How MarsX was created

There has been no innovation in development practices for over 20 years. With MarsX we are on a mission to change that. We are taking the whole approach of development to the next level.

Why?

• It takes forever to build software.
• It's difficult and buggy.
• It's hard to find developers and people keep trying to reinvent the wheel when in reality we just need to make it even more efficient.
• 80% of projects share 80% of their code.

The Founder of MarsX - John Rush

I am John Rush, a tech entrepreneur with a passion for building innovative startups that solve real-world problems. My journey as a founder began over 15 years ago and has taken me from Norway to Istanbul, where I now call home. Throughout my career, I have had the opportunity to work on a wide range of projects, from B2B to B2C, and have learned valuable lessons along the way.

My expertise lies in the technical side of startups, having honed my skills as a software developer for over two decades. My education in computer science and interaction design, as well as my experience in artificial intelligence, has equipped me with the knowledge and experience needed to bring complex technical concepts to life.

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One of my proudest achievements is the creation of MarsX, a low-code development platform that has revolutionized the way software developers build web and mobile apps. With over 261 projects already on the platform, MarsX has been designed to make the app development process quicker and more efficient, saving developers up to 90% of the time typically spent coding. The platform is open-source, providing developers with the flexibility they need to create the custom features they require without having to write the code from scratch.

My experience extends far beyond just the technical side of startups. I have also had the opportunity to get involved in other areas such as design, fundraising, and CEO role, as well as marketing and sales. This broad experience has given me a unique perspective on the challenges that startups face and the skills required to overcome them.

The idea of MarsX

As a software developer and founder of several startups, I've faced a common challenge: building the software to build the product. I remember building my first startup, where it felt all natural to build everything from scratch. But as I continued to start and join more startups, I noticed that a lot of the features were almost identical to ones I had built before. It was a waste of time and resources to constantly reinvent the wheel.

In 2018, I had an epiphany. I wanted to simplify my own job and make it easier for others as well. I realized that in every project I worked on, 90% of a developer's time was spent on building simple, routine things, leaving only 10% for the unique and innovative aspects of the project. Traditional software development was a pain and not convenient. I wanted to change that.

I thought what if we build a language that operates not with the buttons and inputs and radios and labels but actually operates with features where I can say “I want a user to put a review”, “ I want a user to search for the listings”, “I want a user to book a stay here” and so on. That's where we went. But we also felt that there’s no way for us to pre-build absolutely everything a user would need. There will always be something not quite customized.

How do we solve that?

There are three solutions:

• Instead of making users code basic things that every other app has, we’d create micro-apps with these features.
• Giving complete freedom to developers to do what they want with the micro-apps.
• Create an all-in-one Dev IDE where you can create cross-platform apps on iOS, Android, and the Web.

It's a full-stack platform with back-end and front-end - everything in one place. And if you feel like you need to customize it, you’re free to build on top of it too.

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I tried using no-code solutions, but eventually hit a ceiling and had to start over with custom code. That's when I decided to build something of my own to make my work more effective and efficient. Little did I know, this tool would eventually turn into MarsX.

With MarsX, we can reuse micro-apps from project to project, saving time and resources. I saw the potential for this idea because a lot of the things in the projects I was involved in were the same. For example, the login window, admin portal, user profile, and search features were all almost identical. That's when I realized I had to build a way to share the code beyond just libraries.

I'm proud to say that MarsX has been successful in simplifying software development and making it more accessible to developers everywhere. And it all started from my own pain and frustration as a software developer.

The inspiration for MarsX

As a serial entrepreneur, I spent a decade working on various startup projects as a CTO. I was always on the lookout for new opportunities and would join early-stage startups as a technical co-founder. My aim was to build the MVPs they needed, and in return, I would receive equity. This approach allowed me to learn a lot, but I noticed a recurring pattern. Almost every time I built an MVP, I felt like I was starting from scratch. Although I could see pieces of code from other projects that I could use, traditional programming made it difficult to reuse code. It wasn't as simple as just grabbing a piece of code and inserting it into my project. I had to figure out how to integrate it, which often involved writing new code from scratch.

After ten years of building MVPs, I was tired of repeating the same process and wanted to find a way to streamline my workflow. I searched for tools that would allow me to build features and reuse them in future projects, but I was disappointed with what I found. On one hand, there were no-code tools that were too limited, and on the other hand, there were libraries that were difficult to extract and use in other projects. That's when I had an epiphany - I needed to create a system that would allow me to build micro-apps that represented full-stack features.

And that's how MarsX was born. I wanted to build a platform where developers could create micro-apps that represented specific features, such as a search function, an admin table, or a login and registration system. The idea was that by creating a library of micro-apps, I could reuse them in future projects, reducing the amount of time it took to build new features.

At first, MarsX was just an idea to help me build other startups more efficiently. I never imagined that it would turn into a startup of its own. But as I started using it for my own projects, I quickly realized the potential of the platform, and that's when I decided to turn it into a business.

Learn more about what is MarsX in our other article - What is MarsX

The process of building MarsX and microapps

It all started in 2018, when I was working on my main tech startup and serving as a part-time CTO for two other startups. I was constantly feeling the need for a more efficient way to build software and that's when the idea for Mars X was born.

At the beginning, I worked on Mars X in my free time, during weekends and evenings. My goal was to create a tool that would allow me to put together ready-made blocks of functionality, like a Lego set for software development. I wanted to make it simple for developers and non-developers alike to customize and connect these blocks, without being limited by their functionality.

So, I started working on the first version of Mars X. Sleep and startups don't mix well, and for about three months straight, I was up all night working on the project. It was a grueling process, but it gave me a clear perspective of what I wanted to achieve and how. In December, I finished the first version, which was a simple yet feasible solution to validate my idea. To my surprise, it looked very promising, and I started to assemble a team to help me build the second version.

But as I progressed, I realized that I could take it to the next level by building Mars X on MarsX itself. I wanted to prove to myself and others that my vision was sound, and that MarsX could support the creation of microapps and other projects. So, in the second and third month, I dedicated myself to building MarsX using MarsX.

Over the next year, our dev community has grown to 15 people and we built Mars X 2.0, which was our community-based pet project. During this time, the idea of a community-based platform was born, and we started to see the potential for a new economy built around our microapps.

My first few users were startups I had worked with previously, and I was able to secure them within three months of starting. With the MVP in place, I had three users who were using Mars X to build their own projects.

We envision thousands of micro-apps that are being created by developers who make a living out of it, it's a next-generation open-source. In an actual open-source library a lot of things end up being abandoned, no one is interested in maintaining it. On Mars they actually make money so they are working hard every day to support and grow that stuff.

For example, you're using a chat from a freelancer or a company that is just focused on doing that for a living. Imagine the quality of that chat, compared to the one you would build in-house. Best case scenario, you’ll get an average barely working chat. Whereas the one from Mars X would be a Messenger level or a Slack level chat.

So that's the whole idea. Some developers focus really hard and use best practices for certain micro-apps and then the other developers just take those micro-apps and put them together and write their business logic using code.

So we're not the visual builder. Everything is done in code but you have to write maybe five percent of the code you would have to write otherwise.

And about publishing to the App Store and others. We are not holding you back. It’s your code and you’re free to take it and run it yourself. But in order to get the micro-apps you’ll have to come back. We’re still running the library and the marketplace.

Learn more about MicroApps in our other article - What is Microapp