Learnings from making 100 apps a year

As we get closer to the end of the year, and after having the opportunity to work on 90+ apps just this year, I wanted to share some insights and learnings of our journey at lowcode.agency

This year, we’ve worked with big companies like Coca-Cola, Zapier, etc. We closed projects with several Fortune 500 companies, but our bread and butter is still internal apps for businesses and MVPs.

Here are some thoughts:

  1. no code and low code are great and have come a long way. There are now tools that let you build very complex apps without having to write any code. But great products do end up with some code. I’m very excited about AI meeting no/low code in the next few months/years. It will close the gap and allow more and more people to build software.

  2. No-code and low-code tools are also easy to use and let people who don’t know how to code make software without having to learn how to code. However, I’ve seen that most great products are still made by experts, like us at the agency or freelancers. There’s a learning curve. If you want to become really good or build a great product, you’ll still have to invest time. A lot. (You no longer have to get a CS degree, though.) Just as an example, we don’t hire anyone at LowCode who hasn’t spent at least 150 hours with Glide.

  3. The owners of the app or software can now take over and maintain it without having to hire an engineer or engineers. I think this is where the value of “no code” or “low code” is right now. Most of the time, you’ll still need to hire someone to build an amazing project, but you’ll be able to keep it going. There are no complicated pricing structures (like AWS), and for a flat monthly fee, you can grow your project, add customers, employees, etc. Just as an example, the Ellen Degeneres show just moved their website to Webflow. Their previous tech stack cost them over a million a year and it was a mess to modify. What I’m trying to say is, if you’re selling apps, don’t negotiate your price, but sell your client the piece of mind of them having full control and an easy to read invoice from Glide at the end of the month. If you’re a business owner, know your expenses and keep control of your tech stack with nocode. Easy win.

  4. I say this all the time, but the biggest challenge isn’t getting your app built, it’s getting people to use it.
    Forget about user limitation and row quota. That’s not your problem with 99% of projects. Get 1k users or 100 clients, and then figure out the next step. We’ve built 271 apps and have only seen one client outgrow Glide.

  5. I wish that all of our clients started with a bare-bones MVP instead of adding too many features to their app before launching. I see SO MANY PROJECTS where the founder builds too much based on THEIR IDEA instead of what users want. If you’re trying to get your MVP out there, you should only focus on one thing. Your app should be the one that everyone uses to do/get/see X. Don’t over complicate it.

  6. Use tools like make.com and Zapier. It’ll make your apps 100x more powerful than a stand alone piece of tech.

Hope you find it useful. Let me know what you think!

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Great story and great findings! Congratulations on your great work. Really inspiring to follow.

Two things to add from my own experience.

  • I think you CAN make great Glide apps without code. If a great app is an app with a happy client and happy users, that is. It all depends on what is necessary for a goal. I have never used code.
  • I find it risky handing over a Glide environment to clients without Glide experience. Once in the admin environment they can do a lot of harm when they don’t know what they are doing.
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  1. Yes, that’s a fair point. But I’m so amazed when we can integrate some code or a more technical solution to a Glideapp. Recently @Mark saw a page that we built where we integrated Mapbox API and he even said “wow” :sweat_smile:
  2. Yes and no. Imagine handling the keys to a non technical person of a cpanel Linux hosting… I’d rather have them try their hand with Glide. But I agree, our goal is that even the app owner never needs to go into the Glide builder and we’ll build the admin dashboard in the app itself.
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YES!!!

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Thanks for sharing your experience.

Point 4 & 5 are absolutely :100:

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You can imagine frustrating hours dealing with that specific point. Some people want to add 100+ features to their MVP.

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Was going to say exactly the same thing.

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And then their clients find them confusing, overwhelming or not providing enough value.
Focus, focus, focus!

Yep… Clients want to show everything and give maximum options… but the smart developer knows how to replace options with AI, and design UI that will show more by showing less :wink:

I started with that premise and it’s really valueable. Then as I added users I got so many ideas from them.

To your other point that it’s hard to find users that continue to use the system, I Found that to create a Spectacular opening UI, like home page that draws out highlights, temting the user to explore deeper (and find ‘bugs’)

Yes, I completely agree. We usually build the marketing website in webflow in order to make it look spectacular and drive some traffic into the app.

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Amazing work @eltintero and very good points.

4 and 5 are not specific to no-code, by the way - they hold true in all of software development.

I’m curious about a few more things:

  • How much of your total time for a client goes into the actual building of the app, vs exploration, planning, speccing, …?
  • What percentage of clients walk away satisfied, and what are the most common causes of dissatisfaction?
  • Of those clients that actually succeed with their app, how many keep working with you to improve/extend/scale/… the app?
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Great post and points, Jesus!

Almost all the building I do is proof-of-concept but could also be considered an MVP. I think it’s critical to start with an MVP as it is so easy to build out further with Glide. For me, I also try my best to make the build as simple to understand as well so the client can look at it and understand.

Also, totally agree that it’s best to get your app built by an expert first and then either iterate or plan with the expert for v2.0.

Thanks for sharing your thought, Jesus. Really great!

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We front Lution have built a considering amount of apps and software this year and super agree with all this points. Happy to one day I was part of it @eltintero and be happier to see your agency growing too! Great tips and insights!

Let’s close this cycle and start a new one with more projects, learnings and clarity for 2023 for all of us :pray::sparkles:

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Jesus, I am truly thankful for sharing your expertise and experiences with us. Your input is not only useful and informative, but also motivating. It encourages us to continue learning and striving for excellence.

The field of NoCode/LowCode is constantly evolving, which can make it difficult to stay up-to-date with the latest developments and trends. That’s why having access to expert guidance like you is so valuable. Your knowledge and insights help us navigate the complex and rapidly changing world of technology and make informed decisions about our own careers and pursuits.

Additionally, we now have access to AI tools like “chatgpt” that can greatly enhance our ability to learn and grow. These AI assistants are not only efficient and fast, but they can also help us access a wealth of knowledge and information that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to obtain. By combining the expertise of “eltintero” with the capabilities of AI assistants like “chatgpt”, we can optimize our potential and achieve great things.

In conclusion, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Jesus for their valuable contributions and insights. Your career and experiences are an inspiration to us all, and we look forward to learning more from them in the future. :grin: :grin:

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  1. Depends on the app. I’d rather invest more in scoping than building, since we can be more competitive that way. Most apps would be 60/40 but super complex apps maybe 40/60.
  2. We have a 4.9/5 score, so pretty much everyone ends up happy. The ones who haven’t its usually related to the fact that we weren’t clear or they didn’t understand Glides limitations. They were expecting that Glide could do everything and anything in terms of design, integrations, etc.
  3. The ones that actually succeed always keep working with us, unless they get the resources and needs to rebuild in a different tech stack.
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Because of the way all that code looks, no one without knowledge dares to touch it :wink:

Yes, I wholeheartedly agree with this. I do some coding in my daily job, and coming from a non-IT background, it’s quite valuable to have something like ChatGPT. I can understand more on how to write efficient code and why I have to code it like that.

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