Let’s buy a bar!

I remember when I was in my 20s a regular weekend ritual with friends was going out for drinks. After a couple of rounds someone would inevitably say, “We should buy a bar.”

And everyone would shout YAY.

At the time it sounded like a brilliant idea. Later I realized this is incredibly common. It is almost a cultural trope. We only see the fun part: happy customers, music, drinks, good vibes.

What we do not see is everything required to keep the business alive. Managing employees, suppliers, inventory, regulations, rent, maintenance and customer expectations. The endless operational grind behind the scenes.

Something very similar is happening right now with software.

Most people are exposed to the experience of using software, not the complexity of building and operating it. So when AI tools allow us to quickly “vibe code” something that looks and feels similar, it is easy to assume that is enough to compete.

On top of that there is a strong incentive pushing us in that direction. Tool vendors are selling the dream and the FOMO is powerful. Nobody wants to be the person saying they do not quite see it.

Do not get me wrong. These tools are amazing.

They might absolutely replace that Excel file where you keep some business data, but they are not going to replace your Salesforce instance.

Yes, I build SaaS so you could argue that I am biased. That is fair.

But the truth is that I am not biased because I build SaaS. I build SaaS because I am biased.

My bias is simple. Everyone can become a coder but not all code is the same.

A simple rule of thumb is to think about the criticality of the software you are building.

What happens if it breaks. What does it cost to roll back a mistake.

If the cost is low, such as a prototype or an internal tool with no critical data, then go ahead and vibe code like crazy.

But if the software is core to your business and mistakes are hard to revert, make sure you put as many eyes on it as possible. AI can accelerate the process but humans must stay in the loop.

You will thank yourself later.