Do you remember the first time you used ChatGPT? That moment when you realised you were having a proper conversation with AI and it actually understood what you wanted? That slightly surreal "bloody hell, this is mental" feeling?

I've not had many of those ChatGPT moments since, despite being completely immersed in AI.

You get used to the magic, don't you? It becomes routine.

Until I tried vibe coding.

The first time I tried vibe coding I described a content analysis tool that I wanted to build in plain English. And then watched the AI build a complete web application - frontend, backend, database, AI integration - all working within 20 minutes.

No code written by me. Just conversation.

That's “vibe coding” - a term coined in early 2025 by Andrej Karpathy (former AI director at Tesla and co-founder of OpenAI ie. quite smart).

Vibe coding is essentially building software by describing what you want rather than coding it yourself.

The great thing about it? It allows even non-coders to get started making software using natural language.

This week, we're diving deep into vibe coding to build your MVP from last week's spec. By Friday, you'll have a working application that real people can use.

Let’s get started

This week follows the Plan → Prompt → Scaffold → Debug → Deploy framework. We're taking your validated idea from Week 3 and turning it into functioning software using Lovable.dev (fyi: this invite link will get your extra credits)- without you needing to learn programming.

What Is Vibe Coding?

Vibe coding means collaborating with AI to build software through natural language conversation. Instead of writing code, you describe what you want. The AI handles all the technical implementation.

As Karpathy put it: "I just see stuff, say stuff, run stuff, and copy paste stuff, and it mostly works."

For entrepreneurs, this is revolutionary. The technical barriers that once required teams of developers have collapsed. You can now go from idea to working application in hours, not months.

I’ve been in the scene for a while and there has always been a massive disparity between non-technical founders and technical founders. People were always looking for a technical co-founder to help “make their dream a reality”.

Well…we can do that ourselves now. Or at least the first steps so we can prove the idea has legs.

But here's what's crucial: you still need to approach this systematically. Vibe coding isn't foolproof - it's a new way of building that requires different skills. This week we’ll build that skill.

Why Lovable Over the Alternatives?

There are several vibe coding platforms emerging. Here's how they compare

Cursor is brilliant for experienced developers who want AI assistance. If you already know how to code, Cursor is incredibly powerful. But it assumes technical knowledge you probably don't have.

I personally use Cursor the most. But I do not recommend starting here. It’s extremely good but also has a much higher learning curve.

And even when I do use Cursor I will often start prototyping in Lovable and then shift my project over to Cursor.

Bolt excels at rapid prototyping. You can build things quickly, but deployment and production readiness are challenging. Great for demos, tricky for real applications. I’ve found that it peters out and fails me far quicker than alternatives.

v0 (Replit) creates beautiful UI components but lacks full-stack capabilities. It's more about designing interfaces than building complete applications.

Lovable occupies the sweet spot for non-technical founders. It's accessible enough for complete beginners yet powerful enough for production applications. You get visual editing, integrated backend (ie. database) services, and professional output without needing technical expertise.

Here’s an invite link that gets you an additional 10 credits on the free plan: Lovable.

I’ve tried a bunch of these tools and Lovable still remains my fave. But by all means try others! And if you want to carry out this week’s work with another tool that’s all good. Most of what we’ll over will be relevant across all tools - I’m focusing on the skill of vibe coding rather than the particulars of the platform.

Our Vibe Coding Framework

I’m going to lift this straight from Lovable because it’s a great framework. Also because we’re working with their tool!

Plan → Prompt → Scaffold → Debug → Deploy

This five-phase approach transforms your business idea into working software. It also fits out weekly schedule very nicely!

Plan (today): We’ll transform your Week 3 spec into development-ready components. Break down your idea into buildable pieces and understand what you're actually building.

Prompt (Tuesday): We’ll look at how to communicate with your AI development partner. Learn to describe what you want clearly and iterate through feedback effectively.

Scaffold (Wednesday): We’ll build your application's foundation. Create the basic structure, core functionality, and user interface that solves your validated problem.

Debug (Thursday): We’ll work through problems that rear their head, refine and polish your application. Fix issues, improve user experience, and ensure everything works reliably.

Deploy (Friday): Finally we’ll make your application live and accessible. Get a working URL that you can share with real users.

Each phase builds on the previous one, so you'll have a functioning application by the end of the week. Promise!

You’re reading week 4 from the special ‘10-week AI Summer Camp’ series. Join the conversation here.

Breaking Down Your Week 3 Spec

OK! Today's main task is translating your business specification into development components. This requires thinking about your solution from a user's perspective whilst preparing for technical implementation.

Start by identifying your core user journey. What exact steps does someone take to get value from your application? This becomes your development priority.

Next, identify your data requirements. What information does your application need to store and process? User inputs, AI-generated outputs, settings, preferences?

Then consider your integrations. Does your MVP require AI processing, external APIs, or third-party services? Understanding these early prevents roadblocks later. Don’t worry if you aren’t really sure what these are - we’ll use the prompt below and Lovable to work out the details.

Finally, prioritise ruthlessly. Even with your validated spec, you need to decide what to build first. Focus on the core problem-solving functionality - everything else can be added later.

Use this prompt to transform your Week 3 spec into a development-ready plan

You are an expert product manager helping a non-technical entrepreneur plan their MVP development using Lovable.dev. 

My validated business idea: [Insert your Week 3 spec here]

Help me break this down for development by:

1. CORE USER JOURNEY: Describe the exact steps a user takes from landing on my application to getting the main value. Keep it simple - what's the minimum path to solving their problem?

2. DATA REQUIREMENTS: What information does my application need to store? Think about user inputs, AI outputs, settings, and any content users create.

3. INTEGRATION NEEDS: Does my MVP require AI processing (OpenAI, Claude), external APIs, or third-party services? List what's essential vs. nice-to-have. Explain what they are!

4. BUILD PHASES: Break my MVP into 2-3 development phases, starting with the most basic version that still solves the core problem. Each phase should build on the previous one. Each should be complete in and of itself. 

Format your response as a clear development plan I can use with Lovable.dev. Remember I am a non-technical entrepreneur so do not assume anything - explain your reasoning and suggestions. 

Use this prompt in your usual AI, not Lovable! Especially because this is where we’ve done all our prep work up until now.

This prompt will give you a structured development plan that bridges your business vision with technical implementation.

Importantly it’ll also explain what is going on.

There’s a tendency to just unthinkingly rely on AI to build our products. But it’s important that we know what it’s up to - even a high level understanding. For this reason the prompt here adds additional instructions for the AI to explain itself.

Preparing Your Lovable Project

Before tomorrow's build session, spend time tonight setting up your Lovable account and reviewing the platform. Try typing in a basic prompt like “create a basic time tracking app” and see what happens. We’ll get to our real project tomorrow but for now feel free to kick the tyres in Lovable to see what it can do. It’s fun, believe me!

Tomorrow, we talk about how we communicate with Lovable. You'll learn how to describe what you want clearly, iterate through feedback effectively, and get exactly the functionality you need.

If you can prompt AI already (and you can!) then this will be a cinch.

Keep Prompting,

Kyle