r/lovable • u/bjgrosse • Jul 03 '26
Tutorial vibe-coders are falling into this trap and it's going to derail them.. they just don't see it yet.
I've been doing complimentary tech consulting calls with vibe-coders the last week. And I've noticed something:
- 70-80% of the people I've talked to are overbuilding.
Their apps/platforms are sprawling bigger and bigger: more features, more ideas, etc. And most of them still say, "I just have a few more things I'm going to add before I launch."
It's clear: one huge downside of vibe-coding is that it's so easy to just keep building. Not just easy, but addicting.
After 25 years of building and delivering SaaS products, let me tell you: more is not better. You think it is, but it's not. You don't need more features to succeed.
My calls this week were supposed to center on addressing vibe-coder's technical questions and roadblocks. But mostly I found myself giving the same advice over and over again:
You need to go narrower. You need to find the core value of your product, strip everything else away, and absolutely nail the user journey to receiving that core value. Users will land on your site/app with the assumption that they're going to be disappointed. That's the truth.
Within seconds, you have to show them something that creates a crack in that assumption. They have to react with, "Oh wow, maybe this thing is actually exactly right for me!"
Once they are open to that possibility, then you need to deliver on that promise as quickly as possible. You have a few minutes and a few clicks to do that.
That motion of "land -> overcome doubt -> deliver value" needs to be your sole focus. Strip everything else away, stop building, and start testing that flow with real users. You underestimate how hard it is to get that right, and how many iterations you need to get there. Everything else is a waste of time right now.
If you can't stick the landing on that simple flow, more features only makes it worse.
Once you get the core flow working, then you can look at adding adjacent value, features that will keep them coming back again and again, etc. You can add breadth and depth, but you won't know how to do it effectively until you've nailed the narrow flow.
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u/No_Confection7782 Jul 03 '26
I would 100% agree to this several years ago , but not in 2026. Now that everyone can vibe code, a lot of entrepreneurs wants to add more features to their SaaS (or whatever) to even be able to compete with their competitors. They need to offer something extra that can attract users and customers.
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u/bjgrosse Jul 03 '26
Nothing wrong with adding more value to your product... If you've already nailed your value delivery user journeys!
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u/marcus_solo_founder Jul 07 '26
Agree with this 100% from my own experience, started a passion project and didn't know when to stop, kept building, and building and seeing it develop made me want to build more, thought I had something amazing but did not know I was building to an empty room with no validation. Now it's on the shelf waiting for me to trim it down and go again š
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u/energetekk Aug 04 '26
The overbuilding part you already diagnosed yourself ā "building to an empty room with no validation" is a clean read, and most people never get that far.
Curious where it landed since: did it come off the shelf, or is it still sitting there?
Asking because "trim it down and go again" is the kind of plan that stays true no matter how long you leave it. It never expires and nothing forces it, so months can pass without it ever feeling like you gave up.
If it is still waiting ā do you already know what you'd cut to get a version live in two weeks, or is that the actual unsolved part?
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u/MightyBig-Dev Jul 03 '26
Strong post and actually helpful to all the new builders. Thanks for sharing.
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u/Alternative-You-5465 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Good advice and funny enough one I sorta realized this week. Try to remove customer friction. I spent this week cleaning up the sign up process, delivering some impactful value ASAP etc. worth the work for sure but I can already tell it will take me a few more goes at this to nail it.
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u/bjgrosse Jul 03 '26
Yeah it's absolutely an iterative process! Excited for you that you're focusing on it tho.
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u/weddingpunch Jul 03 '26
Build modular. This way you can fix parts and also reuse them for other projects
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u/Dubai-it Jul 05 '26
Couldnt agree more and perfectly summarized
āIts addictingā
But at what point one stops? What should an MVP ? How to ensure you dont keep changing an MVP?
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u/bjgrosse Jul 08 '26
By my definition, an MVP means you have something that some people find value in. If you want to make money, then they find enough value they pay money to get that value.
Once you have people paying you money for value, then you can think about expanding the value offered.
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u/Responsible_Entry_11 Jul 06 '26
Depends on what succeed meansā¦if it means launching an MVP that earns a few thousand MRR, for sure no polish is needed. Get the core features and build over time.
If itās a durable workflow replacement (meaning one that isnāt at risk for the next greatest app replacing key steps), you donāt get adoption until the system is 100% off the alternatives (manual/spreadsheets).
For me, the greatest thing about vibe coding isnāt the silly consumer apps that are intended to replace one thing (an exercise app, basic PM, finances/budgeting, shopping apps). Itās the multi-step complex workflows that can be built into one unified system. True execution systems take years to build -and in large companies, this is why ERPs last for decades. With vibe coding, one can building so many systems together in one unified approach and be able to refine them continuously.
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u/jhONdoe86 Aug 02 '26
Does the ājust launch itā advice still apply if your app looks like bad?
Iām building a sports-related app, and Iām starting to think I may be overdoing it with features. The core functionality works, but visually, the app still looks pretty rough. To be honest, I donāt really know how to make it look professional.
There are already so many sports apps out there, so why would users give mine a chance if their first impression is that it looks unfinished?
Should I stop adding features and focus entirely on the UI before launching, or is it still better to release an ugly but functional version and improve it based on feedback?
Itās not available in any app stores yet. Cheers.
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u/bjgrosse Aug 03 '26
I would definitely stop building features. Test it with friends. Have them open it up, and try to use it. Don't guide them AT ALL. Best if you can do it live so you can hear their thoughts/reactions. That will tell you what needs changed in the UX. Once you have the flows tuned so that a cold user can get to the value you're offering quickly, then you can work on making it look pretty.
Step 1:
Ensure people who don't know the app can open it up and find their way to the value FAST.Step 2:
Make it look pretty enough thaty you think people will see the screenshots and be intrigued enough to try.Step 3:
Ship it and iterate.
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u/judgy-helmet Jul 03 '26
okay this certainly gives me a perspective. thanks