How He Turned a $200 Landing Page Into a 7-Figure Agency

Looking at Levon Terteryan’s multi-million dollar no-code empire, it’s hard to believe it all started with a $200 investment and a desk in a coworking space just a few years ago. 

If you’re a freelancer or small business owner, you’ve probably wondered what it takes to scale to 7-figures and beyond. When you listen to Levon, you realize it’s not only about hard work and luck. It’s about making smart, creative and strategic moves. 

The success of this Hampton member’s agency, Zeroqode, was by no means an accident. Levon and his team leaned into clever tactics, from guerrilla marketing campaigns to cloning popular apps and pulling off wild growth hacks. His agency’s rise to controlling 60% of Bubble’s plugin marketplace is a testament to just how much impact a few creative strategies can have on scaling a business.

In our exclusive Hampton interview, Levon reveals:

• The marketing stunt at TechCrunch that put Zeroqode on the map
• How building free apps for Naval Ravikant opened doors for bigger opportunities
• Why you should sell products AND services
• The creative side projects that boosted his agency’s visibility

If you’re looking for a dose of inspiration on how to grow your business, here it is:

Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?

Hey there! I'm Levon Terteryan, a serial entrepreneur who's been in the startup game since I was 21. These days, I'm the co-founder of Zeroqode, a no-code development company that's been shaking things up since 2016.

We're the largest plugin creator for Bubble.io (almost 700 plugins) and a Gold Tier Bubble agency. Our main focus is enabling people to build web applications without traditional coding. One of no-code’s premises is: You don’t need a technical co-founder anymore!

My co-founder Vlad Larin and I started working out of a shared desk in a coworking space. Now, we're an international remote-first team of over 60, and we've become kind of a big deal in the no-code world. The cool part? We did it all with just $200 investment that we spent on our landing page design. 

Fast forward to today - we are a 7-figure business and we control more than 60% of the revenue of Bubble’s plugin marketplace. We worked with people like Naval Ravikant, Founder of AngelList, Ali Partovi, Founder of Neo and many others. 

What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?

My journey into entrepreneurship began early. Born in Armenia and raised in Kazakhstan in a family of entrepreneurs, I was exposed to business from a young age (my father and my grandfather were both entrepreneurs even when it was not totally legal during the Soviet Union times). 

Before Zeroqode, from the age of 21 to 32, I had started and run several businesses in the IT and Telecom space. Then, in 2012, I decided to take a break from the business world to focus on personal growth and travel. This period of reflection and exploration lasted longer than I initially planned - almost three years! Luckily, I had some passive income from real-estate investments that I’d made as a result of my previous career but it was quickly dwindling and my twin babies were just born - so I really had to hustle to pay the bills and support the lifestyle that we were accustomed to at that time.

The idea for Zeroqode came from a personal pain point. In 2013, I wanted to build a meditation app. I spent about $50,000 and nearly two years trying to build it through traditional development methods. The process was frustrating, time-consuming, and ultimately yielded little payback. This experience made me realize there had to be a better way to bring ideas to life.

The turning point came when I discovered Bubble, a no-code development platform, through a Product Hunt newsletter. Initially skeptical due to their pricing model, I revisited the platform a few months later when they changed their approach. Intrigued, I decided to give it a try.

I quickly went through Bubble's tutorials and found the platform intuitive and powerful. I dabbled with coding at high school and understood the concepts and algorithms of programming so it came easy for me, even though I hadn’t written code for about 20 years. I built the app for my idea in just one week, spending most of that time on UI polish rather than core functionality. This experience was a revelation - I realized I was more excited about the process of building in Bubble than the app itself.

That's when the idea struck: what if I could help others build applications without code, even though Bubble’s no-code platform is way easier than writing code, there is still some learning curve, and a lot of meticulous work that has to be done. As my co-founder Vlad puts it - “No code doesn’t mean no work”. I believed there will be people that would find it difficult to build something on their own or simply would lack the time to do that. I was surprised to find no companies specializing in this niche. After reaching out to Bubble's co-founder and confirming their interest in partnerships, I decided to take the plunge.

With just $200 for a landing page design and the cost of a domain name, I launched what would become Zeroqode (initially the business had a dorky name - Bubblewits 🙂). The goal was simple: to help people build web applications faster and more affordably using no-code tools.

