91����

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. 

Back in college, I spent a long time poring over the MVP for my first early creation, a membership platform called Profile Manager. It worked — and got attention — but frankly, it was clunky. These days, I’d never have to release anything so basic-looking, and even a sleeker version would have taken a fraction of the time to make. 

The point of an MVP has always been to gather as much information as possible, as cheaply as possible. Vibe coding doesn’t change that, but it does shorten the space between an idea bouncing around your brain to a genuine prototype you can put out into the world.

Streamlining your day-to-day

When you’re a founder, there are never enough hours in the day. There’s a reason so much ink has been spilled on optimizing, time-maxxing and the importance of squeezing productivity from every spare minute like a piece of citrus fruit into a power smoothie. 

Here, vibe coding is also a game-changer. I recently used Claude Code to whip up an app that would supercharge my fitness regimen, acting as both a personal trainer and nutrition coach based on my preferences and behavior. It’s not something I plan to monetize or develop further, but it has helped me dramatically streamline a part of my life, giving me back time to work on other things. Others in my orbit have vibe-coded solutions for tasks like organizing schedules or compiling reports. They don’t need to scale, nor do they need to be perfect — they need only to make one aspect of life a little easier. 

Think about the tasks in your week that are genuinely nobody’s job. These are perfect candidates for a vibe-coded solution. If something costs you time every week, and you can describe what a better version would look like, you can probably build it.

What it all means

Whether you’re using Claude Code, Lovable or Base44, all vibe coding tools offer the promise of the same thing: a world where what you can build is restricted only by your imagination. That said, vibe coding has its limits, and it’s important to understand what they are. 

First, while vibe coding is exceptional for building an MVP or handling repetitive tasks, you can’t rely on it completely. Around 45% of AI-generated code has security weaknesses — according to Daily.dev, a security scan of 1,645 web apps built using Lovable revealed that 120 of them due to critical vulnerabilities. The fact is, tasks like authentication, payment processing and encryption still demand human expertise that AI models can’t reliably provide.

This is why I still believe 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.

When used with the proper foreknowledge and precautions, vibe coding is a game-changer for even tech-savvy entrepreneurs. Use it to create your first MVP and streamline your operations, and unlock valuable hours that will add up significantly.