Ok, so like, what even is vibe coding?
Is it really a vibe?
Maybe you’ve heard people talk about tools like Bolt, Cursor, or v0. Or you’ve seen someone spin up an app in five minutes flat and thought, "Wait, how did they do that?"
That’s vibe coding. The term, as far as I know, was coined by Andrej Karpathy. It kind of perfectly captures what it feels like to build this way.
It's this strange, kind of magical experience where you open up a tool like Bolt, v0, Cursor, Replit, Lovable, or Windsurf and instead of writing code, you just start typing. Natural language. Prompts. Descriptions. Whatever comes to mind.
Then suddenly you’ve got an app. It’s not always perfect, but it works. And it’s fast. Way faster than opening up VS Code, setting up a repo, building a UI from scratch, debugging, and all the other stuff that used to feel like step zero.
I Built Some Stuff Too
I’ve been deep in it lately. Just over the past few weeks, I’ve built:
Some of these took more than a day. Some were done in under an hour. The point isn’t that they’re polished, they’re not. The point is that they exist. And more importantly, they solve a problem or make someone laugh or let a 6 year old build something just by telling his dad what he wants.
This isn’t just no code. It’s barely code. And I think it’s how a lot of MVPs are going to get built going forward.
You don’t need to be an engineer to build something anymore. You just need a decent idea, a little patience, and the willingness to let the vibes take the wheel.
How I'm using vibe coding as a Growth PM
As a Growth Product Manager, this approach has been a game changer. Going from idea to prototype in an afternoon isn't just fun, it's productive. I've been using vibe coding to spin up rough MVPs, test tools and interactive ideas before involving engineering. It's an incredibly empowering way to explore what's possible without needing to scope tickets or wait for sprint cycles.
Being able to go from natural language to a working prototype (or even a simple live app) helps me get feedback earlier, validate faster, and stay in the creative zone longer.
The future of AI in product work
As these tools get better, they're going to reshape how product teams operate. I don’t think it means fewer jobs but I do think it means leaner teams, faster cycles, and a lot more output per head. That’s exciting.
This kind of shift can feel scary big tech changes always do. But history shows we adapt. Jobs evolve, roles change, new industries appear. The key is to stay adaptable. Stay curious. Keep experimenting.
Right now I’m spending a lot of my time reading, studying, and actually using these tools. I want to be on the bleeding edge of this stuff. I want to know what they can do, and be the one pushing their boundaries.
Want to talk more about vibe coding or learn how to do it? Hit me up.
Dan
This is super insightful and informative, thanks for sharing! I fear my brain is not made for this kind of stuff, but you made it fun to read about anyway!