The New Build

Bubble
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  • Entrepreneurship

Software is changing. Builders are changing. The playbook is changing. The New Build breaks down exactly how today’s solo founders and small teams are building and shipping apps that reach millions of users — faster, leaner, and without traditional dev teams. Hosted by Bubble co-founder Emmanuel Straschnov and producer Abhinav Narain, we have candid conversations with founders building with modern tools and leaders at the forefront of the industry. You’ll hear about what worked and what didn’t — no fluff, just real tactics and takeaways. New episodes every other week. Subscribe, borrow, and then go build. ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Bubble is the only fully visual AI app builder that lets you vibe code without the code to launch real apps to real users. To date, 6 million builders have launched over 7 million apps that collectively process more than $1B in transactions a year. We can’t wait for you to hear their stories. Start building at bubble.io.

  1. 4 days ago

    Obsess Over the Problem, Not the Solution: 3 Mobile-First Playbooks | Season 1 Finale

    For our Season 1 finale, we did something different: three founders, three industries, and one bet they all made independently—that mobile had to be the anchor for their business. In this episode, host Abhinav Narain sits down for three shorter conversations with the teams behind Clover Dogs, Land, and MMARA. Julian of Clover Dogs explains why a dating-app swipe—not another shelter directory—is what finally makes rescue adoption feel joyful, and how AI now onboards a shelter's entire roster of dogs in minutes. Andrew of Land makes the case that his climate-resilience app is deliberately not a weather app, and why he traded fitness-tracker-style risk scores for a plain-language model borrowed from horoscope apps. And Obi and Onyi of MMARA share how a beauty company selling hair products became a women's health platform using hair loss as an early signal for conditions like lupus, PCOS, and thyroid dysfunction—and why they refuse to build on agentic AI that's wrong about women's health roughly 60% of the time. Across all three, the same lesson keeps surfacing: get obsessed with the problem, not your solution. Find this episode’s full show notes here: * https://bubble.io/blog/the-new-build-12-clover-dogs-land-mmara Topics covered: Why mobile is the right anchor for some businesses—and genuinely wrong for othersWhen the interaction model (a swipe, a daily read, a daily log) is the productDesigning for behaviors people already do, instead of asking them to learn new onesUsing AI on the back end to remove operational friction for non-technical partnersWhy a "pivot" is really just iteration you should be doing every dayLinks: Clover Dogs: https://bubble.io/clover-dogs Clover Dogs (iOS): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/clover-dogs/id6753950948Julian Reeves (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/julian-reeves-a19157112/Land: https://land.supplyLand (iOS): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/land-climate-tracking/id6755068546Andrew Haarsager (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/haarsager/MMARA: https://www.themmara.comMMARA (iOS): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mmara-my-hair-coach/id6745461031Obi Chukwuma (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/obianozo-chukwuma/Onyi Chukwuma (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/onyi-chukwuma-7baa4220/Start building: bubble.io

    1hr 13min

  2. 9 Jun

    What Behance, Adobe, and A24 Have Taught Scott Belsky About Art & Tech

    Scott Belsky has spent two decades at the center of how creative and technical work gets built, shipped, and scaled — and almost none of it followed a conventional path. In this episode, Emmanuel Straschnov sits down with Scott Belsky — founder of Behance, longtime Chief Product Officer at Adobe, prolific angel investor in 100+ companies, and now partner at film studio A24 — to explore the frameworks he's developed across a career that spans product, entrepreneurship, and storytelling. They dig into why empathy consistently outperforms passion in building products, what the "messy middle" actually demands of founders and teams, and how Scott thinks about the AI moment from the rare vantage point of someone who has been launching AI-driven features in creative tools for over a decade. Find this episode’s full show notes here: https://bubble.io/blog/the-new-build-11-scott-belskyTopics covered: Why the focus group that almost killed Behance actually validated the entire vision"Empathy outperforms passion": what this means in practice for early product decisionsThe most common mistake early-stage founders make — and why Instagram's login data explains itThe "windows blacked out" analogy for leading teams through the messy middleScott's experience co-leading Adobe's product reinvention after the Behance acquisitionTwo types of creators: content creators vs. artists, and why they want completely different things from AI toolsWhy builders should design model-agnostic products in the current AI landscapeThe Ramp investment story: how "spend less" as a core principle made everything differentWhat Scott actually looks for in founders — including a litmus test he uses in every pitch meetingWhy optimism is both a founder's greatest asset and their biggest liabilityScott's one piece of advice he wishes he'd had when starting BehanceLinks: Scott Belsky on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottbelskyBehance: https://www.behance.netThe Messy Middle by Scott Belsky: https://www.themessymiddle.com/A24: https://a24films.comStart building: bubble.io✦  ✦  ✦  ✦  ✦ Chapters [00:00:33] Introduction [00:02:13] Scott's unlikely path from Goldman Sachs to entrepreneurship, and what drew him to design along the way [00:05:45] What Behance's first (and only) focus group revealed: creatives didn't think they needed another network — and why they were wrong [00:09:43] Common founder mistakes [00:12:44] Defining the messy middle [00:18:11] What it felt like to lead product inside Adobe after the Behance acquisition [00:21:06] How builders should think about AI models [00:24:28] Why Scott joined A24 and what excites him about new IP and risk-taking storytelling in an era of sequels [00:31:45] What Scott looks for when investing in founders [00:37:30] The one lesson Scott wishes he'd had at Behance: knowing when not to be a contrarian

