Somehow I feel like this article was very unclear? The way it's written, the way it tells its story, I'm really not sure what happened. I wish there was just a link to the saas in question.
Like maybe it's that I just woke up, but all I really got out of this was that a vibe-coded app resulted in a company being downsized. But that's in the title. Any specifics beyond that? I really couldn't say despite having read the whole article.
Al definitely made this easier but I've been on this particular merry-go-round a few times and I suspect failing to properly evaluate a product that seems too good to be true is actually a tale as old as time.
Client CEO was one-shot by a vibecoded startup. Basically the YCombinator dream scenario (for the startup not you). A lot of lessons from this for incumbents. Disrupt yourself before it happens to you.
So the team has been fired before a contract has been signed?
The list of issues seem a minefield, including for the poor peon who found them. People who find issues can be at risk in the wrong companies. And I have no idea what legal obligations they may have.
The vast majority of vibe-coded apps are subpar because they're not built by experienced developers who understand proper software engineering practices.
However...
while I risk sounding like the discussions in r/vibecoding, I am convinced that it is absolutely possible to create high-quality, entirely machine-generated applications. And yes it bothers me as well because I am also invested my craft.
What I found is that the key isn't in how you prompt the LLMs but in the comprehensive tooling and guardrails you build around the development process. This includes custom ESLint rules, specific type constraints, custom MCPs, and even tailored VSCode plugins. It works. Not fully autonomously, but effectively enough that you often only need to perform a final review before deployment.
I have no doubt in my mind that the majority of software will be written by machines but only after the right guardrails are set in place - not just better models, magic prompts and fingers crossed.
> Somehow, I need to keep the tech coasting in its last days while migrating all the data that I can.
I mean. What they are going to do if your time expires? Give you a bad evaluation because they didn't plan the change correctly?
But something tells me your company might be in a much worse situation than you might know. They might just doing cost cuts everywhere to stay afloat. Or maybe they are just greedy too...
A particularly insightful nugget in this article was your definition of vibe-coding from an experienced insider: "Ignoring the code entirely and only prompting". I've struggled with the definitions and wondered where the line is drawn. In private, I'm more strict with how I define vibe coding: "Prompting for information about code". However, it's strict so that I don't become dependent on AI while we're still discovering the harms.
It's unfortunate that head count is considered a cost to some. I always found that the people in an organization should be considered as important as profit. Where increasing headcount is as positive an indicator as increasing profits. I'm not sure how our economy came to this point, perhaps it's a symptom of our short-term financial planning.
The vibe coded aspect of this article seems quite irrelevant to me. If I read this correctly, an exec team (or just CEO?) got sold a terrible piece of software without proper vetting. Very bad software has existed for a long time, and this is an age-old story. Vibe-coded garbage perhaps has increased the volume of terrible stuff to wade through, but is secondary to a familiar story of dumb leaders making dumb decisions.
I like the post first explains just what happened in enough detail, then comes with conclusions. It is more helpful to me as a data point.
As the style, images seem weird at first, but they help conveying emotions, point of view. Somehow, they also help with attention for me.
As another commenter said, it seems that guardrails will be important. I believe, 'software is managing complexity' at the end of the day. The complexity and decision-among-options will continue to exist. They need to live and taken care of somewhere.
This article makes sense when you figure out that the author's assumption is that vibe-coded == bad.
It sounds like this startup headed for closure anyway, with it's failing revenue, "At the same time, the current revenue projection calls for the end of the business within a few more months."
So, the vibe-coded app is a hail mary by the CEO / investors? If you're already just a few months from closing shop, maybe switching to a vibe-coded up saves you a ton of engineering headcount and gives you a chance? Changes the math on how you price the product?
Maybe slugs were meant for better things than engineering
This is so difficult to read that I was tempted to just throw it into a chat model and let it summarize from me. Still tried to make sense between all those furry images.
Now from what I understand the company rode the pandemic wave and over hired and over spent. Their VC funded competitors out market and out sold them.
The plan was to exit gracefully once a certain number was hit and return money to investors. But then investors decided to bet on a SaaS.
As revenue went down and teams were cut down. With no revenue to support the engineering team. Investors/leadership are now taking a bet on the vibe coded SaaS.
Rest of the post is lamentation about this badly written SaaS and its vibe coded nature. There seem to be no formal contract with this SaaS but people are already being laid off and the non-American app developers seem unaware of local laws etc etc.
As much I feel for the writer I don't think the title is apt. It isn't as much as Vibe coding which killed the team, as it was bad financial decisions. Surely this vibe coded app hastened the demise and much could be said about the terrible decision to go with a vibe coded app.
>we'd be immediately in violation of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), CAN-SPAM Act, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
>How could a platform be that bad?
People care about technology solving their problems, not that it is 100% legal.
I'm flummoxed by the comments here, and why is this flagged? The article couldn't be clearer:
Startup had a product. Revenue was going down, headcount was already brought to a bare minimum. Startup started to prepare to exit and return remaining funds to investors. Game over.
Instead, investors talked startup leadership into firing nearly everyone still around working on the product and pivot to using a vibe-coded SaaS for the basis of its product. All signs point to this being a poor-quality, faulty, quite possibly illegal product as a result, but do leadership & investors care? Seems not.