Once I had the website up and running, Bubble listed it on their just created partners page and we immediately started receiving inquiries for help with building on Bubble. Initially, the projects were small but over time, as no-code started becoming more mainstream, we were onboarding bigger and bigger projects. 

Take us through the process of building and launching the first version of your product…

The process of building and launching Zeroqode was lean and focused from the start. 

We positioned ourselves as no-code web development experts, ready to build applications for clients using Bubble. This required minimal upfront development on our part, as we were leveraging an existing platform.

The launch strategy was multi-faceted:

1. Partnership: We became an official Bubble partner, which gave us credibility and a source of client referrals.
2. Community Engagement: We were highly active on the Bubble Forum, sharing tips, hacks, and solutions. This helped establish our expertise and visibility in the Bubble community which is a very vibrant and energetic place where a lot of Bubblers hang out. 
3. Product Hunt Launch: We launched Zeroqode on Product Hunt, which gave us significant exposure. We achieved the #3 Product of the Day badge, resulting in a substantial traffic boost. 

As we grew, we expanded our offerings. A few months after launch, we created our first no-code app template where we cloned AirBnB without code. We quickly built more templates after that: Uber clone, Amazon clone, Tinder clone. And many more apps that were replicating functionality of popular apps but built in a very fast and efficient manner. Last year we sold the templates portfolio to another agency. 

Two years after starting Zeroqode, Bubble introduced a plugin builder tool that allowed anyone to build plugins for Bubble… essentially expanding Bubble’s UI/UX capabilities, functionality as well as integrations with various third-party services. We immediately jumped at the opportunity and started building plugins. We hired JS developers and today we have the largest portfolio of plugins for Bubble and the only company that maintains plugins professionally as a team. Most of the other plugin builders are solo developers. Today we have 17 people on the team focused on building and maintaining plugins. Apart from building plugins in-house we’ve also done a bunch of acquisitions during the past years and currently we have close to 700 plugins. By the way, at the time of this writing we are finalizing our largest plugin acquisition to date that would help us strengthen our positions even further.  

One of the main challenges was finding and training talent. Unlike traditional dev agencies where there is a very strict specialization for front-end, back-end programming, design etc. we took an innovative approach by hiring designers and training them to build functional apps without code in Bubble. That way, one person could build an entire application from the ground up. So at Zeroqode, we don’t have front-end or back-end developers, designers or testers. Every developer we have is full-stack which makes the process more efficient.

Since launch, what growth channels have been most effective for you?

Given our limited budget, marketing was a challenge. We embraced guerrilla marketing tactics, with one of our most successful efforts being our participation in TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin.

Our TechCrunch Disrupt experience is a perfect example of our resourceful approach:

1. We secured sponsorship from a local organization to cover the costly participation fees.
2. We maximized our small exhibition space with creative marketing materials:
   • A roll-up banner with the intriguing message "NO. MORE. CODE."
   • Eye-catching cards showcasing logos of famous apps we could recreate
   • A tablet displaying a looped video of the no-code app development process
   • T-shirts with conversation-starting slogans
3. We set up an efficient on-site lead capture system using a simple email form linked to Mailchimp.
4. We actively pursued the "Wild Card" award, which guaranteed an interview with TechCrunch. We encouraged visitors to vote for us through the event app, even devising a hack to make voting easier when the Android app wasn't working.

Our efforts paid off. We won the "Wild Card" award, securing an interview with TechCrunch's reporter on stage. This provided invaluable exposure for Zeroqode and the concept of no-code development to a global audience of tech enthusiasts and potential clients.

Later, that reporter reached out to us asking if we could recreate his janky WordPress website with Bubble and adding some crypto payments functionality to it. We did it in just a matter of a few days and he liked it so much that he wrote this piece on TechCrunch - it was an enormous success not only for us but for Bubble as well. So many people discovered Bubble and No-Code because of that, and having a TechCrunch logo on our website is a credibility badge - I don’t know any other agency that has a TechCrunch article written about them :) 

Here are some other channels that have worked for us:

1. Content Marketing: We've leveraged our expertise to create valuable content. Our blog posts about our journey, like how we bootstrapped to a team of 20 in 2 years, have resonated well with our target audience of entrepreneurs and startups.
2. Competitions and Giveaways: We've organized "Best Startup Idea" competitions where we gave away templates. These events, promoted on platforms like Indie Hackers and Reddit, have helped us reach a wider audience of potential customers.
3. Side Projects: Creating and launching side projects, like our Postman Collections library - which was a collection of various APIs that anyone could import in their Postman API tool and connect easily to any API from the collection. It has been an effective way to showcase our capabilities and attract attention from the broader tech community - we launched that on Product Hunt and got #4 Product of the day. 

