Hiram Núñez: How I built my career with no-code tools

No-code enthusiasts and companies are united by a common goal—to eliminate unnecessary obstacles for toolmakers in an increasingly digital world. Baserow, for example, empowers everyone with the abilities of a developer. For individuals like Hiram Núñez, our hero in today’s story, no-code development provides the freedom to bring their ideas to life quickly and independently.

Meet Hiram Núñez (@HiramFromTheChi)

One of the best no-code enthusiasts whose tool stack counts 80+ tools is Hiram Núñez. You might know him online as @HiramFromTheChi.

Hiram is always up for a challenge. He is the Founder of Swyftlight and Tee Tweets, a UX Content Strategist at Ernst & Young, a Marketing & Automation Expert at HubSpot, and the Head of Templates at Baserow (we’re lucky to have him on board).

Hiram is committed to his principles. As a strong advocate for digital privacy and security, he always seeks out and uses open-source alternatives for products. Hiram is a connector and creator. He frequently undertakes projects to optimize his work and enhance productivity. See how Hiram learned visual development, content creation, marketing, and more to create things that would typically require entire teams.

What do you like about no-code development?

The first thing that comes to mind is the democratization of development. The reason is that this leads to opportunities that others might not otherwise have.

Only about 0.3% of the world knows how to code. Imagine if only 0.3% of the world could read. No-code/low-code breaks down the software language barrier, allowing you to bring your ideas to life without relying on others.

This brings me to my next point—the speed of development. Those ideas you dream about while in the shower can now become a reality.

While there are limitations to building without code, don’t be fooled—there are incredibly well-built, complex apps out there that push the boundaries of what visual development can achieve.

The fact that you can build an Uber clone without writing a line of code is mind-blowing. Just recently, I saw someone build a Canva clone without code. If this is what’s happening now, imagine what the no-code landscape will look like in two years, let alone ten.

What do you dislike about no-code development?

Some people are trying to build a following just because it’s trendy and “cool” right now. Many are riding this wave out of selfish reasons to try to capitalize on the movement and be seen as “The No-Code Guy” or as “The \[something-else-related-to-no-code\] Guy.”

This has resulted in a lot of superficial advice circulating. While I understand the excitement behind the movement, I can’t help but notice the fluff that can be applied to anything else.

When something gains enough attention, others will repeat it word-for-word or slightly modify it to benefit from it. I’m not a fan of that.

One major issue in visual development that needs to be addressed is vendor lock-in. We saw the impact of this when Bubble proposed a different pricing structure.

People’s entire businesses were on the brink of collapse. It garnered so much attention that Bubble’s forum literally broke. This relates to a bunch of other different issues that exist too, of course, but the fact that a pricing structure caused that much commotion is representative of larger issues that have to do with vendor lock-in.

Bubble has promised to open-source the entire platform if they were to go under, but other platforms also face this issue, making it a significant vulnerability for those building without code.

The more open your platform is, the more people actually want to join and build with it.

What are your mandatory steps before starting a new project?

When it comes to freelancing or advisory work, three things come to mind immediately:

• Determining requirements
• Scoping accurately
• Working with good companies/people

For my own no-code projects, I start with the problem. When inspiration strikes, I jot down the problem in my "incubator” list.

Next, I spend time brainstorming solutions. At this stage, there are no wrong answers. I transfer all the ideas spinning in my head onto my incubator list.

Once I’ve thoroughly thought about the problem and potential solutions, I take notes on how I could execute the solution. While I consider the tech stack, I also focus on the business side, similar to what you would find on a Business Model Canvas. This includes:

• Value proposition(s)
• Revenue streams
• Key partners
• Key activities
• Key resources
• Channels
• Cost structure
• Customer segments
• Customer relationships

When inspiration strikes, take advantage of it and write everything down.

Are there builders that inspire you?

I admire everyone contributing to the no-code movement. But true movements are decentralized and not tied to a single individual or a small group.

The developers, teams, and companies who are helping create this abstraction layer we call no-code and visual development are the ones driving a lot of this growth.

Take Baserow, for example—it’s not just about the no-code relational database itself, but also the focus on being open source and developer-friendly. This allows anyone to set up an instance, have control over their data, and contribute if they wish. The combination of functionality, team, and openness makes Baserow exceptional.

Bubble has come a long way since its early days with a .is domain. I consider Bubble one of the original pioneers, demonstrating that it is indeed possible to build complex apps without code.

Speaking of Bubble, I’m impressed by what Tom is doing with Saltcorn. It aims to be an open-source Bubble, providing an end-to-end solution that includes the frontend, backend, and database.

Webstudio is another product that emerged from a similar situation. It is an open-source alternative to Webflow. The fact that it also has a .is domain, like Bubble did in its early days, gives me hope for something big.

I’d include Zapier as being another player in the space that carved out room for others. We’re now seeing the emergence of n8n, which is an open source automation platform.

(It’s hard to tell I’m loving the emergence of open source in no-code, right? I know.)

I also want to give a shoutout to Draftbit, which focuses on native mobile apps. Being based in Chicago, they have generously invited me to work at their office, allowing me to witness their values and efforts behind the scenes. This experience has left me inspired and optimistic about the movement. Experiencing these products as an end user is one thing, but getting to know the people behind them is another.

