Making a living from no-code

Katt Risen is a no-code founder and the creator of the No-Code Exits newsletter and co-creator of Build the Keyword, a way of finding business ideas that are validated by Google search volume data. After all, it's better to build something people are actively searching for rather than inventing something totally new and having to educate people about why they need it.

Check out this interview to learn all about Katt's journey as a no-code entrepreneur, her favorite marketing channels and why she has turned away from working only on a newsletter.

Can you introduce yourself?

Hi, I’m Katt. I live in Leuven, Belgium with my husband and two kids. I used to work in the digital team of a big European travel corporation. But I was always dreaming of startups. I read all the classic business books, listened to the How I Built This podcast during my terrible daily commute and lurked on Product Hunt.

There were a few very weak attempts (we probably just watched The Social Network) on starting a startup with friends. We came together for hours writing business plans, creating mockups, designing fancy logos, brainstorming the perfect name and thinking of 1,000 unnecessary but very cool features. We always dreamed too big, never talked to a single customer and motivation trickled away after a few weeks.

Two things changed this. I discovered IndieHackers where I learned about bootstrapping a business. And I discovered no-code tools that enabled me to build my own stuff as a non technical person.

Can you tell us what you’ve achieved so far as a founder?

Although I had some tiny successes (and lots of fun), I’m still learning and looking for ‘product founder fit’ and stable ramen profitability. 

Product Founder Fit is crucial for me because:

• As a mom of two toddlers it is important for me that my projects are feasible in combination with being there for my kids. 
• During my internet project experiments I learned a lot about my skill set and what kind of work I truly enjoy and would like to keep doing. 

My tiny successes (in between there were many fails): 

• No-Code Guru was a no-code tool (chatbot style) advisor I made in the pre-ChatGPT era. It was my first little side project I created and it was later acquired for $3,500. It’s not a life-changing amount of money but that small win gave me a huge confidence boost.
• That acquisition resulted in a lot of questions and likes. So it inspired me to start my newsletter No-Code Exits. It evolved into a weekly newsletter that shares success stories of people building with no-code tools with 10,500+ subscribers. It generates between $1000-$4000 revenue per month.
• Build The Keyword is my most recent project. I started it with Lee (a proficient no-code dev) in March 2024. We have 3,189 users and are focussing on growing this right now.

What’s the idea behind Build the Keyword?