Turning the cube

After running three months of beta testing, I decided to stop working on Tailor. It was an incredibly tough decision. But it was full of learnings and surprises. I am very grateful for all the support from the On Deck community and my family. Though I might give another shot in the near future, I will work on something else next.

No-code app builder is up-and-coming and in very high demand. I have no doubt it keeps growing, and people don’t know how big it will be. I love what Bubble and Glide are doing and to me, they are on the right path. But also, they still have a long way to go.

To be successful as a no-code app builder, two things need to meet.

1. Easiness of the tools for the users to build an app.
2. Technical understanding of the people who make an app.

Today, both of them are not where they need to be. Tools are still immature and unintuitive. Users need more support or are more educated to use them.

People often jump in with an assumption that it will be like using Webflow. But building an app is a whole different game from building a website. You might be surprised and excited when first see the showcases people built with no-code tools. You can indeed build those complex apps without coding. It is amazing. But, it is very tricky for people who signed up, especially without a technical background. One of the premises of no code is to let you avoid learning to code. If it takes a few months to understand the tool, it is bad enough to make people hesitate to invest their time. I am sure it is a matter of time and someone will get there. But I thought it’s not a right timing for me.

What I am going to work on next is not a no-code app builder. But there will be an intersection of ideas based on my learnings working on the concept. Every company has a cube and chooses which side should surface to the world. I will prioritize another surface to prove my thesis.