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How Bubble bootstrapped a visual programming tool for non-coders to $100k/mo

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Re: How Bubble bootstrapped a visual programming tool for non-coders to $100k/mo

#11

Post by fiatjaf »

pmontra wrote: post #5

I watched the demo video. It looks like what the Visual Basic form builder was for Windows programming in the 90s. However it will be difficult for non programmers. The very first dialog about Google Maps has menus "API provider" and "Query". I wonder how many non programmers know what they are. They can take a guess and learn but maybe this is still too low level. The second example is about building a login form by…

I've seen people that used Excel every day for decades and didn't know there was something like the '=' that displayed the contents of one cell on another.

They used it just for the tabular form.

But I agree with you on everything.

Re: How Bubble bootstrapped a visual programming tool for non-coders to $100k/mo

#12

Post by chiefalchemist »

pmontra wrote: post #5

I watched the demo video. It looks like what the Visual Basic form builder was for Windows programming in the 90s. However it will be difficult for non programmers. The very first dialog about Google Maps has menus "API provider" and "Query". I wonder how many non programmers know what they are. They can take a guess and learn but maybe this is still too low level. The second example is about building a login form by…

I agree.

But while not "F U money" $100k p/m is enough to say: Well someone must be using it then.

Perhaps, in the Hooked sense, the somewhat diffcult learning curve helps to increase long term retention?

Re: How Bubble bootstrapped a visual programming tool for non-coders to $100k/mo

#13

Post by zitterbewegung »

pmontra wrote: post #5

I watched the demo video. It looks like what the Visual Basic form builder was for Windows programming in the 90s. However it will be difficult for non programmers. The very first dialog about Google Maps has menus "API provider" and "Query". I wonder how many non programmers know what they are. They can take a guess and learn but maybe this is still too low level. The second example is about building a login form by…

Maybe http://anvil.works would be better ? Going through the tutorials they have an intuitive interface.

Re: How Bubble bootstrapped a visual programming tool for non-coders to $100k/mo

#14

Post by Kiro »

pmontra wrote: post #5

I watched the demo video. It looks like what the Visual Basic form builder was for Windows programming in the 90s. However it will be difficult for non programmers. The very first dialog about Google Maps has menus "API provider" and "Query". I wonder how many non programmers know what they are. They can take a guess and learn but maybe this is still too low level. The second example is about building a login form by…

Your comment sounds like something straight out of a Show HN, not a thread about a 5 year old service with 100,000 users and $100k in monthly revenues.

There's obviously a big demand for this so either you're wrong or people using it are actually programmers.

Re: How Bubble bootstrapped a visual programming tool for non-coders to $100k/mo

#15

Post by onion2k »

pmontra wrote: post #5

I watched the demo video. It looks like what the Visual Basic form builder was for Windows programming in the 90s. However it will be difficult for non programmers. The very first dialog about Google Maps has menus "API provider" and "Query". I wonder how many non programmers know what they are. They can take a guess and learn but maybe this is still too low level. The second example is about building a login form by…

Programming isn't a mystical art that only a few wizards can learn. Millions of people write software to help themselves do their job in things like Applescript, VBA, Google Forms, etc every day. You don't need to have the title "developer" to understand and write code, even if the actual "code" itself is a few layers of abstraction away.

Re: How Bubble bootstrapped a visual programming tool for non-coders to $100k/mo

#16

Post by verletx64 »

Kiro wrote: post #14
pmontra wrote: post #5

I watched the demo video. It looks like what the Visual Basic form builder was for Windows programming in the 90s. However it will be difficult for non programmers. The very first dialog about Google Maps has menus "API provider" and "Query". I wonder how many non programmers know what they are. They can take a guess and learn but maybe this is still too low level. The second example is about building a login form by…

Your comment sounds like something straight out of a Show HN, not a thread about a 5 year old service with 100,000 users and $100k in monthly revenues. There's obviously a big demand for this so either you're wrong or people using it are actually programmers.

> people using it are actually programmers

Kind of wouldn't surprise me if the user numbers had a decent sized (probably not majority) programmer contingent; these kinds of services are a good way to get a quick prototype out, before you legit build something.

Re: How Bubble bootstrapped a visual programming tool for non-coders to $100k/mo

#18

Post by threatofrain »

Kiro wrote: post #14
pmontra wrote: post #5

I watched the demo video. It looks like what the Visual Basic form builder was for Windows programming in the 90s. However it will be difficult for non programmers. The very first dialog about Google Maps has menus "API provider" and "Query". I wonder how many non programmers know what they are. They can take a guess and learn but maybe this is still too low level. The second example is about building a login form by…

Your comment sounds like something straight out of a Show HN, not a thread about a 5 year old service with 100,000 users and $100k in monthly revenues. There's obviously a big demand for this so either you're wrong or people using it are actually programmers.

I can imagine that this does appeal to programmers as I imagine some companies have already built internal tools to the same affect for rapid prototyping.

Re: How Bubble bootstrapped a visual programming tool for non-coders to $100k/mo

#19

Post by rjzzleep »

Kiro wrote: post #14
pmontra wrote: post #5

I watched the demo video. It looks like what the Visual Basic form builder was for Windows programming in the 90s. However it will be difficult for non programmers. The very first dialog about Google Maps has menus "API provider" and "Query". I wonder how many non programmers know what they are. They can take a guess and learn but maybe this is still too low level. The second example is about building a login form by…

Your comment sounds like something straight out of a Show HN, not a thread about a 5 year old service with 100,000 users and $100k in monthly revenues. There's obviously a big demand for this so either you're wrong or people using it are actually programmers.

I just took a quick look at it and GP has a simple misunderstanding here. When they say you don't have to be a coder that doesn't mean the target market is my girlfriend who has no interest in this whatsoever(she's a doctor).

The target market is those people that sit in places like the AWS loft or places like that, listen to tech talks and wish they had a coder to build their ideas for free.

Most of them already know what an API is. Even if you don't use the external data sources, what bubble provides is somewhat enough to win hackathons and get funding provided you can present and sell.

I've seen a bunch of traders, business people and otherwise people with random ideas that fit in that group. So yes, not at all surprised they make that much money.

Re: How Bubble bootstrapped a visual programming tool for non-coders to $100k/mo

#20

Post by flogic »

Kiro wrote: post #14
pmontra wrote: post #5

I watched the demo video. It looks like what the Visual Basic form builder was for Windows programming in the 90s. However it will be difficult for non programmers. The very first dialog about Google Maps has menus "API provider" and "Query". I wonder how many non programmers know what they are. They can take a guess and learn but maybe this is still too low level. The second example is about building a login form by…

Your comment sounds like something straight out of a Show HN, not a thread about a 5 year old service with 100,000 users and $100k in monthly revenues. There's obviously a big demand for this so either you're wrong or people using it are actually programmers.

At what point do you call someone a programmer? They seem to be using "knowing how to code in a traditional programming language". However, I would not use that definition. Most of what we do though is thinking about a problem and how that relates to what computers do. My take would be that everyone actually using this tool either is a programmer or by the nature of what they're doing soon will be.
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