1. Word of Mouth: As we've delivered successful projects and templates, satisfied clients have become a significant source of referrals. The quality of our work speaks for itself and often leads to new business opportunities.
2. SEO and Organic Search: By consistently producing high-quality templates and plugins, we've naturally improved our search engine rankings for no-code related queries.
3.  Email Marketing: We've built a substantial email list through our various activities, and regular newsletters keep our audience engaged and informed about new offerings.

These channels have been particularly effective because they align with our bootstrapped approach, focusing on leveraging our expertise and the strength of the no-code community rather than relying on large marketing budgets.

Did you ever have an “oh shit” moment where you thought it wouldn’t work?

I mentioned above that we were building clone templates for various popular applications… So at some point Bubble received a cease and desist letter from Yelp asking to remove the Yelp Clone template that we’ve built. Bubble reached out to us requesting to take it down. But, we being naive in legal matters, didn’t take it seriously enough and were slow to respond to Bubble’s requests. After a follow-up, and again lack of responsiveness from our side, Bubble delisted us from their partner page and banned us for one month. 

We thought we blew it and it was over. However, we did everything we could to make amends and eventually we were reinstated as a Bubble partner. 

Since then, we are much more diligent with legal requests.

Another time, when we were acquiring plugins we nearly ran out of cash and had to use Stripe Capital service to get short term financing. It’s the easiest way to get quick funds but it’s also quite costly - we had to juggle between a few similar loans getting new loans to pay back previous ones before we got back to a secure place. 

Can you break down the keys to this business model for us? What makes it work? And what do outsiders typically not understand about your industry?

The key to Zeroqode's business model lies in leveraging the power of no-code development to create value for our clients. Here's a breakdown of what makes our model work:

1. Diverse Revenue Streams: We have multiple income sources, including plugin development for Bubble.io, custom no-code development services, and consultancy. This diversification helps stabilize our revenue and allows us to cater to various client needs.
2. Scalability: No-code development allows us to create solutions much faster than traditional coding. This means we can take on more projects and serve more clients with our existing team.
3. Low Overhead: By utilizing no-code platforms, we significantly reduce the need for a large team of specialized developers, which keeps our operational costs lower than traditional development agencies.
4. Recurring Revenue: Many of our plugins generate recurring revenue through subscriptions providing a steady income stream.

What makes this model work is the growing demand for custom software solutions coupled with the shortage of skilled developers. No-code platforms bridge this gap, allowing us to deliver complex solutions quickly and cost-effectively.

As for what outsiders typically don't understand about our industry:

1. Complexity of No-Code Solutions: Many assume no-code means simple or limited. In reality, we can create sophisticated, scalable applications that rival traditionally coded ones.
2. Skills Required: While no-code reduces the need for traditional coding skills, it requires a unique blend of logical thinking, design sensibility, and understanding of software architecture
3. Customization Capabilities: There's a misconception that no-code platforms are restrictive. In fact, they offer extensive customization options, especially when combined with plugins and APIs.
4. Scalability: Some believe no-code solutions can't handle growth or high user loads. However, Bubble for example is built on robust, scalable infrastructure capable of supporting enterprise-level applications and is also SOC2 compliant.

Understanding these aspects of the no-code industry is crucial for appreciating the value and potential of companies like Zeroqode in the current tech landscape.

What platform/tools are absolutely crucial for your business?

