Part 3: The LCNC Landscape in 2020
LCNC Investment Thesis and Antithesis
Welcome to the LCNC Landscape in 2020! Start here, then read Part 1, Part 2, & Part 3
Phew. That was a lot of context setting. We started off by understanding what the LCNC space is and why it’s interesting now. Then, we dove into some technical definitions and segmentations of the space (pudding cup!) to get the lay of the land. We finally arrive at the big finale: the investment thesis!
Based on my research + company conversations, this is what I think makes a good LCNC product to invest in*:
*Again, I am just an amateur who loves the potential of the LCNC space. I’m not a professional, so please don’t use these criteria as any legitimate basis upon which you should or shouldn’t invest in an opportunity.
The Investment Thesis!
Not all good LCNC companies will have these five criteria, and not all LCNC tools that have these five criteria will be good. That said, think carefully about any missing criteria. Some matter more than others, given the context of the business and the tool. These criteria should serve as a framework to assess emerging tools in the space, but it’s only part of the overall assessment.
The Antithesis!
Ahhhh the infamous antithesis, aka the Why Monica is Wrong list. Because this is my series and therefore, my rules, I’ve also rated each of the threats below as a BFD (a serious blow) to an NBD (nothing to sweat about), so that I can have the last word.
Low Code, No Code Market Map 2020
See the LCNC appendix below for two text + table-based versions of my market map.
appendix
sources and acknowledgements
This investment thesis is an evolving labor of love and I have the following non-exhaustive list of people and sources to endlessly thank. Without them, there would be no thesis. Hopefully this is just the beginning of my exploration of the space and this list will continue to grow. Please reach out if you would like to collaborate!
sources (sorted by relevance) | Forrester 2018: The State of Low-Code Platform Adoption, 2018 | Forrester 2019: Software for Digital Process Automation for Deep Deployments, Q2 2019 | Gartner 2019: The Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms | Emmanuel Straschnov, Co-CEO and Founder, Bubble, 2015: You Shouldn’t Have to Learn to Code | Paul Biggar, CircleCI, 2016: It’s the Future | Forrester 2019: Predictions 2020: More Changes for Software Development | Quick Base 2018: A Brief History of Low Code Development Platforms | Hackernoon 2016: How it feels to learn JavaScript in 2016 | Quick Base 2017: Myth-busting 4 Common Misconceptions About Low-Code and No-Code | James Currier, Managing Partner, NFX: The Next 10 Years Will Be About “Market Networks” | Declarative Assembly of Web Applications from Predefined Concepts. Perez De Rosso, S.; Jackson, D.; Archie, M.; Lao, C.; and McNamara III, B. A. In Proceedings of the 2019 ACM SIGPLAN International Symposium on New Ideas, New Paradigms, and Reflections on Programming and Software, of Onward! 2019, pages 79–93, New York, NY, USA, 2019. ACM | Paul Biggar, Founder, Dark, 2019: What is Dark? | Steve Krouse 2019: The Whole Code Catalog | Hackernoon 2018: Low Code Like a Pro | Forbes 2017: The Low-Code/No-Code Movement: More Disruptive Than You Realize | InfoWorld 2018: 4 essential features of modern low-code development platforms | BMC Software 2018: Low Code vs No Code: Is it The Future of Coding in the Enterprise? | Appian: Low Code Guide | Ryan Hover, Founder, Product Hunt, 2019: The Rise of “No Code” | Sedat Kapanoglu 2020: How is computer programming different today than 20 years ago? |
acknowledgements | Jeff Bussgang, HBS, General Partner and Co-Founder, Flybridge Capital Partners | Allison Mnookin, HBS, Former CEO, Quick Base | Ellen Chisa, CEO and Co-Founder, Dark Inc | Emmanuel Straschnov, Co-CEO and Founder, Bubble | Jesse Orshan, Co-Founder, WayScript | Patrick Leonard, CEO and Co-Founder, Sopris Health | Kevin Zhang, Partner, Bain Capital Ventures | Ali Rahimtula, Partner, Cue Ball Capital | Virtually every EC in the VCPE club at HBS, countless VC professionals who have come to campus, my one sectionmate who did the same type of VC I want to do, and my sweet family | thank you |
