Over the past decade, social media content creators and cryptocurrency traders have been among the leading solopreneurs in the tech industry, dominating the conversation around building wealth from scratch by turning viral videos and meme coins into millions of dollars overnight.
The 50 richest creators across Forbes’ annual Top Creators list earned an estimated $853 million across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, an 18% jump from a record $720 million in 2024 and up from $570 million in 2021, the first year for which Forbes compiled the data.
But the emergence of vibe coding, which uses natural language prompts in artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots to generate software code rather than line-by-line writing, has made it possible for enterprising individuals to build wealth another way.
Ahmad Shadid, CEO of the AI-led decentralized ecosystem O.XYZ and founder of DePIN io.net, told Techopedia.
“Vibe coding brings builders who don’t need a whole team of engineers to test an idea or get it to market.”
How is vibe coding opening the way for solopreneurs to hit on the next million-dollar business?
- Vibe coding, powered by generative AI, enables solopreneurs to build software products in days rather than months.
- The AI-assisted coding trend represents a new approach to software engineering through conversation and checks, rather than the drag-and-drop approach of the previous generation of low-code and no-code tools.
- Forecasts indicate the low-code industry could reach $260 million by 2032, driven by investments in AI.
- Vibe coding tools shift the role of software developers to overseeing systems rather than writing code.
- The next wave of innovation in vibe coding tools will focus on reliability and orchestration, as well as mission control dashboards.
Beyond Content Creation to Product Building
Vibe coding makes it possible for individual creators to build apps and companies with minimal starting costs, lowering the barriers to market entry.
Shadid said:
“They are learning to structure intent, define test cases, and manage outputs with the same care that traditional teams used to give to big projects. And that discipline, along with smart automation, is creating a new space where individuals can work as quickly as startups.”
Vibe coding takes the concept of low-code tools, like Shopify, Elementor, and Appy Pie, to the next level. Low-code tools enable users to assemble websites and apps visually, by selecting and organizing predefined blocks.
“But with vibe coding, you describe the logic, tests, and constraints in natural language, and the model generates, revises, and validates until it fits your standard. It’s basically software engineering through conversation and checks, rather than drag-and-drop,” Shadid said.
“Also, vibe coding has removed the limitations placed on traditional low-code systems via templates, allowing builders to generate and verify any software by merely expressing their requirements in words.”
Vibe coding companies have exploded onto the scene in the past year.
The ability of chatbots to produce text, photos, and videos has meant that much of the focus has been on using AI for various forms of content creation. But vibe coding is changing the way users approach app development.
“Making pictures, getting answers to everyday questions, and spitting out blogs or recipes were pretty much the first point of contact with AI for many people. However, vibe coding has opened their eyes to new possibilities,” Shadid said. “Instead of getting models to write paragraphs, builders can now ask them to connect APIs, use logic, or act out workflows, with the end result being a product people can use instead of a piece that never changes.”
According to Shadid, Vibe coding is basically turning AI from a content factory into a creative partner in software engineering.
He said:
“As such, the idea of AI as a tool for making media is changing, especially among founders and executives. When people see how a clear idea can be turned into a real app using vibe-coded specs, their brains go from ‘wow, that’s cool art’ to ‘wait, I could start a business with this.’”
Vibe coding has caught on rapidly to become a preferred approach for independent builders “because it’s the point at which AI-assisted development stopped being a clever shortcut and became a skill that can be learned,” Shadid said.
“It allows people to clearly explain what they want, be it a product requirement, a workflow, or a user story, and see it become real software within hours. This essentially closes the gap between what independent builders can imagine and what they can make,” he added.
From Creators to Coders: The Evolution of Solopreneurship
| Type of Solopreneur | Core Tools & Platforms | Main Output / Product | Time to Monetization | Skills Required |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Media Creator | TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Patreon | Videos, courses, sponsorships | 6–24 months | Storytelling, audience growth, editing |
| Crypto Trader / NFT Founder | Binance, OpenSea, Ethereum, Solana | Tokens, NFTs, DAOs | Weeks to months (high risk) | Market timing, tokenomics, hype marketing |
| Low-Code / No-Code Builder | Webflow, Bubble, Shopify, Airtable | Apps, storefronts, SaaS prototypes | 3–6 months | UI logic, workflows, integrations |
| Vibe Coder | GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and Replit AI | Full-scale AI-assisted software | Days to weeks | Clear logic, structured thinking, prompt design |
Is Vibe Coding a Replacement or a Partner?
Criticism of vibe coding centers on the potential for users who lack advanced coding knowledge to create apps and ship them to customers without understanding errors in the code and how to fix them.
Some developers argue that reliance on unchecked AI-generated code could create security risks and ultimately lead to a generation of software developers who do not have a fundamental understanding of how systems function.
A viral social media meme from earlier this year shows Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates asking, “What does VIBE in Vibe Coding stand for?” and Linus Torvalds, developer of the Linux operating system, responding:
“VIBE coding = Very Inefficient But Entertaining.”
But Alexandr Wang, Chief AI officer of Meta, compares vibe coding to the advent of personal computers, name-checking Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg in an interview with the TBPN podcast last month. “It’s actually an incredible moment of discontinuity,” Wang said, adding that entrepreneurs who spend time using vibe coding tools will have an advantage over other developers.
