Hey Reader,
Every founder I meet right now is obsessed with engineering.
They are arguing over which LLM is faster, which vector database is more scalable, and how to shave three milliseconds off their API response time.
They think the "best" tech wins.
I’m placing a different bet for 2026. My main focus isn't on the engineering — it’s on Vibe Marketing.
Here is the "Clarity Filter" reality: Engineering is becoming a commodity. In a world where AI can help you write code and deploy infrastructure in minutes, "having the tech" is no longer a moat. It’s just the ante to get into the game.
The real battle has shifted from the back-end to the front-end of the business: Marketing and Sales.
Vibe Marketing isn't about catchy slogans or aesthetic Instagram grids. It’s about:
Conviction: Having a point of view so strong that the right customers feel "found" when they read your copy.
Trust over Tech: In an era of deepfakes and generic AI noise, people buy from humans they trust, not models they don't understand.
The Narrative Wedge: Using a specific story to solve a specific problem for a specific person.
If your startup is 90% engineering and 10% marketing, you’re building a library that no one is visiting.
The job of a 2026 founder is to be a Chief Narrative Officer, not a Chief Technical Officer. If you can’t sell the "vibe" — the transformation and the trust — it doesn't matter how good your code is.
The tech gets them to look. The vibe gets them to pay.
Which one are you spending 80% of your time on?
Speak soon, — Dmitry