At the core of our business, there are several platforms and tools that are absolutely essential for our operations:

1. Bubble: This is the cornerstone of our business. As a no-code development platform, Bubble allows us to create complex web applications without traditional coding. It's the primary tool we use for building our clients' projects and our own products. Its versatility and power enable us to tackle a wide range of web development tasks efficiently.
2. Standuply - This is an incredible tool for Slack to send automated messages, collect statuses and updates on tasks or do virtual standups as well as run surveys, questionnaires etc. We use it heavily both by PM/dev teams as well as our HR department for surveys and various procedures (like requesting pay raise, or employee evaluation when the trial is over) 
3. VCV - This tool saves so much time screening job applicants - it allows us to do an async video interview - each applicant receives a list of precomposed questions and they need to record themselves through this platform answering those questions. Some applicants frown at this and don’t want to do that but we think it’s yet another filter to avoid such people. 
4. Nachonacho.com - This is a service that we use to keep track of our subscriptions - we create virtual credit cards for each vendor and set limits (monthly, or total etc) - that way we keep all subscriptions under tight control and if something goes wrong with the vendor we can always simply disable the card. We use Nachonacho also to create cards for team members so they can pay for certain expenses- these cards can be easily added to Apple/Google Pay on the phone
5. Pipedrive - This is our CRM of choice
6. Slite - This is a great knowledge base and documenting tool - we keep all our memos, notes, wikis and much more in it
7. Asana - To manage projects and tasks across the company
8. Harvest - for all our time tracking, billing and invoicing needs
9. Slack - Our internal and oftentimes external communications tool - one of the recent tactics that we have in order to increase lead conversions we invite leads to join our Slack channel - that way we have a more direct access to chatting with them.

My personal stack includes:

1. Superhuman: For emails - really fast and convenient - and its read receipts feature is a killer! I also like Spark but it doesn’t have the read receipts so I switched to Superhuman just for that feature - I want to know if the email that I’ve sent reaching out to some prospective partner is lost in spam or just got ignored. I can also see how many times, when exactly and by whom my email was read. 
2. Arc: My new most favorite browser
3. Todoist: For calendar and to-dos
4. Notion: For personal knowledge base (notes, thoughts, ideas, reminders, drafts etc.)
5. Texts.com: Converges multiple messengers into one app (Whatsapp, Telegram, Twitter DMs, LinkedIn DMs, Instagram, Messenger, iMessages and many more) 
6. KarmaBot: A Slack bot that allows team members to give each other karma as a thank you, which can then be exchanged with various gifts at our company’s Karma shop (AirPods, power banks etc.)

What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?

• Naval Ravikant: Naval has a ton of wisdom to learn from, so many fresh ideas and perspectives, so many astute observations. I think everyone should go and read and listen to his stuff. A few additional links for Naval:
  • Navalmanack: this is a book put together by one of Naval’s fans
  • One of the most important episodes: How to Get Rich
• My First Million: I stumbled upon this podcast about a year ago and watched almost all episodes since then! I usually do it when I’m doing cardio in the gym, which is a few times a week :) I love this podcast for humor, wit, entertainment but of course also for in-depth insights from great business people and entrepreneurs that they invite on the pod. Also, they discuss new trends, brainstorm business ideas - love every bit of it. 
• Osho: His books helped me transform and grow on a personal level - his teachings are about meditation, consciousness, breaking free from social conditioning and programming. 

Where do you see untapped opportunity in the market? What business do you wish someone else would build that would make your job easier?

I think video production for companies in the Bubble ecosystem (or no-code space at large) is something that could be really in demand - template makers need video overviews of how those templates work, plugin builders need instructional videos on how to install and configure those plugins. In fact we are currently looking for freelance Bubble template makers and video producers for our plugins. Something like this would make our life much easier. 

What are some strong opinions you have about leadership, and how do you actually put those into practice in your company?

We spend a significant part of our life at work so I believe work should bring joy and not something people do reluctantly. As much as possible everything at work should be fun, should be exciting, people should love what they do, should be surrounded by people they sympathize with, respect and have something to learn from them. Work should present an opportunity for people to grow both professionally and personally thus it’s the leadership’s task to make sure we have that in our company.

A couple of years ago our entire team took a day off to do a day-long training. My co-founder Vlad and I shared our experiences from years of trying to optimize our lives for better mental, physical and emotional well-being as well as for being more productive, successful and happy in life. The material that we created for that training became the foundation for the handbook called Lifehacktics - that we kept on updating and enhancing. It can be accessed for free here lifehacktics.com

Where can we go to learn more?

Check out our website at zeroqode.com, follow me on Twitter and send me a connection request on LinkedIn. 

Also, here is the link again to the free handbook that Vlad and I put together - lifehacktics.com.