AI & Product Colorado x Boulder Startup Week: From Vibe to Viable

Startups used to burn $150K–$200K just to get a first version out the door. Then AI walked in, flipped the table, and said: “What if you could build something real… this week?”

Welcome to the era of vibe coding.

Today, founders can prototype meaningful products in days and even ship early versions for under $10K. It’s a massive unlock. But there’s a plot twist most people don’t see coming…

The hard part didn’t disappear. It just moved.
Because getting from prototype → product-market fit isn’t a clean, linear glide path. It’s messy. It’s iterative. It’s a series of pivots, feature branches, and “wait, users actually want this?” moments.
Vibe coding can get you surprisingly far, but those market-driven iterations? They still demand real engineering horsepower. And if you haven’t raised capital by then, the real risk isn’t building the product…
It’s missing the market window while you scramble to keep up.

Together with our friends at Bobcats Coding, we’ll unpack what product development and go-to-market actually look like in the AI era, why costs have shifted (not vanished), and how founders should think about funding the critical stretch between prototype and product-market fit.

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✨ You’ll walk away with:

• A clear mental model for what changes (and what doesn’t) in AI-native product development
• A realistic view of the “messy middle” between prototype and PMF—and how to navigate it
• A sharper funding strategy for bridging the gap without losing momentum

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If you want to move fast and not accidentally drive off a cliff, this one’s for you.