    41 min

  3. 26 May

    The Lean Startup Author on Why Building Fast Isn't Enough | Eric Ries

    Eric Ries wrote The Lean Startup, the book that gave a generation of founders the MVP, the pivot, and the build-measure-learn cycle. He's also an early Bubble investor who believed in the democratization of building before most of Silicon Valley took it seriously. In this episode, Emmanuel sits down with Eric to talk about his new book, Incorruptible, and the forces that quietly corrupt even the best companies. Eric introduces the concept of "financial gravity" — the structural pressure that bends successful companies away from their founding purpose — and explains why it starts pulling the moment you succeed, not after. He also makes a sharp case against vibe coding and AI-assisted building without understanding. Topics covered: Why AI tools can make founders less capable, not more"Financial gravity": the invisible force that corrupts good companies from withinThe difference between "mission-driven" and "mission-controlled"Why governance is a creative design decision, not a legal formalityHow Incorruptible builds on The Lean StartupFind this episode’s full show notes here: https://bubble.io/blog/the-new-build-10-eric-riesLinks: Incorruptible by Eric Ries: incorruptible.coEric's podcast: ericriesshow.comEric's newsletter: news.theleanstartup.comEric on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/eriesEric on X: x.com/ericriesAnswerAI: answer.aiStart building: ⁠bubble.io⁠ * * * * * Chapters [00:00:47] Introduction [00:02:20] How AI and no-code changed the game Eric predicted  [00:05:20] Why most people use AI wrong [00:06:00] Dark flow: vibe coding is a slot machine  [00:08:15] The artifact is not the progress [00:09:30] What Incorruptible is about [00:11:02] Financial gravity: the invisible force that corrupts good companies  [00:13:35] The Bill Gates intern story [00:16:23] The FedMart and Costco story: 200 years of companies losing their soul  [00:22:45] When should founders think about governance?  [00:24:58] The "most evil company" exercise: what your charter actually commits you to  [00:27:01] The PBC filing: a two-page fix most founders don't know about  [00:29:15] Mission-driven vs. mission-controlled: the Google "don't be evil" test  [00:33:00] Does Incorruptible conflict with The Lean Startup?  [00:35:48] Eric's blueprint: the path of ethos and the path of integrity  [00:40:10] Is Eric optimistic?

    45 min

  4. 12 May

    Bootstrapping a 300-Person Company Without Raising a Dollar | Clément Llehi (Makko)

    Most founders build software first and a business second. Clément Llehi did it the other way around — and that sequence might be exactly why Makko works. In this episode, Abhinav sits down with Clément, the bootstrapped solo founder of Makko, a facility management company based in France. Starting with no co-founder, no outside funding, and no coding background, Clément spent his early mornings cleaning offices at 5 AM while consulting at Capgemini by day and designing what would eventually become a platform running operations for 300 employees and over 600 enterprise clients by night. He shares the moment he knew it was time to go all in, what it actually takes to earn the trust of major companies when you're a small, self-funded team, and why he restructures his company every six months on purpose. Topics covered: Leaving a consulting career at Capgemini to start a cleaning company — and why people thought he was making a big mistakeDoing the cleaning himself first, and why that changed every product decision he madeHow the pandemic forced him to pause and build the platform that now runs the whole operationThe moment winning his first big enterprise contract made everything feel realWhat consulting taught him about user experience — and why the FM industry still hasn't caught upBuilding enterprise trust as a small, bootstrapped, founder-led teamWhy he deliberately restructures Makko every six to eight monthsHow AI is changing Makko's internal operations, and what he's thinking about for clients nextThe competitor's comment that meant more to him than any client winFind this episode’s full show notes here: https://bubble.io/blog/the-new-build-09-makkoLinks: Makko: makko.fr Clément on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clementllehi/ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Chapters [00:00:00] Why the early days of building Makko felt like the best and worst time of Clément's life [00:00:22] Introducing Clément, founder and CEO of Makko [00:02:23] Why Clément left a consulting career at Capgemini to start a cleaning company [00:03:38] The brutal early grind: cleaning at 5 AM, working 9-5, building the platform at night [00:05:26] Why Clément entered the industry as an operator first rather than building a platform from the outside [00:13:36] Discovering Bubble: How Clément found no-code and built an MVP in a month during COVID [00:15:51] From first clients to 600+ B2B accounts: What earning enterprise trust actually looked like [00:19:06] How a consulting background gave Makko a customer experience edge in a notoriously old-school industry [00:21:43] Overcoming skepticism: Why some people couldn't believe a tech-forward company could also be the best at cleaning [00:24:57] Why Makko deliberately restructures every six to eight months — and what that looks like in practice [00:31:03] Clément's playbook for building a bootstrapped business that enterprise clients can trust [00:33:13] Knowing when to leave your day job: Why you need both traction data and gut instinct [00:36:13] The micro signals most entrepreneurs ignore — and how one small complaint can signal a bigger cultural problem [00:40:16] The competitor compliment that told Clément he was building something truly different

