Like many tech companies during the pandemic, we over-hired and had to re-contract. Without the VC-funded war chest that our competitors had, we could not compete in marketing and sales. Our brand-awareness dwindled into obscurity.
So, in all fairness, we lost the game of capitalism. And, I have no problem with that.
Unlike Redbox (archived), our plan was to end on a high note. Once the balance reached a certain limit, a plan (devised a year in advance) would make everyone whole and return the remaining funds to the investors.
Except that investors have changed their minds and would rather take a chance on a future sale than accept defeat.
What has changed his mind?
The allure and promise of AI workforce shortage.
Technology costs are a numeric percentage of monthly expenses – the majority tied to headcount and benefits. When I saw the numbers going towards headcount costs, I completely understood the situation we were in.
Previous cuts really reduced the number of employees to a minimum, allowing the technology we have to still be operational. Any less than that, and the risk of business interruption within a few months is high.
At the same time, current revenue projections call for winding down the business within a few more months.
We used to have a thousand people. Today, I can count them all on my fingers. Reductions beyond this will require a fundamentally different operating model.
Given that our revenues can no longer support the staff needed to run our own technology, how will finances work on someone else’s platform?
Assuming that this software as a service (SaaS) can deliver what leadership believes, napkin math shows that it will work.
With this SaaS, they expect…
- no engineering headcount
- No implementation headcount
- no support number
- Sales teams were contracted to pick up the rest.
So if they’re going to lay off everyone and migrate to SaaS, who will do the migration?
I’ll be alone for an extra month or two to move it all over.
Somehow, I need to keep the tech coast through its final days while transferring all my data.
Thankfully, there is AWS No A source of stress for me. Things still work, even if they complain years later.
I have been expecting either closure or change for over a year now. I’m nearing the end Like This already.
While my partner is more bitter than me about having a closer deadline, I’m not as emotionally excited. When? Or How It ends.
What I didn’t expect is how a vibe coded app Passed as valid to the Board of Directors. We don’t even have a contract with this platform yet and people are told they are being fired.
legal concerns
In my two hours of testing and feedback, I found that – without immediate changes to SaaS – we would immediately violate the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the CAN-SPAM Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
I keep saying ‘we’. It won’t happen quickly.
How can a platform be so bad? This SaaS has no customers in the United States. Their team is based in another country without similar laws or regulations.
Nevertheless, I believe that Vibe coded platforms created by people in the United States also inadvertently violate state and federal laws related to privacy, communications, and accessibility.
One of our technology acquisitions was through a bankruptcy fire sale because the parent company could not pay a fine for violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. These issues cannot be ignored to do business in the United States.
things don’t work
I have used LLM Assisted Auto Complete. I have created inline functionality. I have created classes and modules. And I’ve built entire web apps. I’ve seen what GPT, Cloud, Z.ai GLM, Grok Code, and Gemany do across the entire spectrum of software development.
Within a minute, I could tell whether it was built from a cloud or a GLM. On hover each image zooms for no reason. There are cards everywhere. go to link # In the footer. models conclude X Button that doesn’t work. The search button at the top doesn’t do anything…
It’s as if someone took some screenshots of a competitor, asked an LLM agent to create design documents around them all, and then implemented those design documents without any human review.
At the deepest level, I can see how a CEO became confused. The most pleasant path is implemented. The second most pleasant path is difficult. The third most pleasant path is freedom from bondage.
No hack. Not reading the source code. Simply clicking around intuitively allowed me to break a key invariant to running a business: I could place orders without giving out my contact details or payment.
In addition to displacing jobsSuch issues concern me deeply.
llm-generated code can do Making business processes faster and cheaper than hiring an entire team with benefits. With experts who still value their craft in driving development, software can be produced even without these tools. Business processes meaningfully impact the lives of people, whether employees, customers, vendors, or shareholders.
Vibe coding at its finestThe quality of LLM-generated code will be so poor that it is Careless To use LLM-generated code Without Expert Inspection and VerificationMore lives than ever are going to be affected by careless software,
It’s much easier to accept that my life is changing because my employer couldn’t keep up with the economy, than it is to accept that it’s being displaced because of broken software created by a machine. Of course, the bottom line is my employer’s financial performance in this economy. And I accept it. Having to focus everything on a broken SaaS that breaks the law? It is difficult to accept this.
Although it is difficult to accept, I will still do my work and move on after doing a good job. How well the new platform works after the domain swap is not my problem.
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