In partnership with
The Weekend That Changed Everything
Most successful products start with someone solving their own annoying problem.
David Bressler was on paternity leave in August 2022, still grinding through Excel formulas for clients. He got tired of it and built a simple tool: describe what you need in plain English, get the formula instantly.
He called it Formula Bot and posted it on Twitter.
100,000 visitors showed up in 24 hours. His OpenAI bill hit $4,999 in one week. He had no pricing model.
Three years later? $276,000 to $360,000 annually. Solo founder. Fully bootstrapped. Zero outside funding.
This breakdown shows his exact tech stack, real costs, and how you could replicate it with different tools depending on your needs.
The Real Tech Stack
Why Bubble Works Here
Bubble is perfect for Formula Bot because the logic is straightforward: users upload data, ask questions, get results. No real-time collaboration. No thousands of concurrent users. No complex integrations.
Bubble handles this beautifully at $29-65/month.
OpenAI API costs $2,000-3,000/month at David's scale. Stripe takes its cut. Email and hosting another $200-300.
Total monthly costs: roughly $3,265.
Monthly revenue: $23,000-30,000.
Gross profit: $19,500-27,500.
A solo founder pulling profit that would require a 5-person team elsewhere.
But Bubble has limits. If David needed real-time collaborative editing, thousands of concurrent users, or integrations with 20+ systems, Bubble would strain.
Most founders hit this wall and abandon Bubble for something more flexible.
How to Replicate With n8n
Maybe your problem is different. You need complex backend orchestration, asynchronous processing, integration flexibility.
Enter n8n.
Think of n8n as a visual programming language for backends. String together nodes like building blocks: API call → transform data → check condition → send to database → trigger email → log result.
Here's the architecture:
Architecture Stack
- Frontend: Bubble (UI, auth, user experience)
- Backend: n8n (logic, API calls, data processing)
- AI: n8n connects to OpenAI API
- Webhooks: Bubble calls n8n, n8n returns results
- Database: Supabase or Firebase
- Payments: Stripe
User experience stays identical. Backend is completely different.
When You're Ready to Stop Being Solo
David runs Formula Bot alone. Works at $30K MRR. But when you hit $100K+ and need a global team?
Deel handles hiring, payroll, and compliance in 150+ countries. ⤵
AI in HR? It’s happening now.
Deel's free 2026 trends report cuts through all the hype and lays out what HR teams can really expect in 2026. You’ll learn about the shifts happening now, the skill gaps you can't ignore, and resilience strategies that aren't just buzzwords. Plus you’ll get a practical toolkit that helps you implement it all without another costly and time-consuming transformation project.
Why this matters: You own the entire backend. Add integrations without permission. Build complex logic. Scale to thousands of concurrent users. Version control your workflows.
Cost Comparison at $30K MRR
Bubble + n8n approach runs $3,629-3,929/month — slightly more expensive than Bubble-only. But the n8n stack scales to $100K MRR without breaking. Bubble-only would struggle and eventually break.
The Real Numbers
First Year (Aug 2022-2023): $192,760 revenue
Current (2026): $23K-30K MRR
Total Users: 900,000+ signups
Paying Customers: 10,900+ users
Conversion: 1.2% of free users pay ($2-3/month average)
The margins are extraordinary. Payroll: zero (just him). Infrastructure: automated. Support: minimal.
He's running a $276K-360K annual business requiring maybe 30 hours/week.
Scale Your Amazon Sales Like David Scaled Formula Bot
David hit 900,000 users organically. Selling on Amazon? Levanta connects you with creators who drive traffic to your listings. ⤵
Pay for Results, Stop Paying for Traffic
Your problem isn’t traffic, it’s paying for useless clicks that never convert.
Levanta helps Amazon sellers shift from ad spend to performance based affiliate marketing so you only pay when a sale happens.
The Honest Truth
David solved a specific problem for a massive audience: Excel formulas. Everyone uses Excel. Millions waste hours on syntax.
His TAM is enormous.
If your problem is narrower, your ceiling is lower. That's math, not pessimism.
What you can steal from David:
Solve your own problem – He was frustrated. That passion matters.
Launch fast – Weekend MVP. No perfection.
Choose the right tools – Bubble was perfect for this problem.
Stay capital efficient – Zero funding. Every dollar counts.
Know when to quit your job – Only signal that matters.
Which Stack for You?
Use Bubble + OpenAI if
Logic is straightforward, speed matters, complexity is low.
Use Bubble + n8n if
You need flexible orchestration, multiple integrations, thinking beyond MVP.
Use Pure n8n if
Building an automation/integration business for other businesses, need white-label flexibility.
Learn more about
The Real Lesson
David built a $300K+ annual business by seeing a problem, solving it in a weekend, and shipping it.
No funding. No team. No overthinking.
The tools are accessible. The barrier to entry is lower than ever. What separates success is simple: ship first, optimize later, keep going when it's boring.
David did that. The market doesn't care about your pedigree. It cares whether you solve a real problem better than anyone else.
Now it's your turn.
What Smart Founders Do With Profits
David's taking home $20K-27K monthly. Where does that cash go?
Masterworks lets you invest in multimillion-dollar art - the same assets billionaires use for diversification. ⤵
Last Time the Market Was This Expensive, Investors Waited 14 Years to Break Even
In 1999, the S&P 500 peaked. Then it took 14 years to gradually recover by 2013.
Today? Goldman Sachs sounds crazy forecasting 3% returns for 2024 to 2034.
But we’re currently seeing the highest price for the S&P 500 compared to earnings since the dot-com boom.
So, maybe that’s why they’re not alone; Vanguard projects about 5%.
In fact, now just about everything seems priced near all time highs. Equities, gold, crypto, etc.
But billionaires have long diversified a slice of their portfolios with one asset class that is poised to rebound.
It’s post war and contemporary art.
Sounds crazy, but over 70,000 investors have followed suit since 2019—with Masterworks.
You can invest in shares of artworks featuring Banksy, Basquiat, Picasso, and more.
24 exits later, results speak for themselves: net annualized returns like 14.6%, 17.6%, and 17.8%.*
My subscribers can skip the waitlist.
*Investing involves risk. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. Important Reg A disclosures: masterworks.com/cd.
SOURCES & VERIFICATION
YouTube Interviews:
Official Case Studies:
Founder Social & Public Statements:
Stay sharp,
Better Every Day
