No Code Founders 2.0 is here!
Modern Makers - 04/10/2020
Modern Makers is a weekly newsletter where I share with you a selection of the best available content about no-code and productivity tools. I hope this content will help you grow your business, launch your project or succeed in your career.
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Hi makers,
This week in the agenda:
⌨ A new version for No Code Founders, the community for all no-code entrepreneurs
📅 Zero Code Conference 2020 starts this week, you still have time to grab your tickets
🎙️ A podcast episode with Airtable’s CEO
Enjoy!
A rather quiet week in terms of news, product updates and projects. Possibly the quietest week since the creation of this newsletter last May. As a result, I decided to add a new monthly section that summarises in a very succinct way the major news of the previous month. So you will find below in this newsletter a summary of the latest editions of Modern Makers of September. Let’s give it a try :)
📚 Readings
This week I read The Alchemist, a book written by the Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho, which was published in 1988 and has since become a true world best seller (more than 150 million copies sold). So it was time for me to read this literary classic.
The Alchemist is the story of a young Spaniard, Santiago, who was destined to become a priest but preferred to become a shepherd. A dream revealing the presence of a treasure near the Pyramids will lead him to begin an incredible journey where the encounters will be as numerous as they are rich. Especially when he meets the alchemist in an oasis in the middle of the desert, a character who will play a major role in the pursuit of Santiago's personal legend.
The message that the author wants to convey to us is very clear: we are all bearers of a personal legend, and it is up to each of us to decide whether or not to believe in his dreams and listen to his heart.
It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting
Nevertheless, as our lives progress, we tend to forget our childhood dreams and accept life as it is.
It’s this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie.
Some people even accept to give up their dreams for fear of being disappointed in the end once this goal has been reached.
“You dream about your sheep and the Pyramids, but you’re different from me, because you want to realize your dreams. I just want to dream about Mecca. I’ve already imagined a thousand times crossing the desert, arriving at the Plaza of the Sacred Stone, the seven times I walk around it before allowing myself to touch it. I’ve already imagined the people who would be at my side, and those in front of me, and the conversations and prayers we would share. But I’m afraid that it would all be a disappointment, so I prefer just to dream about it.”
“Then you’ll die in the midst of trying to realize your Personal Legend. That’s a lot better than dying like millions of other people, who never even knew what their Personal Legends were.
Among the other contents that I particularly enjoyed this week:
🍿 The Social Dilemma - Netflix - a new documentary on Netflix. Several former employees of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and co present the dangers represented by these platforms and how their algorithms succeed in creating a real addiction among users. The spread of fake news is also part of the criticisms addressed to these platforms. Personally, I have long since uninstalled Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn on my iPhone and I force myself to connect/reconnect from my computer in order to reduce the temptation. On the other hand, I still find it really hard to cut myself off from Twitter and emails (especially considering the number of newsletters I am subscribed to :)). Facebook has already published an official statement entitled “What ‘The Social Dilemma’ Gets Wrong”.
🎙️ Morgan Housel on the Psychology of Money - The Pomp Podcast - an interview with Morgan Housel who published a few weeks ago his book entitled The Psychology of Money that I am currently reading (thanks Vincent for the recommendation)
How to end impostor syndrome (once and for all) by Khe Hy - some advices to try to limit as well as possible the famous impostor syndrome
⌨ Project
No Code Founders just introduced its version 2.0 after several months in BETA version. This project launched by Joshua Tiernan presents itself as the leading community for all no-code entrepreneurs and makers. Among other things, No Code Founders includes:
a Slack group with more than 2,000 members
perks & discounts for your subscriptions to no-code tools such as Bubble, Adalo or Airtable
a platform (built on Bubble) that allows to discover the startups of the community and to see the no-code tools they use
the latest news around no-code tools
interviews
meetups
job postings
The platform offers a freemium model with a lifetime subscription that gives access to all features. Currently available for $99.
⌛ What happened in September?
So I'm inaugurating this new section which, at the beginning of each month, will offer a summary of the most important news, announcements and projects from the previous month. Here is the summary for the month of September:
Glide has updated its pricing plans
Bubble announced the launch of Immerse, its no-code accelerator to support projects developed by Black & Afro-Latinx founders
Zapier is now available in Microsoft Teams where you can now create and edit your Zaps
Ben Tossell of Makerpad launched his own investment fund, an index fund for no-code/low-code companies
Israeli startup Anima announced a $2.5M Seed Round
A Slack plugin is now available on Bubble’s marketplace
Airtable raised $185M and launched Airtable Automations, Airtable Sync and Airtable Apps
Roam Research announced this week a $9M Seed Round
The second Demo Day of 100DaysOfNoCode will take place on December 3rd
Backlinks are now available on Notion
Google is accelerating on no-code/low-code and has announced the launch of the Business Application Platform
IFTTT launched its PRO plan
A new version of Stripe Checkout has been launched
Google takes on Airtable with Tables
Tally is a new form builder tool
Notion published a collection of guides and tutorials
Parabola can now retrieve datas from Facebook Ads
Do you find this new section helpful? Does it provide value to you?
📅 Events
I told you about the Zero Code Conference 2020 a few weeks ago. As a reminder, this conference organized by Zeroqode will be held over two days this week, Wednesday October 7th and Thursday October 8th.
This event wants to allow as many people as possible to discover how it is possible to create a business without knowing how to code. You will have the opportunity to hear feedback from multiple entrepreneurs to better understand how they have been able to launch their business thanks to no-code tools. Speaker list includes:
Emmanuel Straschnov, Co-CEO, Co-Founder @ Bubble
Mark Magnuson, Founder @ Bildr
Samantha Lloyd, Co-Founder & CEO @ Metaranx
Tomas Wiesner, Head of Partner Program and Enterprise Solution @ Integromat
🎙️ Podcast
Station F, the world's largest startup campus, created by french billionaire Xavier Niel and managed by Roxanne Varza, welcomed on its podcast Howie Liu, co-founder and CEO of Airtable.
In this interview, Howie discusses his entrepreneurial journey that began with the creation of Etacts, a CRM tool that was later acquired by Salesforce. Howie then explains the genesis of Airtable and his vision for it as a company that truly wants to democratize the creation of software and applications.
📦 In other news
Adalo now offers an annual subscription, allowing you to save 20% and get a PRO plan for $39 per month instead of $50
One of the participants of the T30 Challenge organized by Makerpad recreated Zelda with Bubble
Integromat is now available within Aircall’s marketplace
Notion Everything is a collection of templates and tools to enhance your experience on Notion
Code with voice. With Serenade, you can write code using natural speech
The multi-page feature is coming soon on Dorik
That’s all for this week. If you like the content, don't hesitate to share it with your friends or colleagues.
I also invite you to send me your feedback on this content by leaving a comment below.
Have a great week,
Martin,