Impact of no-code technology on startup founding

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand the implications of No-Code technology on startups. For this purpose, the drivers and inhibitors of No-Code for startup founding and the implication of No-Code solutions on the composition of the startup team was examined. A group of 12 participants among No-Code experts and investors took part in a semi-structured interview with questions relating to experience, usage, skills and investment criteria. The greatest value and driver of No-Code solutions lies in the initial phase of startups, as they enable founders to quickly develop and validate their ideas with limited resources. For simple applications and validation, No-Code is considered state-of-the-art in software development. In advanced stages of the startup development as the complexity of the tasks increases, it often becomes necessary to transition to custom code. Lack of trust in the technology and fear of becoming dependent on a vendor dependency are the main reasons noted on why to reject No Code solutions. When used, No-Code technology has an important impact on the composition of a startup team. Technical skills are only needed at a later stage and thus founders are not reliant on technical expertise in the initial phase. This empowers non-technical members to expand their role in the startup foundation. In the long term, a decreased demand for software developers is expected due to the increased efficiency, resulting from the combination of No-Code and AI. This addresses a currently pressing issue of missing software developers inhibiting software startups.

Date of Award	26 Jan 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Renzo Cenciarini (Supervisor)