Build, Buy or Vibe Code…

 I had just joined the corporate incubator program. I was full on enthu mode to prove myself, make a mark, do this, do that, change this, change that. Super supportive boss definitely added more fuel to my enthusiasm.

Among the many other things that I was raring to do, two things were of high priority to me.

One, to rebrand the program. Rebranding was promptly shut down (However, it eventually happened, and it is a story for another day)

Two to modernize and transform our application process. Startups had to download the word document, fill and mail back the application. As a tech company and tech mentorship as one of the core offering, we all were aligned, we could and should do better.

Boss was supportive, offered budget and all the resources and the empowerment to do the right thing and get it done. Promptly get a tech team to build the application portal and whole shebang.

With all the buzz and discussion going on, one of the first time founder with a rich experience, asked me what I am up to. Full of pride, I told him, we are building the application portal. 

He went on to offer his two cents and said, why not buy some of the offerings available readily in the market. He further went on to say, you also have to maintain it, and need to have someone for it and it will add to your overhead in all aspects. You are better off focusing on aspects to help us rather than spend your time on this. (I get the irony that, ideally I should advice the founders and not the other way around)

The builder in me  was like, how can a tech company as big as us with all the talent around, buy something rather than build. 

Eventually, relearnt the lesson, one should never build if it is not your core and you are better off by buying it. So, when we expanded, to a new geography, we just bought an application management system.

However, I would repeat the same mistake of building another offering for internal use case (again for a good reason) and eventually buy something from the market. (Again story for some other time)

I can’t help but wonder, with all the vibe coding tools available, what would I do today?

P.S: I am a proud vibe coder :)