Base44A reservist built his partner an app. Wix paid $80M.

Months later, Wix paid $80 million for his app. Maor Shlomo had already run a startup that raised $125 million. After a year of reserve duty, he wanted something small.

His partner, a tattoo artist, needed software for her studios. "So that's how I started Base44, with the intention of allowing my wife to build her own tools for her business." No investors.

He wanted Base.com. It was taken, so he added numbers until one was free. He landed on 44.

Then a rival raised close to $100 million. He didn't raise a dollar. He ignored the rival and built whatever his users asked for.

In May, it made $189,000 in profit. In June, Wix bought it for $80 million in cash, six months after he started. Today, it reportedly makes $200 million a year.

"For most of its life, Base44 was actually a one-person operation. It was just me and a bunch of agents." He never built it for the market.