Over the last 20 years, I’ve collected entrepreneurial skills like Pokemon cards. Marketing, strategy, product development, you name it.
But programming and coding? That particular card never made it into my deck. I couldn’t read a single line of code if my life depended on it. Now, thanks to my life reset, I’ve promised myself to dive headfirst into new adventures: Vibe Coding.
The Death (and Rebirth?) of Vibe Coding
After some research on Reddit, some people are already writing obituaries for vibe coding, claiming it’s dead on arrival. But according to Google AI (yes, that stupid bastion of totally-not-biased information), it’s just going through an awkward transformation phase. You know, like a teenager getting braces.
Here’s the actual quote that made me laugh:
“No, ‘vibe coding’ (exploratory AI prompting) isn’t dead, but it’s evolving from a hype-driven, casual phase into a more mature, disciplined approach for serious development, transitioning towards ‘Viable Coding’ or ‘Agentic Swarm Coding.’”
Don’t ask me to dissect this sentence, because I have no fucking idea what “viable coding” or “agentic swarm coding” means. At least not yet. It sounds like something a tech bro would say at a networking event while holding a kombucha, right before explaining their cryptocurrency side hustle.
Why I Stayed on the Sidelines (Until Now)
I’m not completely disconnected from reality. Like everyone else who owns a computer and an internet connection, I’ve dabbled with OpenAI, Perplexity, Google Studio, and Claude. I’ve asked ChatGPT to write my grocery lists and pretended it was revolutionary.
But for years, I purposefully avoided diving deeper into the AI frenzy. Not because I’m some Luddite who refuses to adapt, but because the timing never felt right.
Vibe coding exploded in popularity because it promised something magical. For the first time ever, non-technical people could describe what they wanted in plain English: “Make me a budgeting app that doesn’t judge my coffee spending”, and an AI would actually build it.
No more gatekeeping. No more “you need to learn JavaScript for six months first.” But early on, I wasn’t about to plunge down that rabbit hole when most platforms were still in their diaper-wearing, learning-to-walk stages.
Every week, some new feature would get hyped to death by social media influencers who’d never coded before in their lives but suddenly became “AI development experts.” It was mentally exhausting, even for someone who genuinely geeks out over this stuff.
The Reason I’m Jumping In
I don’t think I’ll ever pivot into a full-time career as a programmer. I’m not trying to become the next Linus Torvalds here or some Indie hacker guru.
But here’s what clicked for me: understanding how these tools work, how developers think, and being able to deliver even a rough concept or MVP to a professional could fast-track literally anything I want to build in the future.
Think about it. Tools like Google AI Studio, Replit, and Bolt have cracked open this can of worms where any individual with basic AI literacy can whip up a minimum viable product.
And maybe, just maybe, turn it into a scrappy little micro-startup without burning tons of cash and endless hours. That’s kind of insane when you think about it.
I couldn’t shake the idea of at least trying to build a few basic apps as a complete non-coder. Could I really turn a half-baked idea into a functioning application with just a few well-crafted sentences? There’s only one way to find out.
This pairs perfectly with my Chinese learning journey. I’ve got this basic idea brewing in my head: a learning tool that I know I’d use myself. It’s the ideal guinea pig for this vibe coding experiment.
If it works, amazing. If it crashes and burns? Well, at least I’ll have some entertaining stories for the blog.
My Honest Expectations
I expect to fail. A lot. Repeatedly. Spectacularly, even.
I’m not delusional enough to think I’ll suddenly discover some hidden passion for coding and transform into a hoodie-wearing, energy-drink-chugging fucking maniac who talks about “edge cases” at dinner parties. I’m way too at peace with my current work-life balance for that kind of chaos.
But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe this vibe coding experiment becomes the catalyst for something bigger. Maybe it’s the stepping stone that makes me completely rethink my 2026 goals. Maybe I’ll discover I actually love building things with AI, and this whole post will age like milk.
There’s also the practical concern that this might completely disrupt my productivity stack. I just went all-in on Apple Apps only. Notes, Pages, the whole ecosystem. And now I’m about to introduce tools that’ll require way more than Apple’s native apps can handle.
It’s like finally organizing your closet, then deciding to take up a hobby that requires entirely new equipment. Inconvenient? Sure. Worth it? We’ll see. Even so, I could separate my coding experiments from my personal productivity stack, so I don’t think it’s that much of a concern.
Final Thoughts
I’m committing to this experiment publicly because that’s how I hold myself accountable. Will I build the next viral app? Probably not. Will I at least create something functional that solves a problem I actually have? That’s the goal.
At minimum, I’ll learn how to have better conversations with developers. At maximum, I’ll accidentally create something that turns into a tiny business.
And somewhere in between those extremes, I’ll definitely generate some content for this blog, whether it’s success stories or hilarious failure compilations.
Either way, it beats wondering “what if?”
Let’s see what happens when a non-coder like me armed with curiosity and an AI starts building things. I’ll keep you posted on whether this is the beginning of something cool or just another expensive lesson in what not to do.
Wish me luck. Or don’t. I’m going to fucking doing it anyway.