
Solo founder, $80M exit, 6 months: The Base44 bootstrapped startup success story | Maor Shlomo
🤖 AI Summary
Overview
This episode dives into the extraordinary journey of Maor Shlomo, founder of Base44, an AI-powered app-building platform. In just six months, Maor bootstrapped his company to a $1 million ARR, grew it to 400,000 users, and sold it to Wix for over $80 million—all as a solo founder. The discussion explores his growth strategies, productivity hacks, tech stack, and the challenges of navigating a startup during geopolitical turmoil.
Notable Quotes
- The funny thing is that Base44, for the first time in my life, was not trying to build the biggest thing ever. If we get to $1.5 million ARR by the end of 2025, we’ll buy a nice car. And we got there in like four weeks.
– Maor Shlomo, on starting with modest goals.
- I don’t think I’ve written a single line of HTML or JavaScript in the past three months, but the front end keeps evolving because AI writes it.
– Maor Shlomo, on leveraging AI to scale as a solo founder.
- "Velocity solves so many things. If your product evolves really fast, people get attached to it. They think, 'I have to try it now.'” – Maor Shlomo, on the power of rapid iteration.
🚀 The Journey from Zero to $80M
- Maor started Base44 to solve real-world problems, including building a website for his girlfriend and creating tools for a nonprofit.
- He bootstrapped the company with minimal investment, reaching $1 million ARR in just three weeks.
- Growth was fueled by a viral Product Hunt launch, building in public on LinkedIn, and incentivizing users to share their creations.
- Despite competing with heavily funded companies, Base44 thrived by focusing on product-market fit and leveraging AI to scale rapidly.
🛠️ Productivity Hacks and Tech Stack
- Tech Stack: Render.com for infrastructure, MongoDB for flexible schemas, Python for backend, and JSX for frontend to optimize AI coding.
- Maor used multiple AI models (Claude 4, Gemini) for different tasks, routing prompts to the most suitable model.
- Personal Productivity: Tools like RescueTime helped manage ADHD by blocking distractions. Maor also built custom internal tools using Base44 to automate content creation and streamline workflows.
📈 Growth Strategies That Worked
- Building in Public: Sharing honest updates and learnings on LinkedIn resonated with fellow builders, driving organic growth.
- Community Incentives: Users received credits for sharing their Base44-built apps, creating a viral loop.
- Hackathons: A Hackathon for Good
attracted 3,000 teams and partnerships with companies like Amazon and Google, boosting visibility and goodwill.
- Rapid Iteration: Frequent feature releases kept users engaged and excited about the product’s evolution.
🤝 The Acquisition by Wix
- Wix approached Maor after community members suggested the acquisition.
- The deal was structured with an $80M upfront payment and additional incentives tied to Base44’s future success.
- The acquisition process coincided with geopolitical tensions, adding stress to an already intense period.
- Maor emphasized the importance of chemistry with the acquiring team, noting that shared values and mutual respect were key to the deal.
💡 Lessons for Founders
- Focus on solving real problems for specific users before scaling.
- Rapid iteration and a strong community can be more powerful than a large marketing budget.
- Solo founders can thrive by leveraging AI and automating repetitive tasks.
- Build something you love—passion and enjoyment fuel resilience and creativity.
AI-generated content may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon as a sole source of truth.
📋 Episode Description
Maor Shlomo is the founder of Base44, an AI-powered app builder that he bootstrapped to an over $80 million acquisition by Wix in just six months. As a solo founder (with severe ADHD), he hit $1 million ARR just three weeks after launch and grew the product to more than 400,000 users, all while navigating two wars in Israel and never raising a dollar of outside funding.
What you’ll learn:
1. The growth playbook that took Base44 from three friends to 400,000 users without spending any money on marketing
2. How he hasn’t written a single line of front-end code in three months—and how to structure your code repository to make it easier for AI to write your code
3. His AI productivity stack that allowed him to compete against heavily funded competitors
4. Why being a solo founder in AI might be the ultimate advantage (and the wedding story that almost killed the business)
5. The story of signing the $80M acquisition deal while war broke out with Iran
6. How to identify when to sell vs. stay independent (and why Maor chose acquisition despite being highly profitable)
7. The counterintuitive product decision that tripled activation by removing a “helpful” feature
8. How building in public on LinkedIn drove more growth than any paid channel
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Brought to you by:
Sauce—Turn customer pain into product revenue
Dscout—The UX platform to capture insights at every stage: from ideation to production
Contentsquare—Create better digital experiences
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Where to find Maor Shlomo:
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maor-shlomo-1088b4144/
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Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction to Maor and Base44
(08:16) The origin story: how Base44 came to be
(14:55) Bootstrapping and solo founding: challenges and insights
(22:52) Productivity hacks and tech stack for solo founders
(27:23) How to get started using Base44
(28:47) Thoughts on raising money
(34:05) Distribution in the age of AI
(36:09) Ambition and goals
(40:05) Growth strate