    43 min

  5. 17 Apr

    Allbirds' Former CEO Talks $4B IPO, Starting Over, and His New Playbook | Joey Zwillinger

    We recorded this just after Allbirds made headlines this month for selling its footwear assets, but before they announced their pivot to AI infrastructure under a new name — all roughly two years after Joey Zwillinger stepped down as CEO. He founded the company in 2015, took it public at a $4 billion valuation in 2021, then watched the stock collapse more than 96% before stepping down in March 2024. Rather than retreat, he's back—building Biologica, a women's hormonal health company, with lessons that only come from living through the full lifecycle of building, losing, and starting over. In this episode, Emmanuel talks with Joey about what actually broke at Allbirds, why being a public company made the turnaround harder, and the specific frameworks he's applying differently the second time around. You'll hear his "slope of ignorance" hiring philosophy, why he believes "take the money and spend like you don't have it," and what advice he's giving early-stage founders today that's genuinely different from five years ago. Topics covered: From biotech to footwear: Why Allbirds was always a material innovation companyThe "slope of ignorance": Hiring for competitive moats, not urgencySelling $1M in shoes in 30 days with zero advertisingWhat broke after the $4B IPO: False signals from COVID's volatile consumer behaviorWhy the $160 Tree Flyer running shoe was a strategic mistakeThe public company trap: Quarterly reporting creating negative externalitiesWhy being too small as a public company ($300M revenue) made turnarounds brutalStepping down as CEO: The transition process with Joe VernachioStarting Biologica with his wife Liz: Hormonal age, not chronological ageWhat he's doing differently: Subscription model, lean team (6 people), research-firstThe second-time founder paradox: People assume you'll succeed (and stop giving honest feedback)"Spend like you don't have it": The investor advice he didn't internalize until too lateWhy the music will stop: Capital allocation in an optimistic marketBuilding vs. buying technology: Why consumer companies shouldn't build their own techFind this episode’s full show notes here: * ⁠https://bubble.io/blog/the-new-build-08-joey-zwillinger Links: * Biologica: https://biologica.com * Joey on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jzwillinger

    46 min

  6. 14 Apr

    Building a Marketplace Where Doing Good Pays the Bills | Giselle Gonzales (EqualReach)

    Most impact-conscious businesses treat social good as a cost center‌ — ‌something funded by profits from the "real" business. EqualReach flipped that model: When refugee talent gets paid for dignified work, EqualReach gets paid too. The mission and the revenue are structurally the same thing. In this episode, Abhinav talks with EqualReach Founder and CEO Giselle Gonzales and Product Lead Olena Voloshyna about how they built a freelancing marketplace connecting displaced talent with businesses that need digital work‌,  ‌and why the only way EqualReach makes money is when that talent gets paid fair rates. You'll hear how 10 years of research led Giselle to identify the missing piece in refugee employment (market access, not training), why Olena went from intern to product lead in 18 months through "trust as currency," and the specific platform features that make dignified work‌ — ‌not exploitation‌ — ‌the default. Topics covered: Why "dignified work" means the opposite of exploitationThe 10-year research journey that revealed the real gap: market access, not skillsHow EqualReach's fee structure aligns incentives with refugee talent getting paidBuilding the platform during Bubble's Immerse program with zero product experienceWhy Giselle hired a product lead before having a product"Trust as currency": How giving ownership unlocks 90% more potentialSmart contracting: Giving teams control over payment terms and pricingImpact reporting as a feature: Tracking jobs created, KPIs improved, stories toldWhy most people think "refugee" = "low-skilled person in a camp" (and how to change that)The compliance challenge: Perceived risk vs. actual risk for businessesOne Young World moment: 80% of the room commits to the visionHow a Palestinian marketing team used AI to deliver studio-quality training videosStarting with the "why," not the "how" Find this episode’s full show notes here: ⁠https://bubble.io/blog/the-new-build-07-equalreach Links: EqualReach: http://equalreach.io Giselle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gisellegonzales/Olena on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olena-amina-voloshyna-49a571113/

