The New Build

Brian Henderson's experience managing his family's laundromats revealed a technology gap across the entire industry‌ — ‌so he built a separate company to solve it. Wash-Dry-Fold POS now serves over 1,200 laundromats across all 50 states, and in 2023, Brian and his co-founder purchased the original three family stores that inspired it all.

In this episode, Abhinav talks with Brian about how he identified a desperate need at laundromat trade shows, why he spent years reselling other people's software before building his own, and the specific challenges of integrating Bubble apps with physical hardware like cash drawers, receipt printers, and washing machines. You'll hear why two competitors each spent $100K+ and failed to build what he succeeded at, his framework for deploying updates to physical locations without interrupting transactions, and why he believes we're living in a "Star Trek era" where non-coders can solve complex problems.

Topics covered:
Why he resold other software for 3 years before building his own
The $150K lesson: Two competitors who failed at custom development
Building SaaS + hardware: Cash drawers, printers, and washing machines
Deploying Bubble updates to physical locations without breaking transactions
Starting Wash-Dry-Fold POS as a side business in 2016
Coming full circle: Buying the family's three laundromats in 2023
The "1,000 iterations to success" philosophy
Solving supply chain and sales tax when shipping hardware
Integrating with industry giants: First POS to connect with Alliance Laundry Systems' API

Find this episode’s full show notes here:
* https://bubble.io/blog/the-new-build-04-brian-henderson
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Links:
Learn more about Brian’s businesses:
Wash-Dry-Fold POS: washdryfoldpos.com
Liberty Laundry: libertylaundryok.com
Hear more about the Laundromat Ownership podcast (hosted by Brian’s co-founder Ian Gollahon): laundromat-ownership.com
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Chapters
[00:01:14] Brian introduces Wash-Dry-Fold POS and the path from family laundromat to software company
[00:04:44] Inside the laundromat trade show world: the Clean Show and a billion-dollar niche most people overlook
[00:08:28] The origin story: how Liberty Laundry launched, and the moment technology entered the picture
[00:15:54] The silo problem that inspired Wash-Dry-Fold POS — and an industry first with Alliance Laundry Systems
[00:17:25] Coming full circle: leaving the family business, founding Wash-Dry-Fold POS, and buying back the original laundromats in 2023
[00:22:56] The eureka moment: automating invoicing for one customer — and why bundling hardware and software beats letting customers choose their own setup
[00:29:40] A thousand iterations to success: why getting paying customers early always beats building the perfect product in isolation
[00:35:15] Playbook for founders: hardware logistics tips and why you don't need anyone's permission to get started
[00:39:48] Rapid fire: Bubble as a creative vs. technical tool, the waterproof shower notepad, and the mistake most new founders make
[00:42:42] The Star Trek era of building: why defining the problem clearly is the most important skill in an AI-powered world

Before he even launched the Turing app, Vai Singh grew his YouTube channel to over 45,000 subscribers in less than a year‌ — ‌while working full-time as head of strategy at a major European space services firm and raising a young daughter. The science education platform he built next proves you don't need to quit your job to build something real.
In this episode, Abhinav talks with Vai about his distribution-first strategy: why he built YouTube audience before perfecting his product, how he knew which feedback to act on versus ignore, and the specific tools (Bubble, AI, Canva) that let him operate as essentially a one-person company. You'll hear why it took 15-20 videos before anything caught on, his framework for ruthless prioritization when you have limited time, and why he believes we're not far from single-person unicorns.
Topics covered:
Why YouTube came before the mobile app (distribution-first strategy)
The 15-20 video threshold: What it actually takes to gain traction
How to filter constructive criticism from noise
Building a native mobile app on Bubble in 4 weeks during summer vacation
Balancing full-time work, family, and entrepreneurship through automation
Using AI to 10x output: Research, content creation, and task automation
When "good enough to not frustrate users" beats perfect
Why passion gives you energy instead of draining it
The tools that make single-person companies possible
Find this episode’s full show notes here:
https://bubble.io/blog/the-new-build-03-turing-app
Links:
Turing App: theturingapp.com
Vai’s favorite science lesson: https://theturingapp.com/show_index/relativity--the-special-and-the-general-theory
Download: iOS | Android
Start building: bubble.io
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Chapters
[00:01:26] Introduction: Meet Vai, the strategy executive building Turing App on the side
[00:02:44] The moment everything changed: How his daughter's birth triggered entrepreneurship
[00:03:36] Discovering the content gap during late-night parental leave walks
[00:05:25] Breaking free from finance's "golden handcuffs" to pursue passion
[00:07:24] Why content comes first: Using YouTube to validate before building
[00:11:00] The Special Relativity series that changed everything
[00:13:00] Four weeks to launch: Building the first version on Bubble
[00:15:00] The "not frustrating users" standard vs. perfectionist paralysis
[00:19:00] The 15-video rule: Why persistence beats perfection on YouTube
[00:21:00] Single-person unicorns: How modern tools are changing the entrepreneurship game
[00:25:10] Life-changing advice from an Afghanistan veteran with a bullet near his heart
[00:29:48] Bubble announcements & Outro

