This Tiny Startup Hit $100 Million in Revenue in 8 Months
And It Changes Everything
There’s a company called Lovable you’ve probably never heard of. No splashy ads. No Super Bowl spots. Just a tiny team in Sweden quietly building software that builds software.
Last week, they did something no company in history has done:
They went from zero to $100 million in annual revenue—in eight months.
That’s faster than Facebook, OpenAI, Uber, or any tech giant you’ve ever heard of.
Let’s talk about what they built, how they pulled this off, and why it matters — not just for startups, but for the legal system, the internet, and maybe the entire idea of what counts as “real” work.
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What Does Lovable Actually Do?
Lovable is like ChatGPT, but instead of just giving you answers, it builds real, working websites and apps for you.
You don’t need to code. You don’t even need to know what coding is.
You type in what you want — something like:
“Build me a site where people can sign up, pay to watch cooking classes, and get email reminders.”
Lovable turns that into a working product. Instantly.
It doesn’t give you instructions. It gives you a finished app — live, online, and functional.
That’s not science fiction. That’s what Lovable does right now.
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Why Is $100 Million Such a Big Deal?
Because no one has ever gotten there this fast.
Not OpenAI. Not Stripe. Not Instagram.
In the startup world, hitting $100 million in annual recurring revenue (that’s predictable, subscription-style income) is a major milestone. Most companies take 5 to 10 years to get there — if they ever do.
Lovable did it in eight months. With fewer than 50 employees.
That’s not just impressive. That’s historic.
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So What’s the Catch?
The product works. The hype is real.
But legally? This is a nightmare waiting to happen.
Here’s why:
• The apps it builds might reuse copyrighted code without warning.
• The people building on Lovable don’t know what they own—or don’t.
• Sensitive data may be flowing through the system with no clear privacy protections.
• Nobody’s reading the fine print. And that fine print may not even cover what’s being built.
It’s like watching millions of tiny businesses get spun up by non-technical founders using software they didn’t write, don’t understand, and can’t legally verify.
And that raises some very real legal questions.
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Who Owns the App You Made in 10 Seconds?
If an AI platform builds your website, writes the code, sets up the payment system, and connects your email list — do you own it?
Legally, we don’t fully know.
If that code was trained on other people’s copyrighted work? You may not own the rights.
If your app looks like another one the AI saw during training? You may accidentally be copying something you’ve never even heard of.
If your customers enter private data into that app? You could be on the hook for a privacy lawsuit, even if you never touched the code.
This isn’t theoretical. These issues are already showing up in courtrooms.
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Lovable Is a Miracle for Creators — And a Trap for the Unprepared
Let me be clear: Lovable is amazing.
It opens up software development to people who’ve never written a line of code. Artists, writers, small business owners — people who used to pay $10,000+ for a developer — can now spin up a business in minutes.
But there’s no legal safety net.
It’s like putting a chainsaw in everyone’s hands without safety goggles. Most people will use it wisely. Some will cut their leg off. A few will cut someone else’s.
And there’s no training course. No licensing. No inspection system. Just “type what you want and ship it.”
That’s why I’m writing this.
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What This Means for You (Even If You Don’t Use Lovable)
This is the future of software.
Not lines of code. Not dev teams. Not six-month timelines.
Just you, your idea, and a few sentences typed into a box.
And that future is arriving with no legal instructions.
If you’re:
• A creator launching a business
• An investor evaluating early-stage companies
• A lawyer advising clients on software, IP, or data use
• A brand considering automation or generative tools
You need to understand what just changed.
Because Lovable didn’t just reach $100 million in revenue.
It launched a new category of product: software without developers, built by users, with zero legal guardrails.
It’s the best-case scenario for creativity.
And the worst-case scenario for compliance.
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The Bottom Line
Lovable proves that code is no longer a gatekeeper.
That’s thrilling.
It also proves that legal frameworks haven’t caught up.
That’s terrifying.
This is where I live: at the intersection of IP, AI, software, and risk. I help companies figure out what they own, what they’re exposed to, and how to protect themselves when the law is 10 steps behind the tech.
If you’re building something with tools like Lovable—or betting on people who are—this is the moment to get smart about the legal landscape.
The revenue might be automatic.
The lawsuits don’t have to be.
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