    1hr 5min

  7. 31 Mar

    Patterns from 100s of Launches: What Separate Winning Founders | Matt Graham

    Matt Graham's agency RapidDev has 220 employees working on 250+ active projects. That means he sees more product launches in a month than most investors see in a year‌ — ‌and the learnings are clear. In this episode, Emmanuel talks with Matt about what actually separates successful founders from those who stall out, why being "too smart" kills momentum, and the specific mistake that wastes the most money in early-stage development. You'll hear why Matt walked away from a company that became a $1.5B unicorn (and doesn't regret it), his thesis on why we're entering the biggest services boom in history while everyone else runs away from agencies, and the culture shift that transformed RapidDev from a two-person freelance operation to a 220-person company that grew revenue 340% in one year. Topics covered: Why founders who are "too smart" and too cerebral fail more oftenThe #1 mistake: Endlessly building before getting any usersWhat successful founders have in common (hint: it's not intelligence)Why Matt left a company that became a $1.5B unicorn‌ — ‌and chose the agency path insteadThe services boom thesis: Why AI creates massive consulting demandHow RapidDev scaled from 2 to 220 people in 5 yearsDiversification strategy: Why agencies plateau and how to avoid itClient work reality check: Managing expectations when things go wrongWhy pricing is collapsing but premium services will always existThe AI brain monitoring every Slack message and email for escalationsM&A as a forcing function: Why acquisitions stretch your organizationCulture over process: How Matt is rewiring 220 people to think the same wayThe biggest bottleneck right now: Finding AI implementation consultantsFind this episode’s full show notes here: ⁠⁠https://bubble.io/blog/the-new-build-06-matt-graham-rapiddev⁠Links: RapidDev: http://rapidevelopers.comMatt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-graham-nocode/Start building: bubble.io

    38 min

  8. 17 Mar

    How Understanding the Problem Beats Knowing How to Code | Sam Rudy

    Sam Rudy spent over a decade booking recording studios for major artists worldwide, a job that involved sending 50+ emails just to book a single session. He had zero coding experience, but his co-founder Ricky convinced him that Sam’s deep industry knowledge made him the only person who could solve this problem. In this episode, Abhinav talks with Sam about how he went from "this feels impossible" to building Pro Studio Time, a marketplace connecting artists with professional recording studios. You'll hear why studios don't advertise rates or availability (and how Sam designed around that), the specific moment he realized people actually wanted what he was building, and his framework for overcoming fear of failure when putting early prototypes in front of industry peers. Sam breaks down why "boring is back" in music tech, how he found early adopters willing to wait through delays, and why nobody cares about your imperfect product as much as you think they do. Topics covered: Why deep industry experience creates an unfair advantage over technical skillsThe 50-email problem: How recording studio bookings actually workMeeting your co-founder at the pub: From complaint to company in 24 hoursWhy "this will cost $500K to build" is almost never true anymoreOvercoming the fear that your industry peers will judge youGetting 130+ studios and 75+ profiles without launching publiclyWhy closed beta is often just founder fear disguised as strategyFinding early adopters who'll stick with you through delays"Boring is back": Why music tech investors want real problem-solving over cool ideasThe iteration playbook: Most things fail because founders don't stick with it long enough Find this episode’s full show notes here: https://bubble.io/blog/the-new-build-05-sam-rudy Links: Pro Studio Time: prostudiotime.comSam on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/amessagetourudyRicky (Sam’s co-founder) on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricky-foran-238742317/Start building: bubble.io

    54 min
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About

Software is changing. Builders are changing. The playbook is changing. The New Build breaks down exactly how today’s solo founders and small teams are building and shipping apps that reach millions of users — faster, leaner, and without traditional dev teams. Hosted by Bubble co-founder Emmanuel Straschnov and producer Abhinav Narain, we have candid conversations with founders building with modern tools and leaders at the forefront of the industry. You’ll hear about what worked and what didn’t — no fluff, just real tactics and takeaways. New episodes every other week. Subscribe, borrow, and then go build. ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Bubble is the only fully visual AI app builder that lets you vibe code without the code to launch real apps to real users. To date, 6 million builders have launched over 7 million apps that collectively process more than $1B in transactions a year. We can’t wait for you to hear their stories. Start building at bubble.io.

Information

  • Creator
    Bubble
  • Years Active
    2k
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Bubble

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