I hired someone to build me an MVP on Bubble.io. The end product didn’t work, and it took way too long and was a waste of money.

The disappointment was palpable.

If I had $1 for every time I heard this story, well I’d probably have about $100!

It’s a common story. So Bubble is to blame, right?

Not so fast.

Firstly, not everyone who says they are a “Bubble developer” or a “Bubble agency” is actually good.

Plenty of freelancers and agencies will do a project and leave it at 50% done at best.

I’ve interviewed lots of devs working at “top Bubble agencies”. Or looked at their projects after their clients left dissatisfied.

Assessment:

• Responsive design — not really ❌
• Any form of UXUI design — nope ❌
• Database architecture — failed simple scenarios ❌
• Privacy rules — what’s that? ❌ (your database is not secure)
• Left the app in “anyone can edit mode ❌ (your whole backend is exposed to the world)

Whether they lack development, design, or product management skills, projects will fail on account of any of these pillars.

• Experience building anything but Minimum Viable Products — no ❌
• Did they even understand the brief? ❌
• Promised to build it in 6 weeks, and didn’t even get a third of the way there? ❌

Now it’s not just the devs or the agencies that shoulder the blame here.

Inexperienced founders (and some experienced ones who should know better) arrive with unrealistic expectations.

This is not everyone’s story. It doesn’t have to be yours.

Firstly, some projects just shouldn’t be built in Bubble. If a founder only has <$10–20k to spend (and does not want to do it themselves), hiring a Bubble dev isn’t the right path. Validate and run the business manually using off-the-shelf and true no-code tools first.

Then generate revenue. Or prove demand and gain investment, or invest your own cash at that point. Oh, I would LOVE to know the stats on how many $5–20k MVPs on Bubble gain no traction and get binned.

Secondly, once an idea is validated, spend the money and work with a Bubble developer or team who can build it properly. This is the point at which you know what works, and you are beginning to scale.

In our experience, Bubble is a serious tool that needs to be reframed as THE way to build your v1 and beyond. Once you are there and you have an awesome Bubble dev in-house, working iteratively is a great approach. But it’s really hard with no resourcing.

If you are looking for training to build a production-grade Bubble app that can power successful businesses and developer careers, check out our Momentum Academy.

We give you a framework for quality in terms of how to build and what to look for in a developer, so whether you are a dev or you hire devs, you will be well-educated in order to lead your product build.