Observed Signal · Sep 11, 2025 · Other · Source: Tech.eu · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
Retention and Community Will Decide Vibe Coding Winners
In this interview, Thomas Cuvelier, partner at early-stage VC RTP Global and early angel investor in Lovable, discusses the hype around vibe coding. He argues that growth is real and driven by revenue, not empty hype. Cuvelier highlights major challenges such as technical debt and lack of enterprise readiness, but sees vibe coding as a democratizing force that will shift competition toward product quality and user experience. He predicts software costs could approach zero within 24 months, threatening incumbents with mediocre products. For investors, retention is the most critical metric, and community building is a strong signal. Cuvelier notes Europe's deep AI talent but criticizes the lack of large-scale funding rounds compared to the US, urging European startups to think globally from day one.
Highlights a major trend in AI-assisted software development that could impact how AdTech/MarTech tools are built, but is not a specific industry event or announcement.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Lovable raised $200 million in a Series A round in July 2025, reaching a valuation of approximately $1.8 billion.
- Thomas Cuvelier is a partner at RTP Global and was an early angel investor in Lovable.
- Vibe coding is a term popularized by OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy in early 2025.
- Cuvelier predicts software costs will fall close to zero within 24 months, disrupting incumbents.
- Retention is identified as the key metric for investing in vibe coding startups.
Connected Companies & Entities
5 Entities mapped“Thomas Cuvelier is a partner at early-stage VC RTP Global...”
“which in July 2025 raised $200 million in a Series A round, reaching a valuation of approximately $1.8 billion...”
“OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy...”
“Tools like GitHub Copilot have been generating code for years...”
“it's going to be hard to build something better than WhatsApp...”
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