As someone who spends my days interviewing startup founders, I’ve always admired their ability to translate ideas into functioning products. While I respect their technical skills immensely, coding has never been my forte. The mere mention of programming brings back painful memories of college statistics and the dreaded ‘R’ language. So, when I stumbled upon the term ‘vibe coding,’ my initial reaction was skepticism. It sounded like more tech jargon. But further investigation revealed something truly intriguing.
Vibe coding, a term coined by Andrej Karpathy, involves leveraging AI to streamline the development process. Think AI-powered code generation tools that allow even non-technical individuals to build apps and websites. This isn’t just a niche trend; big companies like Microsoft are already using AI to generate up to 30% of their code. This shift is empowering, making app development accessible to a far wider audience.
Intrigued, I signed up for a two-day intensive vibe coding bootcamp. The promise? To go from zero to a functional app in just 48 hours. The reality? It was far more achievable than I anticipated. The prep was simple: download Cursor, NodeJS, and sign up for Vercel’s v0. The bootcamp itself focused on refining project ideas, prototyping, and integrating AI tools. The tools we used were Gemini 2.5 Pro for refining ideas, v0 for UI prototyping, and Cursor for building and integrating AI functionality.
The most challenging aspect, surprisingly, wasn’t the technical side; it was choosing a project idea! I wavered between a paperwork translator and a Tinder for dogs, ultimately settling on an AI-powered negotiation training tool. Building it was surprisingly straightforward, and by the end of the weekend, I had a working prototype. In retrospect, the Tinder-for-dogs idea might have been a simpler project.
What I learned most was that vibe coding is less about traditional coding and more about prompt engineering. The ability to clearly articulate instructions to the AI tools is key. The instructors emphasized the importance of precise prompts, highlighting that AI, while powerful, isn’t inherently intuitive. This means that if you can read, write, and follow instructions, you’re likely equipped to try vibe coding.
The impact of this shift is significant. The bootcamp instructors, experienced entrepreneurs, shared how vibe coding is leveling the playing field. Startups may require less funding as hiring costs decrease, and aspiring entrepreneurs no longer need extensive coding experience to launch their projects. They cited examples of individuals earning substantial incomes from apps built using this method. However, they also cautioned that vibe coding is best suited for simpler, consumer-focused apps, not complex, security-sensitive applications.
While the increased accessibility may lead to higher competition, it also opens doors to niche markets and hyper-focused applications. The future of app development is clearly intertwined with AI, and vibe coding is making that future more accessible than ever before.
