My Continued Disappointment with Vibe Coding

September 4, 2025 | George Pu

I've been lying to myself for months.

Not intentionally. But lying nonetheless.

I thought I was 'building fast' with AI coding tools. Cursor, Claude Code, Windsurf - the whole arsenal.

Felt productive. Felt smart. Felt like I was leveraging the future.

Reality check: I was moving backwards.

What Actually Happened

A few months ago, I decided to give the SimpleDirect App a new look.

When my other developers are all working on their tasks, I've decided to vibe code it and give it a fresh and new look. It worked - for the time being.

Much better UI/UX thanks to our designer, and Claude Code picked it up right away.

Months after, my users are writing to me: the SimpleDirect financing app has a login bug!

They would get logged out constantly and every time they log back to the app, they would need to login again.

This is obviously a refresh token issue - something with the refresh token is not working.

I got together with my engineers and identified some potential issues. I started working on debugging this with Claude Code and Cursor.

Every time, Claude Code, Cursor, and Windsurf would tell me: Finally! It's resolved - and give me 10 lines of reasons why this issue has been 'completely' fixed. Except - it's not fixed.

After uploading the app to production five times, the results are clear. Every time Google/Apple would approve the app, I would test it out, and the issue would still be there.

Sometimes, when the issue is clearly resolved on the mobile app testing environment, would still come back and bite me, and after many tries, all these vibe coding tools would forget how to debug - since they are debugging themselves and the AI and I would both be baffled at what to do next.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK?

My mobile app? Started crashing on iOS. Then Android. Each AI-generated 'fix' breaks something else - the errors from 'vibe coding' is starting to catch-up on me.

(I was also showing my friend the app today and upon opening - it crashed, very embarrassing for me)

Another Android-related permission issue came up. Google Play Store rejections? I'm at five submissions, five failures. 'Permission issues with personal loans.'

I've thrown every AI agent at this problem. Different prompts, different tools, different approaches.

Still fails. Every. Single. Time.

Here's the thing that hurts: each failure costs me weeks. Real weeks.

While my competitors are shipping, I'm stuck in an endless loop of AI-generated code that looks sophisticated but doesn't work.

The Uncomfortable Truth

I haven't seriously coded in Next.js, Astro, or Nest.js for years.

Maybe since 2020 or 2021. My knowledge is basically zero.

So when I ask Claude to fix complex authentication flows, I'm essentially asking it to perform brain surgery while I hold the scalpel with my eyes closed.

I can't tell good AI code from garbage code because I don't understand the frameworks.

Where AI Actually Works for Me

Business strategy? I'm deadly with AI. Country expansion plans, operational frameworks, market analysis - I can brainstorm with Claude for hours and get incredible results.

Why? Because I actually know what I'm doing in those areas. I can spot when the AI suggests something brilliant versus when it's missing context. I can guide it effectively.

I have the foundation. The pattern recognition. The domain expertise.

With coding? I have nothing.

The Real Cost

Let me be specific about what this cost me:

• Time: Hundreds of hours since January
• Opportunity cost: Features that should have launched in Q1 are still broken in Q3
• User trust: People try our app, hit the logout bug, and think we're amateurs
• Mental energy: The hope → failure → frustration cycle is exhausting

God isn't this exhausting.

But the biggest cost? I convinced myself I was 'moving fast' when I was actually standing still.

What I'm Doing Now

Swallowing my pride and having actual developers from my team to do the work instead. Having a more realistic expectation about time till delivery.

Not because AI is bad. Because I don't have the foundation to use it effectively for coding.

My friend Didier at OpenBB uses AI incredibly well for development.

Know why? He's an experienced developer. He knows when the AI output is good versus garbage.

I don't.

The Lesson

AI is a multiplier, not a replacement.

If you multiply zero knowledge by the best AI tools in the world, you still get zero.

I'm incredible at using AI for business because I understand business.

I'm terrible at using AI for modern web development because I don't understand modern web development.

The solution isn't to stop using AI. It's to be honest about where you actually have expertise.

For Other Founders

If you haven't coded seriously in years, don't make my mistake.

Vibe coding feels productive. The AI generates code that looks professional. You feel like you're building the future.

But if you can't distinguish between working code and broken code, you're setting yourself up for expensive failures.

Either learn the fundamentals properly, or hire people who already know them.

Your users don't care how you built it. They care that it works.

Work shouldn't feel like work. Debugging the same login bug for six months? That's work.

Trust your gut. Mine was telling me something was wrong months ago.

Follow me @TheGeorgePu for more founder reality checks.