerâ, âNo-code Engineerâ it makes me shudder a little bit because I know itâs true.
đOpportunities
While some developers might be dismissive or defensive about the no-code movement, developers are not going to become irrelevant. Behind all of these no-code solutions are teams of developers keeping them running.
You can get quite far with no-code solutions, but one of the biggest problems they face is the lack of ownership. Building a business on no-code might be seen as a risk from an investment perspective, you donât own the code and youâre building a product on someone elseâs platform.
What happens if you build a vibrant product on X platform and all of a sudden they change their terms of service? Say, for example, you sold gel blaster guns on an online store. What happens if the platform decides that they donât want gel blaster stores any more?
And then what happens if the platform decides to increase their fees? Youâre locked in, so you either have to agree to the fee increase or find somewhere else to run your no-code business. And what happens if the platform makes migration difficult? Firebase is an example of making migration away from its platform difficult, requiring code to move away from its low-code platform.
Maybe there is an opportunity here for self-hosted no-code solutions. For an online store, imagine a Shopify type product, but you just had to pay once to get it installed on a server and then you just worry about the hosting costs and payment processing fees through PayPal or Stripe?
Better yet, is it possible to build a no-code company using no-code itself? Can you cater to the growing no-code niche using just no-code tools? Itâs a bit of an Inception type scenario I am thinking of here, but itâs theoretically possible.
If youâre a developer, no-code is a brilliant opportunity for you. You can create your own no-code tools, start a blog about no-code, write a book, training and consulting materials. There are a lot of opportunities for developers to capitalise on this increasingly growing trend.
đIn Summary
While no-code has been a thing for years now, it is finally starting to heat up. You know if the big players like Y Combinator are investing in this space, there is more to it than just being another trend or buzzword.
Do you have a business idea and lack programming skills? No-code might help you launch something and all you need is time and possibly a little money to do it. Weâre fast reaching a point in society where the barrier to entry to launch an idea is so low, even non-technical grandma can launch a store.
If youâre a developer, donât be concerned. No-code like other skills involving proprietary platforms and tools with just be another skill you can add to a resume. Hello there, future Lead No-code Engineer.