There’s so much more I could talk about here. That’s what makes this movement great—everyone is building in their own way, pushing the boundaries forward.

What project are you most proud of?

It’s hard for me to choose a single favorite project because each one has a different mission and was built at a different stage of my life for various reasons. However, I believe my early projects played a significant role in shaping who I am today.

While I didn’t create a unicorn on my first attempt, the experience of bootstrapping something from scratch is invaluable.

During my first semester at Indiana University, I caught the entrepreneurial bug and wanted to start something. What exactly? Anything. I had no specific idea in mind. I just wanted to see what I could create.

After reading a book about the importance of blogging, I started InThePaintCrew, a basketball media outlet born out of my love for the game. Although InThePaintCrew didn’t generate revenue (that wasn’t its purpose), it grew steadily and experienced viral spikes that brought in significant traffic.

I consider Tee Tweets my first “real” business, which I started during my last semester at Indiana University.

I noticed an opportunity for Tee Tweets after observing the attention around Twitter and the intense political climate. Through Twitter exploration, I realized that some people would be interested not only in wearing tweets on t-shirts and hoodies but also in wearing them in different ways.

Thus, Tee Tweets was born. To my surprise, I was right—people bought Tee Tweets to wear them in various ways. Some wore them in support of the tweet, while others wore them in protest. Some wore them sarcastically, for special events, for style, or to make a statement. I’m constantly amazed by the creativity Tee Tweets fans display when wearing their shirts, hoodies, and sweaters.

Other projects, like The TXT Hub and Recurbee, were built for different purposes. The TXT Hub allowed me to learn new no-code tools. I stumbled upon a competition while being involved in the community. Besides the chance to win a lifetime membership to Makerpad, it was an opportunity to challenge myself and build something using software I had never used before, such as Zapier, Twilio, Sheets, Stripe, and others.

Recurbee was also created for a competition (ironically, a Makerpad competition) based on a personal need. However, I built it and never continued developing or marketing it, mainly because I was waiting to rebuild it using Bubble’s new responsive engine.

No-Code Calendar and CookieSlayers were born out of personal desires as well.

I’ve consolidated all of my knowledge and experience via Swyftlight, which is sort of the Berkshire-Hathaway to my other projects.

What is the craziest idea you want to build with no-code tools one day?

I maintain an “incubator” list where I jot down ideas when inspiration strikes. Some of them are a bit quirky, but I don’t think I’ve come up with my “craziest” idea yet.

Things change once you start building, so I believe the craziest idea will reveal itself as I continue working on these projects.

What tools are in your day-to-day no-code bundle?

It depends on what I’m doing, but as the Head of Templates at Baserow, Baserow is an essential part of my daily stack. I was already a fan of Baserow before joining the team.

I also spend a significant amount of time on Airtable because two of my clients use it. One of those clients recently adopted Airtable, and I serve as a resource for their software and database-related questions as they get over 200 employees to use it.

Another part of my no-code stack is ClickUp, which I use both personally and professionally. With so many things going on at once, I try to keep as much as I can organize there with family, friends, clients, and employees/contractors.

I have a food voting list on Coda that I share with friends and family when we can’t decide what to eat. It’s a list of about fifty restaurants, and everyone can vote. I also have more complex documents on Coda that utilize buttons and formulas.

While Bubble is not yet part of my daily routine, it will be once I become more comfortable with the new responsive engine.

CookieSlayers and No-Code Calendar are both powered by Softr and Airtable.

My website, hiram.io, currently runs on Brizy after being built on WordPress and Webflow. There was also a time when I frequently used Carrd.

You can check out my entire no-code stack here.

What do you like about Baserow?

It all starts with our commitment to open source.

Even though I’m not a software engineer, I understand the value and importance of open-source software. I always strive to use open-source software whenever possible. Open source ensures longevity, which is crucial for building user confidence in the long run, especially in the early stages.

Our embrace of openness also serves a higher purpose—it pushes open-source software to become the default.

This paves the way for self-hosting Baserow, whether you’re an indie developer or an organization of any size. Having control over your data and complying with global data privacy and security regulations will continue to be essential. Baserow is ahead of the curve in this regard.

Another aspect of Baserow that I admire is our flourishing community. It’s great to see the ideas and contributions from the community. We engage with other no-code and open-source enthusiasts, sparking creative discussions within and beyond Baserow.

The team and culture at Baserow are fantastic. Everyone is friendly, collaborative, and knowledgeable. (The developers, in particular, communicate in code that surpasses my understanding.) We trust and rely on each other when needed.

Over the past year, we have experienced growth in various areas, and our team and product reflect that.

What functionality do you lack the most in Baserow?

I’d say we need to tighten things up when it comes to formulas. When I first joined Baserow, we didn’t even have formulas. So the fact that we have them now is awesome. But there are a handful of quirks to work out.

We also need better documentation, especially for formulas. Baserow has incredible capabilities (some users even build entirely new apps on top of Baserow), so it’s crucial to share this with the world.

Thanks for sharing your story with us, Hiram!

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