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An app like Cal.com can be vibe coded in a few evenings with a Chrome MCP server pointed to their website to figure out all the nooks and crannys. The moat of C

An app like Cal.com can be vibe coded in a few evenings with a Chrome MCP server pointed to their website to figure out all the nooks and crannys. The moat of Cal.com is not the code, it's the users who don't want to migrate. The real answer is they are likely having a hard time converting people to paid plans

notnullorvoid 6mo ago
> The moat of Cal.com is not the code, it's the users who don't want to migrate. That's a very weak moat unless you have something else like the friction of network dependence similar to a social network.
- philipov 6mo ago
  Sunk cost is sufficient friction for most people even without network dependence.
  - shimman 6mo ago
    For a meeting scheduler site? I feel like you're overestimating the capabilities of something that is akin to college graduate project. This company does not seem healthy at all: https://getlatka.com/companies/calcom https://getlatka.com/companies/calcom I agree with the other poster that mention this is likely a publicity stunt but all it's really showing is that VC is still incredibly stupid with their money. All the more reason to seize it from them then properly fund useful software and not subsidize vanity projects for stanford grads.
    - cootsnuck 6mo ago
      About the friction, not the capabilities...I haven't switched off my biz calendar/appointment provider I'm paying for even though I've kinda outgrown it. I wouldn't under estimate switching friction.
      - hrimfaxi 6mo ago
        How much does your friction avoidance cost, if you don't mind my asking?
- jmcgough 6mo ago
  idk my mom still pays for her aol email account
  - rhubarbtree 6mo ago
    Best business insight posted on HN. This. Your code is not your business.
  - notnullorvoid 6mo ago
    Email is actually a excellent example of something with network dependence. Changing email providers requires that you change your email address too (unless you own and use your own domain). An address change causes friction from having to update the network of contacts and services which used your old email address.
- eloisant 6mo ago
  Exactly, that's why most Saas companies are in a very tough position. You have to bring value that goes beyond the source code and hosting, otherwise your clients are going to vibe code a custom solution instead of paying you.
  - OccamsMirror 6mo ago
    > otherwise your clients are going to vibe code a custom solution instead of paying you. How many things do you want to be responsible for? How many vibe coded projects do you want to maintain? I think this line of reasoning is overblown. Just because you can doesn't mean a significant number of people will. I think the 3D printer comparison is apt.
    - eloisant 6mo ago
      Individuals and SMB might stick with Saas but those don't pay much. Enterprise customers have the means to develop in house, those are the customers that will leave. And those are the whales of the Saas business.
      - OccamsMirror 6mo ago
        They already have the means to develop in house. Why aren't they?
        eloisant 6mo ago
        This is much less work (= cheaper) to develop in-house with AI now than before.
        OccamsMirror 6mo ago
        I don't think it's much cheaper. Writing some code to do some CRUD has always been easy. Getting to a proof of concept is definitely quicker. But creating something that can be relied upon in production? That's as difficult and time consuming as it has ever been.
j45 6mo ago
Coding something vs maintaining it can be quite different things.
- TeMPOraL 6mo ago
  For many use cases, maintenance doesn't matter. At this point, using LLMs to one-shot a tool/service for a single use or time-limited use case is becoming more appealing than signing up with some vendor, even for free.
  - j45 6mo ago
    If it's got the lifespan of a short lived spreadsheet, maybe. People can one shot to the moon, if the input and improvements can't be sustained, it goes sideways. Still an exciting space.
indianmouse 6mo ago
May be trying creating one and see how much effort and time is required to clone such a functionality to a proper working state! Something for personal use can be created in about 5-10 days, but even then the skill that is required and the amount of tokens to burn, hosting and security etc, will easily kill. This is exactly the thought process of many, but it will surely kill many opensource contributors. I've stopped committing anything to any open source repos as a personal choice. I do not want to train a LLM which will eventually create more slop and headaches since for me, time is the only important factor which holds the maximum value! Nothing else!
opem 6mo ago
For real, one of the reasons I use cal.com is because it's open source. Time to migrate.
- lrvick 6mo ago
  Same. I expect in a misguided effort to save customers, they are going to lose a lot more. My two companies will be canceling over this.
il-b 6mo ago
> An app like Cal.com can be vibe coded in a few evenings Do it then

notnullorvoid 6mo ago

> The moat of Cal.com is not the code, it's the users who don't want to migrate. That's a very weak moat unless you have something else like the friction of network dependence similar to a social network.

