Low-code and no-code (LCNC), which are promised to help businesses build faster, smarter and more approachable using a click-to-point configuration, are estimated to reach $30 billion in 2028 by Forrester.
With tech giants such as Microsoft released Power Apps and Google acquired AppSheet, the race to LCNC adoption is more heated than ever.
But this isn’t the land for only SMEs and enterprises. Startups with limited budgets have also taken advantage of LCNC to boost their product development. Let’s see what it can bring.
1. Faster speed-to-market
Speed and agility are the priorities of every startup. Yet traditional development is usually lengthy and requires a large team to maintain. This is when LCNC comes in clutch.
A report has shown that LCNC can speed up 50 to 90% of development time thanks to its pre-built templates and code blocks. By dragging and dropping elements into places, you get an overview of your UI/UX, how data is being processed, and how all the features are connected.
“This speed allows startups to rapidly prototype and roll out a functional MVP in a few short weeks. As time is crucial, you would want to reduce your time-to-market as much as possible.”, Phan Pham, CTO of Synodus, a leading software development company in LCNC adoption.
2. Low-cost and effective product validation
Product development needs tons of investment. During the early stage when resources are limited, most startups wouldn’t throw it away without validating their ideas first.
With its subscription-based model, LCNC offers a cost-effective way to build, test, and iterate.
Teal, a job search platform that successfully secured $11 million from investors, used a set of LCNC platforms including Bubble, Airtable, and Zapier to optimize their iteration cycles.
The founder, David Fano, stated that: “LCNC is our DNA from the beginning. Traditional mockups are amazing, but they don’t help us validate. Meanwhile LCNC gives us more control over design, since we can make change faster as each feedback comes forward.”
Bloom, a learning platform for college-level students, gather 3000 users after their first launch with LCNC. With this market validation, the team soon got $112M total in funding to scale their MVP.
3. Approachable to non-tech founders
Low-code and no-code are not only praised for their speed and cost-saving approach, but also for being approachable to non-tech. As its name implies, the technologies don’t require any coding knowledge to use.
Charles Thomas, the non-technical founder of Comet, built his freelancing marketplace with LCNC. He was surprised at how easy it was and how it helped him set a $14 million raise in series A.
“Low-code development creates an exciting dynamic by exposing non-tech professionals to IT practices to address pain points quickly and creatively.” Jacqui Canney, Chief People Officer of ServiceNow. For this, non-tech founders can take a more active role during product development and validation.
4. LCNC isn’t only for MVP, it can be a part of your final product.
While LCNC might fall behind in dealing with high-level requirements and complex applications, it doesn’t mean they can’t help setting up the foundation.
Most LCNC platforms can be integrated with other development tools, helping you enrich and scale your MVP into full-fledged products. LCNC shouldn’t be treated as a one-time-only MVP development tools.
“More startups are asking us to bring LCNC into their large tech stack. During the early stage, if they want to build fast and iterate instantly, then this is the most feasible approach. Some of our clients have saved up to 63% of development costs with LCNC”, Mr Cong Nguyen, CEO of Synodus, added.
“However, there are certain concerns on security and vendor lock-in. But if you use LCNC during the early stage, it can easily be dealt with. The challenge is much riskier if you think of LCNC mid-development"
The takeaway
Using low-code and no-code at the early stage of product development can bring great results for startups, as proven by statistics and real-life case study. Many startups have succeeded in using this approach, not just in calling for investors or launching the products, but also in development speed, cost-saving, and market validation.