Max Haining (@HainingMax) - An introverted community builder taking over no-code education

WHY HE'S FEATURED:

• Building and running 100 Days of No Code, one of the most popular communities for learning no-code, which got #1 Product of the WEEK in January 2022 on Product Hunt

• After one year of running the community on the side, Max went full-time in March 2021, and is now basically growing an empire around learning no-code with a no-code program for kids and a new No Code MVP Bootcamp

• Has helped over 4k+ people learn no-code

• Rallied his community to do a no-code hackathon for supporting Ukrainian refugees

• Used to hold umbrellas for professional tennis players at Wimbledon

Max has been a friend of mine ever since we were in On Deck's first No-Code Cohort (ODNC1). So I had a real treat this week getting to dig more into what he's been up to recently. In summary—Max is growing an empire in the no-code education space. And what a great space to be in. According to VentureBeat, if the current trends continue, the market for low-code and no-code could increase from $13.2 billion in 2020 to $45.5 billion by 2025 with a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 28.1%. You could say Max is in the right place at the right time.

What started as a personal experiment, and grew into an community, is now expanding rapidly with more programs for different audiences. He has a program for complete beginners, he has a program for people ready to build an MVP, he even has a program for kids. He's now the go-to resource I recommend people just starting out with No-Code to check out.

So how does he do it!? We all want to know—what are Max's strategies and habits?

3 Strategies that Changed Max's trajectory:

• 🔁 Consistently tweeting about ONE topic - Seriously, does he talk about anything else other than No-Code? Just kidding. This is a great strategy and reminds me of how @agazdecki of MicroAcquire never stops tweeting about growing and selling startups. It's brand building and it's brilliant.

• 💬 Leveraging user-generated content on social - Take a look at the #100daysofnocode hashtag and you'll see dozens of people everyday posting about their daily challenge. This is a great organic growth lever.

• 🧑‍💻 Showing up for his community - Max has hosted over 100 masterminds, 2 Kickoff Calls and 6 Demo Days. That's a lot of zoom. Which is probably why you always see him like this:

In terms of habits, I asked Max what 3 habits changed his trajectory as a maker. Here's what he said 👇

3 Habits that Changed Max's trajectory:

• 📆 Setting public deadlines - Perfectionism is the enemy of progress, at least it was for me, until I started publicly setting deadlines for projects I wanted to complete. By doing this, you lock yourself into shipping something. For example, I had been meaning to create daily emails for people taking the 100DaysOfNoCode challenge for a long time. Instead of procrastinating any longer, I announced it on Twitter without one email written. Within a month, I had 30+ done. This habit started when I began my own no-code learning journey by publicly committing to the 100daysofnocode challenge.

• 🧠 Being part of a mastermind - Being part of a mastermind group has been lifechanging for me. It’s a safe space for me to vent, share highs, lows and laugh with fellow creators. It’s also a weekly opportunity for me to re-set my mindset and outlook on things; basically like having positivity on tap. I dig a little deeper into the benefits of masterminds in this tweet.

• 😵‍💫 Being comfortable in the uncomfortable - As a founder, you have to wear most, if not all the hats. And some hats come less naturally to you than others. But with this, instead of shying away from my weaknesses, I’ve tried to use uncomfortable moments as opportunities for growth. For example, up until two years ago I was terrified of public speaking. Being a community builder has forced me to get a little more comfortable in this uncomfortable. I talk further about this here.

Thanks for sharing with us, Max. You're a true asset to the No-Code Movement and your focus and grit is truly inspiring.

Follow Max on Twitter here 👉 @HainingMax and check out 100daysofnocode.com if you're looking to jump into the amazing world of No-Code!

Build new habits + stick with them

Looking to build some new habits? Harold is a quirky text-messaging bot that helps you build new habits with one text message a day. 

You can use Harold to build habits like Max, for example:

• Did you set a public deadline this week?

• Did you tweet about your key topic today?

You'll be surprised what can happen with just 1 text message each day.