For Shadid, “everything changed when I started treating model interaction like system design, with clear requirements, performance goals, and steps for checking. It became not about just talking to a model, but about treating it like a responsible contributor.”
As with other applications for AI, using vibe coding tools as an assistant, rather than a replacement for human intelligence or a threat to employment, reveals their potential.
Shadid told Techopedia:
“The lightbulb goes on when you see how a clear spec can make code that is ready for production. That clarity gives you speed and accuracy that are amazing, and you stop seeing AI tools as things that can replace you.”
From Coding Skills to Clear Thinking
Vibe coding has changed the way entrepreneurs think about creating products and starting businesses.
“Before vibe coding, innovation was limited by how much capital one had, or how much engineering talent they could access. Now it’s all about how clearly a builder can think. The bottleneck moved from ‘can I code this?’ to ‘Can I describe this well enough to get what I want?’,” Shadid said.
How Vibe Coding Accelerates Real Project Development
Playing with tools is the first step, but how can vibe coding speed up real project development?
“A common case is building internal tools or small SaaS applications. In the past, you needed designers, backend engineers, and QA cycles stretching across months,” Shadid said.
The founder has used vibe coding tools to shorten months of work into days or sometimes hours. Shadid said:
“For example, it took me 14 months and a full team of engineers and experts to build the Solana DePIN io.net. Now I could have done it in just 2 months with 3 or 4 people. Vibe coding lets one person write a detailed spec, user roles, database schema, and validation rules, then feed that into a structured workflow, and get a functioning prototype in a day or two.”
“Once they verify the baseline through automated checks, they can make incremental refinements. Builders don’t have to wait on handoffs or long sprints; instead, they can test, adjust, and release continuously, and in that way, teams can cut months of development down to a few focused days,” he added.
Why Vibe Coding Is Splitting the Developer Community
While there are concerns that AI-assisted development could eliminate software engineering work, Shadid sees it as redefining the role of developers. He said:
“Everyone’s biggest fear is that vibe coding will kill software engineering jobs. That’s not necessarily true in most cases. If anything, it will change them. For example, instead of teams typing every line, the technology allows them to be in charge of systems, set guardrails, and check output.”
According to Shadid, good engineers will be more like architects and reviewers, setting the rules and making sure the highest standards are met. It means those who learn how to make accurate specs and test gates will not be short of work.
Developers will need to shift their skillsets from writing code to overseeing and managing AI-based systems.
Future founders should learn to think in specs, not slides. Shadid said:
“Going forward, the most valuable skill will be the ability to describe what success looks like in a form that both humans and models can follow, including defining inputs, edge cases, and measurable tests.
“It’s a mindset of clarity and accountability. Beyond that, they should adopt short cycles, frequent verification, and clear documentation, because the ability to move fast while maintaining quality will define the next generation of founders.”
It will also create new possibilities for startups that would not have been able to create a large number of software development roles.
“As for startups, they won’t have to blow their budgets hiring large teams,” Shadid said. “With vibe coding, a two-person crew can do what used to take ten engineers. So now, fledgling companies will learn to value communication, testing discipline, and product thinking in potential employees, just as much as their raw coding ability.”
“The end result will be a market where high-performing individuals can create production-grade products without waiting for full teams or heavy funding.”
Where Vibe Coding Will Have the Biggest Impact
While vibe coding potentially creates opportunities across a range of applications, Shadid sees three main categories dominating:
“The small companies will adopt vibe coding to replace manual work with lightweight, custom applications. On the other hand, analysts, consultants, and researchers will build their own AI-assisted data platforms instead of outsourcing development,” Shadid said.
“Another major area is infrastructure, routing, observability, and model management. Builders will need reliable systems to track provenance, verify outputs, and manage multiple models. The firms providing those foundations will capture a significant share of the market,” he added.
The Next Wave: Reliability & Orchestration
As the first iterations of vibe coding tools give way to newer versions, focus is likely to shift from speed and accessibility to consistency, addressing the challenges of control and quality assurance that still lag behind traditional software development.
The next wave of vibe coding innovation “will probably be about reliability and orchestration.” Shadid said:
“Right now, we’re seeing lots of progress being made in speed and usability. However, the next step will be persistent context, reproducible builds, and integrated testing that make model-assisted development as dependable as traditional engineering.”
Empowering a New Generation of Solo Builders
Ultimately, Shadid sees vibe coding further empowering solopreneurs to establish businesses on the scale of full startup teams:
“We’ll also see ‘mission control’ environments for solo builders: one dashboard where they can manage context, observe behavior, and deploy confidently. Once that ecosystem matures, one or two-person teams will routinely deliver products that rival what entire startups used to build.”
Vibe coding is creating opportunities for entrepreneurs to build apps from the ground up without having to finance large teams of developers. The ability to generate code using AI is reshaping how software is developed, while raising questions about the future of traditional software jobs.
Rather than replacing developers, vibe coding is shifting the focus from writing code to oversight and strategy, requiring them to adjust their skillsets. The ability to move at speed while maintaining quality will be key for the next generation of tech founders.