The Story
David Brusser built Formula Bot (formerly Excel Formula Bot), an AI app now valued at over $1 million - all with no code. He built it while working a full-time job, with a family, working just a couple hours a day. The app helps people work faster with data through AI-powered spreadsheet tools.
David had a full-time job since graduating college in 2011 and always had an entrepreneurial itch. In July 2022, his youngest was about to be born, giving him 6 weeks of paternity leave. He decided to build something.
His problem: Junior analysts constantly knocked on his door asking for Excel formula help. He asked OpenAI's API for app name suggestions, checked GoDaddy, found "Excel Formula Bot" available, and couldn't find any competitors. He built the entire MVP in just a couple weeks using Bubble.io - no coding required.
Key Insights
The Product Suite
- •AI in Spreadsheets: ChatGPT inside Excel and Google Sheets
- •Formula Generators: Translates text into formulas with AI
- •Data Analyzer: Upload data, get answers/analysis/charts through natural language
Stats
- •~750,000 users
- •~5,000 paying customers
- •$26K monthly recurring revenue
- •Built in ~2 weeks
The No-Code Journey
- •Used Bubble.io as the main platform
- •Learned through YouTube tutorials and official documentation
- •"If you were to code it, it would take much longer"
- •App was 100% no-code until 4-5 months ago (now 5-10% code)
The Viral Launch
- •First users: Coworkers at his full-time job
- •Posted on Reddit's Excel subreddit: "AI Excel Formula Generator" (free)
- •Became top post of the day, then week
- •Someone suggested posting to "Internet is Beautiful" subreddit
- •Got 10,000+ upvotes, thousands of comments, went viral for months
The $5,000 Crisis
- •Viral success = massive OpenAI API costs
- •Blew through $5,000 in days
- •Decision: Shut down or keep going?
- •Put up a Stripe donation link, made a few thousand back
- •Ran a beta ad for ESPN's Excel competition
- •Eventually launched with paywall and logins
Competing with Microsoft & ChatGPT
- •Microsoft reached out twice (Cease & Desist + Add-on partnership)
- •Realized Microsoft would eventually build this into Office
- •ChatGPT is free and unlimited
- •Early advantage: Convenience (don't leave spreadsheet) + Customization (language preferences)
- •New strategy: Build features that can't be replicated in ChatGPT or Microsoft
Customer Development
- •Would help users with their Excel files for free - but only on a phone call
- •Used those calls to ask what they liked/disliked about the product
- •"The culmination of scratching my own itch, leaning on my network, and impromptu phone calls revolutionized the product"
Key Advice
"Scratch your own itch - solve your own problem. The power of no-code is that what took me a couple weeks would have taken months with traditional coding. When you're starting, you don't know what you don't know. The best way to learn is to talk to people who know what you don't."