philipov 6mo ago
Sunk cost is sufficient friction for most people even without network dependence.
- shimman 6mo ago
  For a meeting scheduler site? I feel like you're overestimating the capabilities of something that is akin to college graduate project. This company does not seem healthy at all: https://getlatka.com/companies/calcom https://getlatka.com/companies/calcom I agree with the other poster that mention this is likely a publicity stunt but all it's really showing is that VC is still incredibly stupid with their money. All the more reason to seize it from them then properly fund useful software and not subsidize vanity projects for stanford grads.
  - cootsnuck 6mo ago
    About the friction, not the capabilities...I haven't switched off my biz calendar/appointment provider I'm paying for even though I've kinda outgrown it. I wouldn't under estimate switching friction.
    - hrimfaxi 6mo ago
      How much does your friction avoidance cost, if you don't mind my asking?
jmcgough 6mo ago
idk my mom still pays for her aol email account
- rhubarbtree 6mo ago
  Best business insight posted on HN. This. Your code is not your business.
- notnullorvoid 6mo ago
  Email is actually a excellent example of something with network dependence. Changing email providers requires that you change your email address too (unless you own and use your own domain). An address change causes friction from having to update the network of contacts and services which used your old email address.
eloisant 6mo ago
Exactly, that's why most Saas companies are in a very tough position. You have to bring value that goes beyond the source code and hosting, otherwise your clients are going to vibe code a custom solution instead of paying you.
- OccamsMirror 6mo ago
  > otherwise your clients are going to vibe code a custom solution instead of paying you. How many things do you want to be responsible for? How many vibe coded projects do you want to maintain? I think this line of reasoning is overblown. Just because you can doesn't mean a significant number of people will. I think the 3D printer comparison is apt.
  - eloisant 6mo ago
    Individuals and SMB might stick with Saas but those don't pay much. Enterprise customers have the means to develop in house, those are the customers that will leave. And those are the whales of the Saas business.
    - OccamsMirror 6mo ago
      They already have the means to develop in house. Why aren't they?
      - eloisant 6mo ago
        This is much less work (= cheaper) to develop in-house with AI now than before.
        OccamsMirror 6mo ago
        I don't think it's much cheaper. Writing some code to do some CRUD has always been easy. Getting to a proof of concept is definitely quicker. But creating something that can be relied upon in production? That's as difficult and time consuming as it has ever been.

j45 6mo ago

Coding something vs maintaining it can be quite different things.

TeMPOraL 6mo ago
For many use cases, maintenance doesn't matter. At this point, using LLMs to one-shot a tool/service for a single use or time-limited use case is becoming more appealing than signing up with some vendor, even for free.
- j45 6mo ago
  If it's got the lifespan of a short lived spreadsheet, maybe. People can one shot to the moon, if the input and improvements can't be sustained, it goes sideways. Still an exciting space.

indianmouse 6mo ago

May be trying creating one and see how much effort and time is required to clone such a functionality to a proper working state! Something for personal use can be created in about 5-10 days, but even then the skill that is required and the amount of tokens to burn, hosting and security etc, will easily kill. This is exactly the thought process of many, but it will surely kill many opensource contributors. I've stopped committing anything to any open source repos as a personal choice. I do not want to train a LLM which will eventually create more slop and headaches since for me, time is the only important factor which holds the maximum value! Nothing else!

opem 6mo ago

For real, one of the reasons I use cal.com is because it's open source. Time to migrate.

lrvick 6mo ago
Same. I expect in a misguided effort to save customers, they are going to lose a lot more. My two companies will be canceling over this.

il-b 6mo ago

> An app like Cal.com can be vibe coded in a few evenings Do it then