I’m standing at a crossroads: I can either use no-code platforms to swiftly get my MVP off the ground, or I can invest time in learning the code stack for long-term scalability. My startup is in the real estate tech sector, and it appears that no-code solutions could handle most of my initial requirements.
Pros of No-Code:
- Quick to market
- No vendor lock-in with the platforms I want to use, so I can transition to a fully coded base like React with Next.js and Supabase for the backend later.
Pros of Learning to Code:
- Valuable skills for future scaling.
- Skill acquisition that will be useful even if this startup doesn’t take off.
- Knowledge base when working with future developers
- I really enjoy learning to code and don’t find it bothersome
The timeline with using no code would probably be 1-2 months and around 3-6 months if I learn the tech stacks needed. I am come from mobile app development so it will take me some time to understand web dev fully.
So, should I prioritize speed to market with no-code solutions, or invest in coding skills for the long run? What advice would you give me?
When thinking about what to do in this situation, analyze the ROI from the company perspective and consider yourself an employee of the company.
What’s the priority of the company right now? If you hired yourself right now to accomplish that goal, what would you want that employee to do?
In this case, the priority is proving demand and proving product market fit. I’d say: use whatever means at your disposal to get an MVP out that you can use to test your hypotheses with and talk to users. As you make progress and raise money/get revenue, you can hire an engineer to slowly replace that MVP with a more scalable solution.