Back in the mid 90s, a revolution happened that opened up website creation to a huge new audience. Where once, learning HTML was a requirement for building any kind of page on that early Web, software tools like Dreamweaver and Microsoft FrontPage pioneered the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) approach. These tools meant that you’d design your site from the same perspective as it would be ultimately viewed, much like word processing software, and the program itself would generate the HTML, and later CSS code in the background. Publishing on the web was now as simple as uploading your saved HTML files and associated assets to a server, and millions of people would take their first steps into web publishing and web design without needing to hand-code their pages.

In 2024, we’re now over 15 years into the smartphone-first era, and we run much of our lives through mobile apps. We book cabs on Uber. We listen to music on Spotify, and we keep up with our friends and family on WhatApp. But app development — even for simple apps — is significantly more complex than publishing a website, and a similar revolution, opening up app development to the masses, has yet to transpire.

Enter Sutro.

The idea behind Sutro is simple, yet powerful. We are leveraging the power of AI to allow anyone with an idea to build a fully functional mobile or web app. And we’re taking it a step further — our goal is that you should be able to build out your idea simply by describing it, and have it work instantly.

Until recently, the idea was beyond our grasp. While “no-code” platforms have been around for some time, they primarily functioned at a basic level. Users had to painstakingly add and configure elements piece by piece. Even though coding wasn’t necessary, a solid technical understanding was essential to assemble and connect these components to create a functional service. This complexity not only demanded significant time and effort but also slowed the momentum of the no-code revolution. It’s why marketplaces now exist where people will pay other people to build things even in a no-code context.

At Sutro, we decided to think bigger.

What if a single paragraph of text input, powered by AI, could understand exactly how to build a functioning app based on that input, and then actually go ahead and build it in seconds? If this were possible, the net effect on humanity could be enormous. Anyone, of any skill level, could build an app with just an idea. Not only that, but the service could instantly allow you to publish to the App Store, Google Play Store and/or web. And what if, once you’d built those foundations, instead of connecting together various elements, additional development was as simple as typing “I’d like to add a star-rating system”, or “I’d like to be able to message users”?

That’s exactly what we’ve built.

You can use it right now. To prove it, here’s a video of our technical advisor, Owen Campbell-Moore building a simple, Pinterest-inspired social network in 60 seconds.

Developers, PMs and Designers — don’t fret. We aren’t here to replace you — your skills will always be required. We’re here to cover the grunt work for entrepreneurs, to get from idea to a functioning product to hopefully, product-market fit as quickly as possible. Doing so enables everyone to put their talents to the best use — focusing on the bigger picture, and what makes your service unique, rather than spending thousands of hours on the initial frameworks and foundations needed just to get an idea off the ground.

It pains us to think of all of the world-changing ideas that never happened, because a founder, whether technical or not, was not able to either build a team or sustain past the initial phase of getting from an idea to a working product. We’re here to solve that.

We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves — we know that there is much more work to be done, and we intend to do it. But, Sutro is already the fastest way to get from idea to production. As we continue to develop, the abilities of Sutro will continue to grow, allowing for even more complex apps and services to be built instantly, and magically.

Our team has worked on services you know and love — from OpenAI, to Uber, Twitter, Meta, Stripe and more. And we’re backed by folks with some of the best track records in the tech world, including Sequoia Capital — the first investors in Google.

We’re building the future of app development and software engineering, accessible to all. Making software development available to everyone on the planet isn’t just a nicety. It’s a way to unlock the future of tech for each and every person with an idea, no matter their background or skill set.

Let’s level the playing field.