With no coding experience and only a few hours a day, David Bressler created Formula Bot. He's not your typical tech entrepreneur. He’s a man with a full-time job who managed to build a million-dollar AI app in his spare time - all without writing a single line of code. Oh, and he did it in just over a year.
Here's David's story.
What is Formula Bot?
Formula Bot an AI-powered tool designed to help you write excel formulas, directly within Microsoft Excel (or Google Sheets). Nowadays, Formula Bot has over 750,000 users, with 5,000 paying users, and is doing $226,000 MRR (monthly recurring revenue).
How He Got Started
David’s journey began in July 2022, when he found himself with a rare six-week window of opportunity as he prepared for the birth of his youngest child. As a senior professional with a full-time job since 2011, David had always harbored entrepreneurial ambitions but never had the time to pursue them—until now.
His inspiration came from a personal pain point: the constant interruptions from colleagues asking for help with Excel formulas. Recognizing a gap in the market, David decided to create an AI tool that would simplify Excel tasks for users. With no coding experience, he turned to Bubble.io, a no-code platform, and dove into YouTube tutorials to learn how to bring his idea to life. In just a few weeks, he had built the MVP of what would become Formula Bot.
Viral Marketing and the Road to Success
David's first step was to share his creation with colleagues, who were astounded by what he had achieved in such a short time. Encouraged by their reactions, David turned to Reddit to spread the word. His post on the Excel subreddit quickly gained traction, becoming the top post of the week and drawing thousands of users to his site. A subsequent post on the "Internet is Beautiful" subreddit propelled Formula Bot to viral status, bringing in a flood of new users.
However, the surge in traffic came with a hefty price tag. David racked up $5,000 in OpenAI API costs within days, forcing him to make a tough decision: shut down the project or find a way to monetize it. Determined to keep going, David implemented a donation system and ran a few ads, which helped recoup some of the costs. Eventually, he introduced a paywall, and the revenue began to flow.
Challenges and Building for the Future
As Formula Bot gained popularity, David faced a new challenge: competition. Numerous copycat sites sprang up, mimicking his product and diluting his brand. To stay ahead, David knew he had to innovate. He expanded Formula Bot beyond its original function, adding new features like the Data Analyzer, which allows users to analyze data and generate reports using natural language commands.
Microsoft soon took notice of David’s success, offering to integrate Formula Bot into its suite of Excel add-ons. While initially excited, David realized that this could lead to his product being overshadowed by Microsoft’s own AI initiatives. Instead of partnering with the tech giant, David chose to double down on his vision, focusing on building unique features that couldn't be easily replicated by ChatGPT or Microsoft.
Here's a video of David telling his story:
Credit to Starter Story