Formula Bot: a weekend no-code app, one Reddit post, and a $4–5K API bill

What it is

Formula Bot (originally Excel Formula Bot) turns a plain-language description of a spreadsheet problem into the formula that solves it (No Code MBA).

Timeline

All from the No Code MBA case study (No Code MBA):

• Weekend build: a single-page app made in Bubble while Bressler was on paternity leave; Stripe for payments, SendinBlue for email, a $10 domain, Bubble at $25/month (No Code MBA).
• Reddit post: the next morning, 100,000 people had visited overnight, and a surprise $4,000–5,000 API bill arrived (No Code MBA).
• First three months after pricing: $30,000 in revenue (No Code MBA).
• Later: rebranded from Excel Formula Bot to Formula Bot and kept expanding features (No Code MBA).
• 1 Nov 2026: formulabot.com redirects to betteranalyst.com (our own check of the URL), which suggests another rebrand.

Why it worked

• A narrow, painful, searchable problem. Everyone who uses spreadsheets has struggled with a formula.
• Posting where the users already are. Reddit gave instant validation.
• A free plan people share. Productivity fans spread it on Reddit, TikTok, Instagram and Twitter (No Code MBA).

What to learn

1. No-code is enough to test demand; ship the single page first.
2. Before you post anywhere, cap your API spend. Put usage limits, rate limits or a paywall in place, or a viral day can cost more than it earns.
3. He reports spending only about 10% of his time on marketing; the rest goes to the product (No Code MBA).

Risks and what didn't work

• The viral launch arrived before monetisation and produced an unplanned bill (No Code MBA).
• Spreadsheet vendors can add the same capability natively; the original Reddit post is now removed by Reddit's filters (r/SideProject), so some early claims can no longer be checked at the source.