Interview with the founder of NoCodery

Last week we interviewed Gonçalo Henriques aka @gonelf at Indie Worldwide.

Gonçalo is a Portuguese Indie Hacker and the founder of NoCodery (https://nocodery.com/), a no-code job board and learning platform.

Below is a write-up of the first half of that interview, you can watch the whole thing here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqM7Pdr-Re4

What is NoCodery?

A platform to learn no-code skills and also a job board.

You can both learn new skills there and monetize those skills.

Is NoCodery built in No-Code?

No, originally built in Bubble but my co-founder and I both know code already. Switching to code was a good decision for us because it gave us a lot of room to build out custom ideas.

Was that an intentional decision?

It was a matter of convenience. The first version was no-code using Airtable and Zapier, after that we needed customizations and bots and wanted to use an HTML template we already had, so it was easier for us to just create the backend we needed. Don't regret it.

The very first version was just the job board, just a list.

Did people pay from day one?

Yes, we got clients before we launched. I started pitching different no-code tools to advertise on NoCodery before we launched by reaching out to them on Twitter and testing different price points. I'd find a marketing person at the company or the founder and sent them a DM and asked for $300 for a year of premium. The first few people said no to $300 so I decreased the price I said to each new person I reached out to until I started to get yes's at $150. Done, from there the price was $150.

If the first price you try is getting easy yes's then your price is too low. Next time try doubling it and see what happens.

Was it an easy yes at that point?

At $150 it wasn't an immediate yes, but they were interested and asked what they'd get for that price.

How did you launch NoCodery?

On my own Twitter where I already had 10,000 (now 20,000) followers, then in the Product Hunt Community, not on the main launch page, but in the community space where people discuss what they're working on. It's a good place to test ideas out that aren't ready for a full launch yet.

How did you build your Twitter following? That's already a big leg up!

Yes it is haha. A lot of years on that. I first learned how Twitter worked when I did a startup that went through YC 6 years ago. It's a giant worldwide party where you can introduce yourself to anyone and ask questions of anyone. You need not be shy, be the outgoing person.

Don't ask for retweets or likes, just be someone who participates in that huge party. Be polite, don't be a troll.

Go around and follow people who are interesting to you. Share things that interest you. Don't try to get to the 12k or get followers, just be a nice person. Retweet, give a lot first before you ask for something back. Be someone who gives away like you were giving away to your family.

If you want someone to notice you, go to their profile and figure out what they like first. Start sharing your point of view on their tweets. You don't have to agree with them. Don't be just a "yes" person, say something interesting whenever they tweet something you find interesting.

If you ask for a share, they won't share it. If you just compliment them you'll get a like and nothing else. If you make a good counterpoint to their thought, then you might get the retweet.

Be interesting, add something to the conversation. If you don't add something you're just another person in the crowd. You have to stand out.

What have been the big sources of growth for NoCodery?

Twitter is still a big one. That's where we test out all new features.

Search engines are also currently a big one, and Product Hunt is still in the top 3. We posted there over a year ago and it still sends us a lot of traffic. The Product Hunt post also ranks well in search engines.

Are NoCodery users more coders or no-coders?

Both, I see no-coding as a pathway to learning how to code. People start with things like Carrd and then find themselves growing into Webflow and Bubble. Every step of the way they're learning new concepts that also apply to code. If someone is trying to learn code from scratch I tell them to start with no-code.

Watch the full interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqM7Pdr-Re4

Future meetups: https://indieworldwide.co/