Rooting for No-Code and Community-Led Startups: Noonies Nominee Ritika

Hey Hackers! I’m Ritika Mehta, and I currently run Ritika’s newsletter & building Marked a new tool for creators.

First of all, a huge thank you to the HackerNoon community and staff for nominating me for the 2021 Noonies awards! I’ve been nominated in the following categories, please do check out these award pages and vote:

1. HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - Marketing Strategies

2. HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - Founder Advice

3. HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - Founder Stories

4. HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - Startup Advice

As someone who loves building products, I believe no-code & low-code has given endless opportunities to non-tech founders like me and the way it’s emerging into web3. Learn more about my thoughts and opinions on the same and my journey in the industry via the interview below.

1. What do you do and why do you do it? (tell us your story)

I’m a curious mind that keeps experimenting and building new products. I’ve been building since 17. My first one was a marketing business which I sold after 3 years of working on it. Then I created a campaign management marketing tool that is on hiatus.

Currently, I’m building Marked, a platform for creators with no-code tools, and started a newsletter for founders on decoding startups from building to scaling, growth, community building & somewhere into Web3. I have developed this keen interest to build a community through my newsletter which has unexpectedly opened numerous doors for me.

2. Tell us more about the things you create/write/build!

As I’m building Marked, I’m using tools like bubble & the landing page with Webflow. These tools are very dynamic in nature which is giving me the possibility of validating the idea and testing MVP at a fast pace with no-code.

Regarding the newsletter, I write, and I’m significantly part of the creator economy, I’m very much excited to turn it into a paid product. In the end, both the things I’m working on are leading towards the creator economy.

3. How did you end up on your current career path? Do you like it?

I will definitely say, till now, I was running with a flow. I didn’t have a clear picture of what I wanted to do. But I believe this is the right thing I want to do now. Along with my two projects, I’m also a product advisor, so this is a new thing I’m exploring. I’m still curious to see what it brings for me next.

4. What are you most excited or passionate about right now and why?

No-code & low-code. As a person who doesn’t know how to code, I had to hire developers for the previous projects, which cost a lot to me, and the product didn’t work out well. No-code tools have lowered the barrier of creation and cost, enabling millions of people like me to build everything from websites to complex web apps with little to no capital or outside help.

5. What are you most worried about right now and why?

Everything has its pros and cons, and at some point, one of them will worry you. Same with the no-code, it’s still in the early stage, limiting super functional development. Nevertheless, in the end, it’s still something that’s developed on code.

6. If we gave you 10 million dollars to invest in something today, what would you invest in and why?

I was recently approached by a VC firm to mentor founders they invest in. This got me thinking anyway I can invest in other founders & which also helped me better understand the investment system. So, there are two things I’ll do:

1. Spend some on developing Marked.

2. Rest spend on investing in other founders.

My niche would be community-led products and Web3 creators.

7. What are you currently learning?

Community growth, I’ve learned this, if one knows how to build a community, it will never run out of business. And the other is NFT. I wasn’t much interested in NFT before, but as I started coming over some very cool NFT projects on Twitter, it’s something that excites me now.

8. What’s the best advice you’ve ever given someone?

Unexpected opportunities can fall from anywhere only if you show up every day and do it consistently.

I have experienced it myself. The way things have changed for me after I become active on Twitter & writing on my newsletter, it’s just unbelievable at times - whether it be speaking at a huge event, mentoring at a cohort, or this award nomination.

9. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

There’s someone who said, which makes me want to keep working (sometimes even when I have a burnout) & less procrastinating, says: Waiting for inspiration is just fancy procrastination. When you wait for inspiration to strike, you’ll end with 0 things or words. When you tell yourself to start, you’ll end with an article or something. Do it first, then make it better.

If you wait for things to happen, you will never begin.

About HackerNoon’s 2021 Noonie Awards

The annual Noonie Awards celebrate the best and brightest of the tech industry, bringing together all who are making the Internet and the world of tech what it is today. Please be sure to check out our award categories, nominate, and vote for the people and companies who you think are making the biggest impact on the tech industry today.

The 2021 Noonies are sponsored by: bybit, Dottech Domains, and Avast. Thank you so much to these sponsors who are helping us celebrate the accomplishments of all our nominees.