- Business Growth & Analytics
Rhev Williams on the Direction of Botifex LLC
On March 17, 2025, two days before his birthday, a 16-year-old in eastern Idaho started messing around with web scraping. His name is Rhev Williams, and his first target was not a business plan. It was C3 Corvettes on Facebook Marketplace.
That little experiment became Botifex. As we celebrate our one-year anniversary, those of us who build alongside Rhev wanted to tell the story the way we have seen it: the long nights, the small mistakes, the lessons, and where he is steering Botifex LLC next.
From Corvette Hunting to a Real Problem
The first bot had a name worthy of a teenager with big plans: Superbot No. 1. Its job was simple. It watched Facebook Marketplace for C3 Corvettes so Rhev did not have to.
What started as tinkering turned serious around May 2025. Rhev realized the thing he had built for himself solved a real problem for other people too. Good deals disappear fast, and anyone who flips or resells knows the pain of finding the right listing an hour too late.
How Botifex Got Its Name
Every builder wants a great name. Rhev wanted Superbot.com, but it was already taken. So he asked ChatGPT for a name with "Bot" in it. One of the suggestions was Botifex.
It stuck. Today it is the name on the door of Botifex LLC, an Idaho company, and the name our users know.
The Grind: Rhev Williams and the 16-Hour Days
Every founder has a week they would rather forget. For Rhev Williams, it came last October.
He was coding 16 hours a day on the family computer, trying to get a simple dashboard and login flow working. For days, nothing worked. He tried everything he could think of. Eventually he found the cause: he was calling the wrong variable.
It was a small mistake. But that week broke him down. He kept going anyway.
As developers, we can tell you that this story is more common than people think. The bug that costs you a week is rarely clever. It is usually one wrong name in one line. What matters is whether you push through. Rhev did, and the dashboard that almost broke him is part of the foundation we still build on today.
The First User and What Reliability Really Means
Botifex's first paying user was a random person from Facebook. They signed up, started paying, hit a bug, and canceled.
For a young founder, that stings. But Rhev took the right lesson from it. People do not pay for features. They pay for something they can trust to work. If the tool breaks at the wrong moment, the relationship ends.
That lesson still shapes how we work. Reliability and trust come first. When we review new features as a team, the question is not only "is this cool?" It is "will this hold up for the person counting on it?"
Building Botifex Vision and the Deal Scorer
Ask Rhev what he is proudest of, and he will point to Botifex Vision and the Deal Scorer.
Vision helps resellers identify items from photos. The Deal Scorer helps them judge whether a listing is actually worth buying before they spend the gas and the cash. Together, they help users pass on junk and focus on real opportunities.
Harder Than It Looks
From the outside, it is easy to assume a product like this is just a call to an API. It is not. Even with computer-vision APIs and PyTorch in the toolbox, it took massive amounts of training and data extraction to get results Rhev was happy with.
He did not ship it the first time it sort of worked. He kept training and refining until it was good enough to put his name on. That standard is a big part of why Vision is the feature he talks about most.
Where Botifex Is Today
One year in, Rhev Williams is 17 and runs what he describes as a six-figure business.
Botifex LLC has two sides:
- A solid consumer product. Our reselling and flipping tool helps people find, evaluate, list, and track their flips in one workspace. You can see it at botifex.com.
- A growing B2B side. We build custom software for small businesses that need tools built around the way they actually work.
Rhev is proud of proving the doubters wrong. He is gracious about it, though. He does not talk about it like a score to settle. He talks about it like proof that age is not the thing that decides whether you can build something real.
He sums himself up in one line: "I'm a motivated man stuck in a teen's body."
Where Rhev Williams Is Taking Botifex Next
The consumer side is steady. The next chapter is about growth, and Rhev Williams has a clear view of what that looks like.
More Custom Software for Small Businesses
The biggest shift is more focus on custom software builds for small businesses. Many small businesses run on spreadsheets, sticky notes, and tools that were never designed for them. Botifex can build software that fits. Expect this side of the company to get a lot more attention.
Scaling the Team
To get there, Botifex is hiring sales reps and developers. The team is mostly anonymous by choice, and we like it that way. Right now that team includes:
- 5 sales reps
- 4 developers
- 1 legal assistant
If you want to be part of the next year, we are hiring for commission-based sales rep roles. Check out the Botifex careers page.
The Long Game: A Software Conglomerate
Rhev's long-term goal for Botifex LLC is ambitious. The plan is to rapidly accelerate by acquiring many smaller software companies and, eventually, become a software conglomerate.
His personal goal is to make Forbes 30 Under 30. But he is quick to say the money is not the point. In his words: "I don't do this for the money. I genuinely enjoy business, leading, and growing a company."
Life Outside Botifex: Rhev Williams the Student
Here is the part that surprises people most. Rhev Williams is still in high school, and he is very much present there.
He works before school, at school when he can, and after school. He will openly admit grades are not his main focus, but he genuinely enjoys school. And he shows up for it in a big way.
On the Sideline, in Every Sense
Rhev is the school mascot, the panther. He is senior class president. He plays in the jazz band and the orchestra on piano, cello, and double bass. He is also part of Hope Squad, his school's suicide-prevention peer program.
That last one says a lot about him. He describes himself as always being on the sideline for people, "whether that's in a panther suit or as a student."
He lives in the Pingree, Idaho area, and his roots in eastern Idaho show up in how he leads: practical, hardworking, and loyal to the people around him.
What We See From the Inside
Working alongside Rhev is not about hype. It is about watching someone keep showing up. He codes before school and after it, then puts on a panther suit and cheers on his classmates. He takes feedback, owns mistakes, and keeps raising the bar for what Botifex should be.
One year in, Botifex is a real company with real users and a real team. The next year is about building more, building for more businesses, and building a team that can carry the vision further. We are glad to be along for it.
Follow Rhev
Keep up with Rhev and the Botifex journey:
Want to see what he has built? Visit Botifex.
FAQs
Who is Rhev Williams?
Rhev Williams is the founder of Botifex LLC, an Idaho software company. He started building Botifex at 16 in eastern Idaho and, at 17, runs what he describes as a six-figure business while still in high school.
What is Botifex?
Botifex is a software company with two sides: a consumer reselling and flipping tool that helps users find, evaluate, list, and track deals, and a growing B2B side that builds custom software for small businesses.
When was Botifex founded?
Rhev Williams started experimenting with web scraping on March 17, 2025, and it became a real business problem to solve around May 2025. Botifex LLC is now celebrating its one-year anniversary.
What is Botifex Vision?
Botifex Vision is a Botifex feature that helps resellers identify items from photos. Paired with the Deal Scorer, it helps users judge whether a listing is worth buying. It was built using computer-vision APIs, PyTorch, and extensive training.
Is Botifex hiring?
Yes. Botifex is hiring sales reps and developers, including commission-based sales rep roles. See open roles at botifex.com/careers.
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