Fuzzy Khosrowshahi has scaled three products to billions of users: Google Sheets, Slack, and now Notion. His approach? Surround himself with experts, ship before it's perfect, and bundle strategically.
In this episode, Bubble co-founder Emmanuel Straschnov talks with the Notion CTO about the strategies behind building and scaling products that actually win. Fuzzy breaks down why bundling creates defensive moats that single products can't match, why Microsoft Office's strategy still dominates decades later, and why the fastest path to validation is building something you can use yourself. You'll hear why he believes founders waste too much time chasing perfection, how he leads AI strategy without being an AI expert, and the one mistake that kills companies after they find product-market fit.
Topics covered:
Why the fastest validation is building what you'll use yourself
The bundling playbook: How Microsoft, Google, and Notion win
Shipping imperfect products vs. waiting for perfect ones
Leading without being the expert: Surrounding yourself with people who know more
Why AI and MCP servers might break the bundling model
Intuition vs. data: When Google went too far with metrics
The mistake that kills companies after product-market fit: Resting on your laurels
Links:
Notion: notion.so
Start building: bubble.io
From Prototype to Profit launch program: prototype-to-profit.bubbleapps.io
Emmanuel’s February AMA: bble.io/ama-feb-2026
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Chapters
[00:00:00] Introduction: Fuzzy's path from life insurance to Notion CTO
[00:02:54] How running a Subway franchise shaped his approach to management
[00:07:26] The banking insight that sparked the idea for web-based spreadsheets
[00:11:23] Getting acquired by Google and the early skepticism about Sheets
[00:14:22] Leading Slack during COVID and whether it reached its full potential
[00:19:41] Why Notion is winning against Google and Microsoft
[00:22:47] The bundling strategy: why suites win and whether AI changes that
[00:30:36] His honest take on vibe coding and why good engineers still matter
[00:36:10] Advice for builders: ship fast, validate fast, never rest on your laurels
[00:38:17] Outro: Prototype to Profit cohort and in-app purchases announcement
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The New Build is a bi-weekly podcast from Bubble exploring how solo founders and small teams are shipping real products to millions of users with modern tools. Subscribe for their playbooks — and start building yours.

Six weeks before SXSW Sydney, Paloma Newton and Jackson Gritching made a decision that would define their startup: pivot their entire business strategy, build an MVP from scratch, and compete on one of the world's biggest stages.
In this episode, Abhinav talks with the co-founders of Elita Blueprint about how they won their category at SXSW Sydney while simultaneously building their pet health platform on Bubble. Paloma shares her pitch strategy‌ — ‌from synthesizing a complex biotech story into 3 minutes to getting booed from the audience (in a good way). Jackson reveals what it's like building the product the night before launch. Together, they break down the new playbook for pitching under pressure.
Topics covered:
Why SXSW became their forcing function for the pivot
Choosing Bubble with zero dev experience and a 6-week deadline
The pitch strategy: Telling a human story in 3 minutes
What actually happens when you win (and the judge who got booed)
Their playbook for pitch competitions
Find this episode’s full show notes here:
https://bubble.io/blog/the-new-build-01-elita
Links:
Elita Blueprint:elita.pet

Sign up to be a Elita Blueprint Beta user herehttps://install.page/elita

Follow Elita on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/elita.pet/

Follow Elita on Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@elita.pet

Follow Elita on Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/company/elitapet/

Start building on Bubble:bubble.io

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Chapters
[00:00] Introduction to the episode and the Elita founders
[01:59] The origin story: how a pandemic puppy named Edgar sparked a pet health startup
[05:59] How stem cell banking for pets actually works
[09:14] Why everything pointed toward building a digital platform — despite no software experience
[14:09] The SXSW Sydney deadline and getting investor buy-in on the pivot
[19:17] “Being the robot” — why Paloma manually handled the first 50 concierge requests
[23:29] The Cindy Gallup moment: telling a hero “I’m about to quit my job and start a company”
[30:51] The hardest part of crafting a three-minute pitch for a complex business
[36:07] Pitch day nerves and why being anxious shows you care
[40:56] The moment they knew they had won — when the audience booed a judge
[45:52] The playbook for pitching: iteration before practice, and knowing when to play
[52:57] Hot take: entrepreneurs aren’t paying enough attention to their customers
[57:47] Most memorable career feedback: “You have an unhealthy bias toward action”
[1:03:41] Bubble updates, Academy refresh, and Bubble Tip of the Week
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The New Build is a bi-weekly podcast from Bubble exploring how solo founders and small teams are shipping real products to millions of users with modern tools. Subscribe for their playbooks — and start building yours.

Meet the solo founders and small teams building apps that reach millions of users — without traditional dev teams. The New Build is a biweekly video podcast that breaks down exactly how.

Hosted by Bubble co-founder Emmanuel Straschnov and producer Abhinav Narain, we have candid conversations with founders building with modern tools and leaders at the forefront of the industry. What worked, what didn't — no fluff, just real tactics and takeaways.

Subscribe for:
Real founder stories from the Bubble community
Tactical insights from builders 6-18 months ahead of you
The mistakes they made so you can avoid them
Proof that the rules have changed

🔔 New episodes every other week
🔗 Start building: bubble.io