Ben Tossell

Founder of Makerpad and Ben's Bites, and early-stage investor^{Source [2]}^{Source [1]}^{Source [3]}

No-codeAI toolsNewslettersAngel investingOnline communities

Unclaimed profileLast verified Oct 2, 2026

About

Ben Tossell is a founder and investor known for the no-code education company Makerpad, which Zapier acquired in 2021, and the AI newsletter Ben's Bites. He describes himself as someone who builds with no-code and AI tools without writing code himself.^{Source [1]}^{Source [2]}^{Source [3]}

He entered tech through the Product Hunt community and was hired there in 2015 to help with launches and run community, staying until 2017. He then built more than 50 products with no-code tools before starting Makerpad, a tutorial site and community, in 2019.^{Source [2]}^{Source [4]}^{Source [5]}

Makerpad raised $350,000 from angel investors and grew to more than 8,000 members, and Zapier bought it in March 2021 as its first acquisition after Zapier CEO Wade Foster saw a tweet suggesting the deal. Tossell kept running Makerpad and later joined Zapier's AI team.^{Source [6]}^{Source [1]}^{Source [7]}^{Source [2]}

In 2022 he started Ben's Bites, a newsletter about AI news and tools that now lists more than 171,000 subscribers. He has invested since 2020 through an AngelList rolling fund first called Makerpad Fund, has been a scout for a16z and Sequoia, and lists seed investments in Supabase, Etched, Factory and SF Compute.^{Source [2]}^{Source [8]}^{Source [5]}^{Source [9]}^{Source [4]}^{Source [3]}

Watch

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Career

Makerpad

2019

Ben's Bites

2022 to now

Company	Years	Role	Status
Ben's Bites Started the AI newsletter Ben's Bites in 2022 while on Zapier's AI team; it has grown into a newsletter, paid community and investing brand.^{Source [2]} Launched the newsletter in 2022, about six weeks before ChatGPT was released (self-reported).^{Source [2]} The newsletter lists more than 171,000 subscribers on Substack (October 2026).^{Source [8]} Runs it with a small team, including Shanice, his former Makerpad COO, and sells a paid community tier at $80 per year.^{Source [2]} Suggest a correction to Ben's Bites	2022 to now	Founder^{Source [2]}	Active
Makerpad Founded the no-code tutorial and community site Makerpad in 2019, raised $350,000 from angels, and sold it to Zapier in March 2021, continuing to run it inside Zapier for about two years (self-reported).^{Source [1]}^{Source [2]}^{Source [6]} Started Makerpad in 2019 after building more than 50 products with no-code tools; he says it reached $30,000 a month in profit within about two months (self-reported).^{Source [2]}^{Source [1]} Raised $350,000 about six months after launch from Calm Company Fund, Andrew Wilkinson, Balaji Srinivasan, Sahil Lavingia and others (self-reported).^{Source [2]}^{Source [6]} Sold it to Zapier in March 2021 in Zapier's first acquisition; the price was not disclosed. He has said he owned 85% and the deal was cash plus equity vesting over four years (self-reported).^{Source [7]}^{Source [1]}^{Source [2]} At the sale Makerpad had more than 8,000 members per Zapier's release and about $400,000 in annual recurring revenue by his own account.^{Source [1]}^{Source [6]} Suggest a correction to Makerpad	2019	Founder and Chief Executive Officer^{Source [1]}^{Source [2]}	Acquired

Company

Years

Role

Status

Ben's Bites

Started the AI newsletter Ben's Bites in 2022 while on Zapier's AI team; it has grown into a newsletter, paid community and investing brand.^{Source [2]}

Launched the newsletter in 2022, about six weeks before ChatGPT was released (self-reported).^{Source [2]}
The newsletter lists more than 171,000 subscribers on Substack (October 2026).^{Source [8]}
Runs it with a small team, including Shanice, his former Makerpad COO, and sells a paid community tier at $80 per year.^{Source [2]}

Suggest a correction to Ben's Bites

2022 to now

Founder^{Source [2]}

Active

Makerpad

Founded the no-code tutorial and community site Makerpad in 2019, raised $350,000 from angels, and sold it to Zapier in March 2021, continuing to run it inside Zapier for about two years (self-reported).^{Source [1]}^{Source [2]}^{Source [6]}

Started Makerpad in 2019 after building more than 50 products with no-code tools; he says it reached $30,000 a month in profit within about two months (self-reported).^{Source [2]}^{Source [1]}
Raised $350,000 about six months after launch from Calm Company Fund, Andrew Wilkinson, Balaji Srinivasan, Sahil Lavingia and others (self-reported).^{Source [2]}^{Source [6]}
Sold it to Zapier in March 2021 in Zapier's first acquisition; the price was not disclosed. He has said he owned 85% and the deal was cash plus equity vesting over four years (self-reported).^{Source [7]}^{Source [1]}^{Source [2]}
At the sale Makerpad had more than 8,000 members per Zapier's release and about $400,000 in annual recurring revenue by his own account.^{Source [1]}^{Source [6]}

Suggest a correction to Makerpad

2019

Founder and Chief Executive Officer^{Source [1]}^{Source [2]}

Acquired

Milestones

2022Started the AI newsletter Ben's Bites while on Zapier's AI team.^{Source [2]}
2021-03Zapier acquired Makerpad, its first acquisition, for an undisclosed price.^{Source [7]}^{Source [1]}^{Source [10]}
2020-10Launched Makerpad Fund, a $1 million-plus a year AngelList rolling fund for early-stage no-code companies.^{Source [5]}
2019Founded Makerpad, a no-code tutorials site and community; raised $350,000 about six months later.^{Source [1]}^{Source [2]}
2015Joined Product Hunt to help with launches and run its community, staying until 2017.^{Source [2]}^{Source [4]}

Boards, investments and other roles

Organization	Role	Years
Ben Tossell's Rolling Fund (formerly Makerpad Fund)Investor	General partner^{Source [5]}^{Source [9]}^{Source [2]}	2020 to now
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)Investor	Scout^{Source [2]}^{Source [4]}
Sequoia CapitalInvestor	Scout^{Source [4]}
ZapierOther	AI team member (after acquisition of Makerpad)^{Source [2]}	2021
Product HuntOther	Community lead^{Source [2]}^{Source [4]}^{Source [5]}	2015 to 2017

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Sources

Zapier Acquires Makerpad, PR Newswire (Zapier), 2021-03-09. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
About - Ben's Bites, Ben's Bites. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Ben Tossell (@bentossell) X profile, X (via FxTwitter API). Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Ben Tossell: builder + investor (site data: portfolio and previous roles), bentossell.com. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
From writing $1k checks to running a $1m rolling fund, Sacra. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
No-code learning community Makerpad acquired by Zapier, They Got Acquired. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Zapier buys no-code-focused Makerpad in its first acquisition, TechCrunch, 2021-03-08. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Ben's Bites, Ben's Bites (Substack). Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Ben Tossell's Rolling Fund, AngelList Venture. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Makerpad has been acquired by Zapier, X (@bentossell), 2021-03-09. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.

History

Oct 2, 2026: Profile created from public sources (Founded editors)

Compiled by Founded editors from the cited public sources. Editorial policy / Request removal