A filmmaker built a SaaS product with no-code and sold it for $15k

Katt here 👋

In No-Code Exits I share every week a success story of a non-technical founder.

In the no-code success story this week you will learn about how a film maker became a leading no-code expert. Learn how he went from:

1. Paying a software engineer $50k to build his idea

2. Securing $270K in extra funding (because 50k wasn't sufficient)

3. Not being able to pay the software engineer bills

4. Looking for solutions and discovering no-code (which changed everything)

From Hollywood to Startup

Once upon a time, there was a young dreamer in upstate New York named JJ Englert. JJ had one big dream: he wanted to become a filmmaker. But in his small town, dreams like that were rare, no one around him had ever pursued such a path. And there was another hurdle. JJ’s grades weren’t very good.

His parents advised him to first aim for college. Accepting this challenge, JJ made a plan: he would attend a community college in California (already closer to the heart of the film industry) to boost his academic performance, and then, hopefully, gain entry into a prestigious film school.

To fund this move, JJ spent a summer working as a commercial roofer. With the money saved, he moved to California. The initial days were tough. He knew no one and waited in an empty apartment for his roommates to arrive. Once school started, JJ’s life changed. In just a year, he transformed from a newcomer to the student body president of the college and he aced his courses.

Upon graduation, JJ had the privilege of choosing between USC and another renowned film school, Chapman. Opting for Chapman, he immersed himself in the world of filmmaking. After graduation, JJ established his indie production company and spent 5 years producing music videos, commercials, and feature films.

In 2017, a new idea sparked in JJ’s mind. For his production company he was hiring 300 filmmakers a year. Every time, it was a difficult and time-consuming process. So he came up with the idea for his first tech startup. Industry Jump, a hiring platform for filmmakers where producers can go on and hire film crew for their productions.

The $50k MVP

As JJ had no idea about technology , he searched through his network to find a developer to build his idea. The developer quoted around $50,000 for the MVP of a two-sided marketplace. JJ scraped together the amount. He assumed that this initial investment would be enough. And that customers would line up to spent their money once the product was live. Well, that was a wrong assumption.

That initial investment resulted, after a few months, in a simple signup page, a profile page and a settings page. It was definitely not enough, it was just the start. Convinced of the potential of his project, JJ sought further investment. He leveraged connections from his university, and received guidance to navigate the angel investment circuit in Los Angeles. Like that he secured $270,000 for his venture.

Finally, after a year, the MVP was launched. It consisted of a very basic sign-in, sign-up, and profile creation page with reviews. Users could find others using a simple search and then message those people.

By 2019, his platform had grown to 5,000 users thanks to tapping into his existing contacts from the film industry, along with utilizing influencer, marketing and social media. But it struggled with a classic marketplace dilemma: an imbalance between supply and demand and it wasn’t making enough money to cover the bills.

Take Two

Faced with dwindling funds, he could either learn to code himself or shut down the project. Doubting his ability to learn coding, JJ stumbled upon an advertisement for Bubble.io. Intrigued, he started with a Udemy course. He was amazed that even as a beginner, he could do things that with his previous developer were always too time-consuming (so expensive), like social sign up integration.

Inspired by this, JJ started a journey of intense learning and building. During those 6 months he built a new platform, named Jump Studios. It was a SaaS suite tailored for filmmakers, with invoicing, contracts, media review, and delivery — all seamlessly integrated.

The launch of Jump Studios marked a turning point. JJ used his existing network of 5,000 users and his social media following to market this new product. While Industry Jump had struggled to generate revenue, Jump Studios began making money almost immediately. Within the first month, they had onboarded around ten companies, each paying a monthly subscription, and attracted about 50 individuals to sign up for a lifetime deal. This surge in early adoption translated into a revenue of around $10,000.

This marked the first time JJ was actually earning from his software efforts. Balancing his life as a digital marketing strategist by day and a founder by night, JJ continued to develop his startup.

Acquisition

About a year in, Jump Studios was somewhat self-sustaining. The monthly recurring revenue was modest (around $200). JJ realised his fascination was more with building features than marketing the product. It was time to sell the company to focus on new ventures. He listed Jump Studios on Acquire. Despite initial offers around $30,000, JJ eventually sold the company for $15,000.

Interestingly, for the buyer the tech was not the priority when doing due diligence on the product. The business side was more important. Only in a later stage, the buyer learned more about No-Code and recognized the advantages: lower maintenance cost, a faster shipping time and very easy to transfer.

Fail fast

Through this whole journey from funding to bootstrapping and from code to no-code, JJ learned crucial lessons.

• The importance of creating revenue-driven and sustainable businesses that are not dependent on external funding.
• To start small to test your ideas. This approach reduces risk and allows for quick adaptation based on feedback and market response.

“Get in there earlier. Get products out as soon as possible. Don’t delay feedback from the market.”

And some final words of advice from JJ on learning Bubble. Don’t wait until ‘the time is right’ (yup, that is me 🙋‍♀️). Start with watching some Bubble tutorials for a few hours. If it excites you, commit to learning and practicing each week. While Bubble is a no-code tool, it’s still similar to learning a new language and takes time. But you’ll unlock superpowers in you that you never knew you had.

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