Build a product without knowing how to code (and almost for free)

I get between 5 and 10 messages a week from people asking "I want to become a PM, but I don't know how. Companies only hire people with product management experience". My previous answers ranged from "find an APM program" (tough for more experienced people) to "join an orbital role in a product-led company and wait until you can move internally" (but you're likely competing with many more transitioning that way).

I’m slowly changing my answer to: “build your first products”. Products with an "s". Not one, but as many as you can.

"But I don't know how to code...". Well, coding is just a subset of building a product, but I get it, so here's a list of all the tools you can use to build your first product without code, as a one-person-show, either for free or really cheap:

Build a web product and infra: Bubble (free plan)

Build a landing page: Unicorn Platform (free plan)

Build an onboarding flow: Typeform (free plan)

Get copy & content written: Copy.ai (free plan)

Create automations: Zapier (free plan)

CRM to manage deals: Pipedrive (starts at €12.5/month)

Automate email marketing: Mailchimp (free plan)

Build a internal tools / back office: Retool (free plan)

Visualise data: Metabase (free plan)

Accept payments: Stripe (% per sale, no upfront)

Build your community: Slack (free plan)

Support multiple languages: Weglot (9.9€/month)

Design ads or content media: Canva (free plan)

Get analytics on your app: Google analytics (free)

I can guarantee if you build a couple of products using ☝️, you’ll dazzle in interviews, and more importantly: you might not even need to interview because you might be on your way to build your own company.

#productmanagement #product #nocode