In early 2025, an Israeli developer launched a side project on his own: a tool that builds applications from a simple text description. No investors, no team at the start. Six months later, website giant Wix signed an $80 million check to buy it.
His name: Maor Shlomo. His product: Base44. And his story has become the most-cited example of the “vibe coding” phenomenon.
Lightning growth without a cent spent on ads
- 10,000 users in the first three weeks, according to Calcalist.
- Around 250,000 users six months after launch.
- $189,000 in profit in a single month, publicly announced by the founder, despite the high cost of AI models.
- Fewer than 10 employees at the time of the acquisition, and a single shareholder: him.
How did he do it?
Maor Shlomo has told his story in detail, notably on Lenny Rachitsky’s podcast. Three choices stand out: a product that does one thing very well (turning an idea into a working app), a constant presence on social media where he shared his numbers and new features in public, and paying users from the start rather than a funding round.
It was not his first project.
He had already co-founded Explorium, a data startup backed by Insight Partners. AI sped up the work; experience did the rest.
These stories are real, but they are exceptions.
For every success in the headlines, thousands of projects never take off. What you can copy is not the result, it is the method.
What a Swiss entrepreneur can learn from it
- One person can now build and sell real software.
- Showing your work in public attracts first customers better than an ad budget.
- Charging early validates the idea more reliably than thousands of free users.
- The vibe coding tools that Base44 represents are accessible to everyone: that is exactly what the course teaches.
What if you built your own tool with AI?
One-to-one vibe coding course by video: we start from your idea and put it online together, step by step.
Sources: TechCrunch (June 18, 2025), Calcalist / CTech, Lenny’s Podcast (interview with Maor Shlomo).