20VC: Base44's Maor Shlomo on How Vibe Coding Will Kill SaaS and Salesforce | Why it is BS that Vibe Coding Platforms Do Not Have Defensibility and Bad Margins | Why He Worries About Google, Not Replit and Lovable | Why Long Anthropic, Not OpenAI?
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
In this compelling episode, Maor Shlomo, founder and CEO of Base44, shares the remarkable journey of building an AI platform that went from idea to $80 million acquisition by Wix in just 18 months. (05:00) The conversation explores the future of "vibe coding" and its potential to disrupt traditional SaaS businesses, with Maor arguing that platforms like his could eventually make it easier to build custom software than to buy off-the-shelf solutions. (08:25) Throughout the discussion, Maor provides insights on AI model economics, competitive dynamics, and the strategic decisions that led to Base44's success, while also sharing his perspective on angel investing and the evolving landscape of AI-powered development tools.
- Main themes: The conversation centers on the transformative potential of AI-powered development platforms, the economics and competitive dynamics of the AI coding space, and strategic decision-making in high-growth AI businesses.
Speakers
Maor Shlomo
Maor Shlomo is the Founder and CEO of Base44, the AI building platform that he built from idea to $80M acquisition by Wix in just 8 months. Today the company serves millions of users and will hit $50M ARR by the end of the year. Before Base44, Maor was the Co-Founder and CTO of Explorium, giving him extensive experience in building and scaling technology companies.
Key Takeaways
Build for Your Own Problems First
Maor emphasizes that the biggest hack for creating successful software is solving your own problems. (59:16) He started Base44 specifically to solve a CRM problem for his then-girlfriend's (now wife's) tattoo business, finding existing solutions overly complex and bloated. This approach ensures you understand the pain points intimately and can iterate quickly based on real usage. Rather than building for hypothetical customers you interview, starting with personal use cases creates a natural feedback loop and genuine understanding of what works. The key is recognizing that you'll likely throw away your first version, so focus on learning what the product should actually do rather than over-planning upfront.
Embrace the Iteration Mindset in AI Development
When building with AI tools, adopt a mindset that prioritizes rapid iteration over careful planning. (60:15) Maor advises that you should expect to throw away your first attempts and view this as normal, not wasteful. Unlike working with human developers where changes are expensive, AI allows you to revert and restart easily. Start with high-level prompts and let the AI suggest features you hadn't considered, then iterate based on what resonates. This requires overcoming the emotional attachment to code since you might discard thousands of lines, but the speed of iteration makes this approach far more effective than traditional development planning.
Vertical Integration Creates Defensible Moats
In the AI application space, businesses that rely purely on prompting models will struggle to maintain competitive advantages. (43:24) Maor argues that sustainable AI businesses need vertical integration - building substantial infrastructure around the core AI functionality. Base44's defensibility comes from its built-in backend, database, user management, and integrations rather than just better prompting. Companies that are essentially UX layers on top of LLMs face commoditization risk, while those building comprehensive platforms or even entering traditional industries (like law firms or hospitals) with AI-native approaches create harder-to-replicate advantages.
Focus on Gross Dollar Growth Over Margin Optimization
In the current AI market phase, prioritizing customer growth and market capture matters more than optimizing margins. (37:06) Maor agrees with the venture perspective that gross dollars per customer and rapid scaling should take precedence over margin concerns, especially given that model costs are trending toward zero. However, he emphasizes that businesses should still maintain financial health and understand their unit economics, particularly since AI costs can be dramatically altered overnight through model provider switching. The strategy involves growing aggressively while model prices decrease, then potentially moving to self-hosted models for better margins once scale is achieved.
Market Timing Beats Perfect Product
The window for building successful AI applications is defined more by market dynamics than product perfection. (23:06) Maor identifies that the real competitive threat isn't other AI coding platforms but rather dominant model providers like Google potentially conquering the entire stack. His strategy focuses on maintaining flexibility across multiple model providers while the market remains competitive. The ability to switch models with a single line of code creates unprecedented market dynamics where millions in spend can shift overnight based on model performance, making strategic positioning around market structure more critical than feature differentiation.
Statistics & Facts
- Base44 went from idea to $80 million acquisition by Wix in just 18 months, with the company now serving millions of users and projected to hit $50M ARR by the end of the year. (00:41)
- Maor estimates that 95-100% of code will be written by AI within two years, noting that for Base44 it's already closer to 90% since the company was built in the age of LLMs. (58:18)
- Some applications built on Base44 contain millions of lines of code, demonstrating the platform's capability to handle complex, enterprise-level projects beyond simple websites or basic applications. (15:01)
