From Electrical Engineer to SaaS Founder: How Michael Built ChatFlow with MakerKit
When Michael Mullings purchased MakerKit in December 2023, he had never written a line of React code. He was an electrical engineer working in Jamaica's BPO industry, managing customer support operations for companies like Microsoft, Google, and Verizon.
Today, just 15 months later, Michael runs ChatFlow - a profitable AI-powered customer support platform serving 156+ organizations, with a team of five employees and a patent pending from Jamaica's Development Bank.
His story is one of the most inspiring examples of what's possible when determination meets the right tools.
The Problem That Sparked a Solution
Working in the BPO industry for nearly a decade, Michael witnessed a frustrating reality: businesses in the Caribbean were waiting an average of 25 minutes for customer support - compared to mere minutes in other regions. The irony wasn't lost on him - he was managing world-class support operations for international companies while local businesses struggled with basic customer service.
"I wanted to democratize quality customer support for businesses that couldn't afford the capital investment," Michael explains. "Especially in my region where there are over 4,000 different dialects that mainstream solutions like Intercom don't account for."
The Learning Journey: From Zero to Launch
Michael's path to becoming a SaaS founder began with a bold decision: quit his job and teach himself to code. Between September and December 2023, he immersed himself in learning Next.js, React, and Supabase - technologies he'd never touched before.
"I planned how I was going to learn these technologies because it was a big commitment for me," Michael recalls. "Then I purchased MakerKit, and yes, I had a lot of questions - you can see from my support tickets - but the support was phenomenal."
What made the difference? According to Michael, it was MakerKit's modular architecture and comprehensive AI template that allowed him to understand complex concepts like vector databases and LangChain quickly. "The way everything was structured made it so easy for me to extend and build on top of that foundation."
Landing the First Customer: A Government Ministry
While many founders struggle for months to find their first customer, Michael landed an enterprise government contract within 10 months of starting. His strategy was refreshingly simple: cold outreach to decision-makers in organizations with obvious customer support problems.
"I realized that customer support is worst for government-backed entities and financial institutions here," he shares. "So I started cold-emailing their managing directors."
His first success came from LinkedIn outreach to the ministry that manages spectrum licensing for telecommunications companies. After a demo and follow-up meetings, he signed his first contract in October 2024 - a government entity that typically takes months to make decisions.
Competing Against Giants by Finding Your Niche
When asked how ChatFlow competes against established players like Intercom, Michael's answer reveals a crucial lesson for any founder entering a crowded market:
"Our secret sauce is that we're focused on language. Intercom doesn't account for the 4,000+ dialects in the Caribbean from an AI standpoint because that's not their primary market. We've fully adapted and fine-tuned our models to focus on those gaps."
This laser focus on solving a specific regional problem has been ChatFlow's competitive advantage. While Intercom offers predefined flows, ChatFlow provides natural language processing tailored to Caribbean communication patterns.
Building Without VC Funding
Perhaps most impressively, Michael has built ChatFlow entirely through bootstrapping. No venture capital, no paid marketing - just cold outreach and word-of-mouth referrals.
"I can happily say there are over 156 organizations on ChatFlow right now that are using the product actively on a day-to-day basis," Michael says proudly. "All with no paid marketing and bootstrapped up to this point."
His customer acquisition strategy focused on solving real problems rather than building perfect features. "The product doesn't need to be perfect. It needs to give an end result that solves that particular problem."
The MakerKit Advantage
When asked what role MakerKit played in his success, Michael doesn't hesitate:
"If it wasn't for the AI template, I'd probably have to start from scratch. You had everything in place already. The easiest thing for me was to extend. It really gave me a good foundation to build the house upon."
He specifically highlights:
- The modular architecture that made learning and extending features intuitive
- The AI template that provided vector database integration and chat functionality out of the box
- The community support that helped him overcome technical challenges quickly
- The onboarding flow that made it easy for enterprise customers to get started
"The MakerKit community is one of the best I've been in," Michael emphasizes. "The threads you guys have put in place to answer questions so we can see historical stuff - really phenomenal."
Lessons for Aspiring Founders
Michael's journey offers several crucial lessons for aspiring SaaS founders, especially those without technical backgrounds:
1. Don't Stay in Your Silo
"Put yourself out there, ask the questions. There were many times I reached out to ask questions thinking 'Am I going to look stupid right now?' But I still asked, and sometimes it was something pretty simple that I missed."
2. Find Problems in Support Forums
"Look at those support forums and see where the support requests are not being solved. If there's a big enough cry out in that particular area, that's where I'd start building from."
3. Focus on One Thing First
"Don't try to do everything at once. Pick one avenue that you can really drive impact home. Even if it's 10 customers that really love your product, it's far better than a thousand that really like it."
4. Leverage AI Tools Wisely
Michael now uses Cursor and AI coding assistants to ship features faster, but emphasizes the importance of having a solid foundation first. "Because of the context and structures and how the components are done in MakerKit, we're able to create new features pretty quickly."
What's Next for ChatFlow
ChatFlow's growth trajectory continues upward. Michael's team is expanding into email support, targeting the EU market, and building on their unique position as the Caribbean's AI-first customer support solution.
"In the next three months or so, we will be in the EU market," Michael shares. "We're going into email in Q4 because we realize the same BPOs that I worked for are losing contracts because they can't do multilingual support, which we now support."
The Unlikely Success Story
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Michael's story is how unlikely it seemed at the start. An electrical engineer with no programming experience, in a region with limited venture capital, competing against Silicon Valley giants.
"I still can't believe it myself. I'm still shocked," Michael admits. "I have to pinch myself sometimes to think, am I really a SaaS founder? Did I really do this? It feels surreal sometimes."
Your Turn to Build
Michael's story proves that with the right tools, determination, and focus on solving real problems, anyone can build a successful SaaS - regardless of their technical background or location.
As Michael puts it: "Most of us right now aren't developers. So I think we need to think outside the box, accept that, and get to the next step by asking those questions. No matter how ridiculous you think it sounds."
If an electrical engineer from Jamaica can learn to code in three months and build a profitable AI startup that competes with Intercom, what's stopping you?