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Key Takeaways While vibe coding is exceptional for building a minimum viable product or handling repetitive tasks, you can’t rely on it completely.
Having a foundational understanding of code matters, even in an era when you don’t always need to write it yourself. The best vibe coding, in my experience, happens when someone who understands the underlying logic is directing the AI — not just accepting whatever it produces.
I’ve been a software developer for so long it’s practically in my bones. Computers have fascinated me since I was a kid, and I built my first web-based business while I was still in college. Jotform, the company I’ve been running for 20 years, started when I grew tired of building tedious web forms by hand at an early job.
Now, vibe coding — using AI to write functional code from plain-language descriptions — has democratized what gets made and who gets to make it. As a programmer, I still think it’s useful to have a fundamental understanding of code. But as a founder, I am thrilled by the possibilities of what vibe coding can do, especially in the early stages of building a startup.
Why? Because now, a good idea can become a reality with far less time and fewer resources. If you’re a green thumb with an incredible new idea for a plant care app, you don’t need to find a co-founder to handle the coding. The same goes for the restaurant owner who wants a custom reservations tool, the consultant who needs a client-facing dashboard or anyone sitting on a great idea who assumed the technical barrier put it out of reach.
Obviously, “vibe coding” was not a phrase that meant anything back in 2006, when my startup began serving its first customers. But if I were starting now, here’s what I’d do.
Building an MVP
In the past, the notion of a minimum viable product, or MVP, was always a little misleading. Even a stripped-down version of an idea required wireframes, a competent developer (yourself or someone else) and a process of tweaking and refining that could take days, if not much, much longer. The idea is that it showcases the core elements of your product, but it doesn’t have to be terribly user-friendly.
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