Ben Tossell

Non-technical builder who sold Makerpad to Zapier and now runs Ben's Bites

@bentossell United Kingdom201K followersNo-Code Makers AI Builders Creators & Writers Acquirers & Indie Investors

About Ben Tossell

Ben Tossell is a self-described non-coder who became one of the most recognizable voices of the no-code and, later, AI-building movements. After earlier startup roles and a first venture called newCo, he founded Makerpad, an education platform and community that taught people to build products and automations using tools like Airtable, Webflow, Bubble and Zapier.

Makerpad grew to more than 10,000 members and around $400K in annual recurring revenue. In March 2021 it became Zapier's first-ever acquisition — a deal that famously started after Zapier's CEO noticed a tweet suggesting one of the no-code companies should buy it. Tossell kept running Makerpad inside Zapier for a period afterwards.

In October 2022 he launched Ben's Bites, a daily AI newsletter that quickly became one of the most-read sources of AI news for builders, alongside AI courses, a news feed and a community. He has since become an active angel investor in AI and developer-infrastructure companies, and spent part of 2025–2026 as head of developer relations at Factory, while continuing to write about building with AI agents without traditional coding.

Products by Ben Tossell

Makerpad

makerpad.co

acquired

No-code education platform and community with tutorials and courses for building without code.

~$400K ARR at acquisition

Ben's Bites

bensbites.com

Daily AI newsletter and media brand for builders, with 100K+ readers, news feed and AI learning content.

Exit story

Makerpad

→ Zapier · 2021

Ben said joining Zapier let the team pursue bigger plans for no-code education without worrying about month-to-month survival, and he saw it as a better path than raising venture money.

by Ben Tossell

Ben Tossell's journey5 milestones · self-reported

First product
Exit
Launch / milestone

2020Milestone: Makerpad grew roughly 4x in users during the no-code boom
2021Exit: Sold Makerpad to Zapier at ~$400K ARR≈ $33K/mo
2022First product: Launched the Ben's Bites AI newsletter in October
2025Milestone: Joined Factory as head of developer relations for several months
2026Milestone: Ben's Bites passed roughly 120K subscribers as he focused on…

Timeline

2020 — Makerpad grew roughly 4x in users during the no-code boom.
2021 — Sold Makerpad to Zapier in March — Zapier's first acquisition — at around $400K ARR and 10,000+ members.
2022 — Launched the Ben's Bites AI newsletter in October.
2025 — Joined Factory as head of developer relations for several months.
2026 — Ben's Bites passed roughly 120K subscribers as he focused on AI investing and writing.

How Ben builds

You don't need to code to build real products — tools and AI agents close the gap.
Teach in public: educational content and community are a business in themselves.
A single public post can open doors; Makerpad's acquisition started with a tweet.
Don't sacrifice your operating principles to make a deal happen.

Learn from Ben Tossell

[newsletter]

Ben's Bites

Daily digest of the most important AI news, tools and workflows for builders.

by Ben Tossell

[podcast]

Ben Tossell of Makerpad (Indie Hackers Podcast)

Interview about building Makerpad and teaching no-code.

by Ben Tossell

Ben Tossell vs Greg Isenberg

Ben Tossell FAQ

Who is Ben Tossell?

Ben Tossell is a non-technical builder and investor who founded Makerpad, sold it to Zapier in 2021, and then launched the Ben's Bites AI newsletter in 2022.

How much was Makerpad making when Zapier bought it?

Tossell told They Got Acquired that Makerpad had more than 10,000 members and roughly $400K in annual recurring revenue before the acquisition; the price was not disclosed.

What is Ben's Bites?

Ben's Bites is a daily AI newsletter founded by Ben Tossell in October 2022 that covers the most important AI news and tools for builders, with over 100,000 subscribers.