Vibecoding is making it easier than ever for people to build their ideas. Millions of people with product concepts can now ship something functional in days instead of months.

This is a good thing for humanity.

But a few things remain unchanged. AI didn't solve these problems. They're still open.

Go ahead. Open your AI and type: "Give me 1 million downloads to my app."

Yeah. That doesn't work.

This is the first thing AI cannot solve for you. You can have the best product in the world, built in record time with vibecoding, and still have zero users. AI didn't change this. User acquisition remains an open problem.

Now, AI is amazing at marketing. In theory, multiple agents with tools for posting to social media could automate a lot of your outreach. But like gold and bitcoin, there's a finite amount of customer attention in the world. AI won't be the silver bullet for this limited resource.

People's attention is scarce. AI doesn't change that.

There are three approaches to product development. Only one of them works consistently. Unfortunately, 90% of founders fall for the methods that don't.

This isn't new wisdom. Steve Blank wrote about it in The Four Steps to the Epiphany. Eric Ries built on it with The Lean Startup. Rob Fitzpatrick nailed the customer conversation piece in The Mom Test. The frameworks exist. Most founders ignore them.

You have an idea. You develop features. More features. You soft launch. You speculate on what people want. You build more features.

This looks like progress. You're putting in action. You're putting in effort. You're sinking capital.

But this is just analysis paralysis with a build step. You're building on speculation.

Blank calls this "Solution-First Thinking"—startups that build X before understanding the problem X is supposed to solve. Solutions searching for problems.

There's also "Assumption-Based Development"—founders who assume they understand users without validation. "I'm a user, so I know what users want" is the most expensive assumption in startup history.

This method will not attract success. Maybe the law of averages saves you. Probably not.

Founders with this "perfect grand idea" become over-demanding of their teams. "If only they could build my vision." They defer going to market. They delay sales because the product isn't perfect.

Putting the product before sales and market fit is the failure point.

You love your idea so much you build it for yourself. You solve your own problem first.

Numerous founders have found success this way. They built something they personally needed, and scale followed.

If you genuinely solve a problem that's intrinsically valuable to you, other people will see it. You could potentially take it to market.

This approach can work. But it's not reliable. You're still guessing that your problem is everyone's problem.

You have an idea. Go directly to sales.

Your users need the ability to login. They need the ability to pay. They need to solve one problem. They need to contact you if they need help.

That's it.

Build this as quickly as possible. Get it to customers. Iterate on your idea based on what they actually tell you.

This is the method that works logically, time over time.

Eric Ries calls this the Build-Measure-Learn feedback loop. Build your MVP—the version that lets you collect maximum validated learning with least effort. Measure what happens. Learn from it. Repeat. Companies that use this approach are 60% more likely to create a successful product.

Steve Blank puts it differently: "In the early stages of a startup, focusing on execution will put you out of business. Instead, you need a learning and discovery process." His mantra: there are no facts inside your building, so get outside to test them.

Rob Fitzpatrick's The Mom Test teaches you how to have those customer conversations without getting lied to. His core insight: you shouldn't ask anyone if your business is a good idea. It's a bad question and everyone will lie to you. Instead, talk about their life, not your idea. Ask about specifics in the past, not hypotheticals about the future.

The pattern is clear. Get to customers fast. Learn from reality, not speculation.

With AI coding today, we're going to find solutions to problems faster. More innovation. More imagination from entrepreneurs around the world.

But the entrepreneurs who win will still be the ones who get to market fast, talk to customers, and iterate.

AI makes building easier. But you still need a selling mindset.

If we can help you through this process, reach out.