OP is going to aid in the migration (my question: WTF?) and then leave.
My commentary: our industry is so fscked, and a hearty two-finger salute to every software engineer who told me in 2023 that AI wasn't going to replace humans, the humans who use AI are going to replace humans. Lol, lol, and again I say, lol.
I subscribe to a Telegram channel that posts the most recent posts on HN that meet a certain minimum karma threshold. Because it's a public channel, anyone can add emoji-based "reactions" to posts and have those reactions displayed for everyone else viewing to the channel.
The reactions as of 2025-26-25T21:51:30Z are as follows:
kiss 10; crying face 2; moai statue 2; trophy 1
The only things I can think of as to why so many people are reacting with a kiss emoji are a. people think the distorted "new girl" is hot, or
b. people think the author's fursona is hot
I'm personally rooting for the latter, but I'm biased (see website for proof)
22 comments
[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 43.8 ms ] threadLike maybe it's that I just woke up, but all I really got out of this was that a vibe-coded app resulted in a company being downsized. But that's in the title. Any specifics beyond that? I really couldn't say despite having read the whole article.
(Still sucks though, sorry and good luck)
The list of issues seem a minefield, including for the poor peon who found them. People who find issues can be at risk in the wrong companies. And I have no idea what legal obligations they may have.
However...
while I risk sounding like the discussions in r/vibecoding, I am convinced that it is absolutely possible to create high-quality, entirely machine-generated applications. And yes it bothers me as well because I am also invested my craft.
What I found is that the key isn't in how you prompt the LLMs but in the comprehensive tooling and guardrails you build around the development process. This includes custom ESLint rules, specific type constraints, custom MCPs, and even tailored VSCode plugins. It works. Not fully autonomously, but effectively enough that you often only need to perform a final review before deployment.
I have no doubt in my mind that the majority of software will be written by machines but only after the right guardrails are set in place - not just better models, magic prompts and fingers crossed.
I mean. What they are going to do if your time expires? Give you a bad evaluation because they didn't plan the change correctly?
But something tells me your company might be in a much worse situation than you might know. They might just doing cost cuts everywhere to stay afloat. Or maybe they are just greedy too...
It's unfortunate that head count is considered a cost to some. I always found that the people in an organization should be considered as important as profit. Where increasing headcount is as positive an indicator as increasing profits. I'm not sure how our economy came to this point, perhaps it's a symptom of our short-term financial planning.
Unvetted imported code = the first two, and only the first two.
As the style, images seem weird at first, but they help conveying emotions, point of view. Somehow, they also help with attention for me.
As another commenter said, it seems that guardrails will be important. I believe, 'software is managing complexity' at the end of the day. The complexity and decision-among-options will continue to exist. They need to live and taken care of somewhere.
It sounds like this startup headed for closure anyway, with it's failing revenue, "At the same time, the current revenue projection calls for the end of the business within a few more months."
So, the vibe-coded app is a hail mary by the CEO / investors? If you're already just a few months from closing shop, maybe switching to a vibe-coded up saves you a ton of engineering headcount and gives you a chance? Changes the math on how you price the product?
Maybe slugs were meant for better things than engineering
Now from what I understand the company rode the pandemic wave and over hired and over spent. Their VC funded competitors out market and out sold them.
The plan was to exit gracefully once a certain number was hit and return money to investors. But then investors decided to bet on a SaaS.
As revenue went down and teams were cut down. With no revenue to support the engineering team. Investors/leadership are now taking a bet on the vibe coded SaaS.
Rest of the post is lamentation about this badly written SaaS and its vibe coded nature. There seem to be no formal contract with this SaaS but people are already being laid off and the non-American app developers seem unaware of local laws etc etc.
As much I feel for the writer I don't think the title is apt. It isn't as much as Vibe coding which killed the team, as it was bad financial decisions. Surely this vibe coded app hastened the demise and much could be said about the terrible decision to go with a vibe coded app.
>How could a platform be that bad?
People care about technology solving their problems, not that it is 100% legal.
Startup had a product. Revenue was going down, headcount was already brought to a bare minimum. Startup started to prepare to exit and return remaining funds to investors. Game over.
Instead, investors talked startup leadership into firing nearly everyone still around working on the product and pivot to using a vibe-coded SaaS for the basis of its product. All signs point to this being a poor-quality, faulty, quite possibly illegal product as a result, but do leadership & investors care? Seems not.
OP is going to aid in the migration (my question: WTF?) and then leave.
My commentary: our industry is so fscked, and a hearty two-finger salute to every software engineer who told me in 2023 that AI wasn't going to replace humans, the humans who use AI are going to replace humans. Lol, lol, and again I say, lol.
The reactions as of 2025-26-25T21:51:30Z are as follows:
kiss 10; crying face 2; moai statue 2; trophy 1
The only things I can think of as to why so many people are reacting with a kiss emoji are a. people think the distorted "new girl" is hot, or b. people think the author's fursona is hot
I'm personally rooting for the latter, but I'm biased (see website for proof)
Talk about an unenviable situation.