Build & Share Native Apps From Your Phone: Bloom Co-founder & CEO David Oort Alonso (#552)

·49 min·4 clips

David Oort Alonso's platform Bloom lets you describe an app and share it via a single link, bypassing app stores entirely.

The episode features an interview with David Oort Alonso, co-founder and CEO of Bloom, a platform enabling users to describe and generate full-stack native mobile apps from their phones. Host Silvan introduces the concept as sci-fi-like, with David claiming software creation will surpass media creation. David recounts his background in aerospace engineering and robotics at ETH, where he transitioned to software due to the speed of iteration. He discusses his early startups, Gifted and Fireview, and the pivots that led to Bloom. David details applying to Y Combinator six times, getting rejected five times before acceptance on the sixth attempt, attributed to founder grit, market fit, and social proof. He explains Bloom's technology, using app clips to share apps via a single link, bypassing app store approvals and test flight. The fundraising story highlights raising $3.4 million in five days with no pitch deck, relying on a demo of a shared grocery list app. David addresses competition, noting Bloom's focus on mobile apps and universal apps via Expo. He talks about user diversity, from personal apps to YC companies prototyping, and security measures using Convex and Expo. The discussion covers Bloom's business model, future plans including a startup OS, and hiring for taste in the AI era. David reflects on building from Zurich versus San Francisco and rapid-fire questions on the future of app creation.

As heard by us

A practical founder conversation about making small native app ideas easier to build and share.

Swisspreneur Show uses Bloom's app-building demo to look at a broader shift in software creation: native apps becoming closer to online media in how quickly they can be made and shared.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You can watch a shared grocery list become a native app without taking the scenic route through an app store.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Swisspreneur Show