Building a product is often the most challenging part of building a startup. That’s why lots of founders want to rid themselves of it by outsourcing this to other companies. And there’s nothing wrong with that if you’ve got the time and the money. Dev shops are great in terms of experience having built hundreds of similar or even identical projects from scratch, they know what you’re coming for. It also means that Is there this kind of technology? The short answer is no. The better answer is we’re building it right this second. Let’s first dive into the available options there are. This is for complicated projects when you’ve really got something robust going on and can’t find other sustainable solutions in the long run. But if your thing pretty much copies another idea (and there’s nothing wrong with that, the best ideas are stolen) then it’s not necessary at all. So, if you’re pitching a “next Uber/Instagram/Airbnb/…” or anything else you’re going to replicate to your investors, don’t ask for 250$k for development, Believe it or not, developers can write less code and get the same results. Why is your dev shop not interested in that? You guessed it, they can’t charge you as much. It’s as simple as that. If you’re a tech founder it’s the perfect one for you, though. Learn how a low-code platform works, or two. Low-code platforms: , , , No-code is the easiest and the fastest alternative to them all. Or, at least, that’s what the belief is. Sure, you can use drag-and-drop solutions for your early versions/prototypes/MVP but if you need something a little more sophisticated then the learning curve is fairly steep. Have you noticed that there are actually not so many Webflow developers? I mean, good Webflow developers. While no-code is sustainable for the idea validation stage and maybe a little bit further along, it won’t carry you through the rapid growth stage. And you’ll eventually have to scratch all your beautiful work and go to custom code. No-code platforms: , , , If you’re selling something online, there’s Shopify, Gumroad, WooCommerce, and even Wix. All you need is a few hours away from Netflix and you have an online business. And these are great at what they do. They are limited but you get enough features to get you going, you’re supported, safe, and pretty much self-explanatory. Platforms: , , , Or white label, if you will. Building a taxi app? There’s probably something on the market, buy it, stick your brand name on it and you’re good to go. Will it give you the freedom to grow and add innovative ideas? Probably not. Will it still be fine if your competitive advantage is exceptional service or a unique business model? Yes. with the right technology at hand, they’d be able to reuse parts or even projects almost to the “T” for other projects. 1. Custom code you can do it way cheaper. 2. Low-code It’ll make you way more efficient and give you all the control over your project. Caspio Retool Creatio OutSystems 3. No-code Because you’ve got to learn a lot. A LOT. And then once you’ve learned it all, you hit the ceiling. XPODA Bubble Lansa Airtable 4. Platforms You just need to play by their rules. Shopify Gumroad WooCommerce Wix 5. Out of the box Out of the box: , Twilio Cyclr 6. Mars Choosing among the above options might not be an easy task. Especially if you are a first-time startup maker. But fear not! There is a tool that combines the benefits of all the previous items – Mars. Mars is an open-source platform for making web and mobile apps. It gives you flexibility on demand. You get access to the custom code only when you want to implement a specific feature. As for the regular functionalities, such as login page, payments, cart, dropdown menu, footer, photo galleries, and profile page, you can plug them into your startup with little-to-zero coding knowledge. This makes Mars the perfect tool for making MVP: you are building fast most of the time, and you go to custom code only to make unique changes. You’re saving time but you’re not trading anything away for that. However, there is a disadvantage to using the platform. It is a new technology and it lacks good documentation. The learning curve may be a little steep, especially for a complete beginner. But once you get used to Mars, you will be able to build complex applications such as Airbnb, UBER, and Instagram amazingly easily. The tool: . Mars

Maker

AirBnB

Caspio

Instagram

Netflix

Twilio

Uber

How Smart Developers Will Become Rich in 2023

Read My Stories

Too Long; Didn't Read

CTA: Download the FREE AI Productivity Shift report

Low-code vs No-code: Selecting the Best Stack For Your Startup

Low-code vs No-code: Selecting the Best Stack For Your Startup

About Author

Comments

TOPICS

THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN

Related Stories

Untitled Story

7 SaaS Trends to watch out for in 2023

10 Strategic Technology Trends Businesses Should Plan for in 2021

130 Stories To Learn About Low Code

3 Types of Low-Code Development Platform That Every CIO Should Know About

5 Best Low-Code Development Platforms in 2022

7 SaaS Trends to watch out for in 2023

10 Strategic Technology Trends Businesses Should Plan for in 2021

130 Stories To Learn About Low Code

3 Types of Low-Code Development Platform That Every CIO Should Know About

5 Best Low-Code Development Platforms in 2022

Light-Mode

Classic

Newspaper

Dark-Mode

Neon Noir

Minty

HN StartUps