saved
Malleable software = solid bases + custom code
gist
Michael Dubakov argues that team productivity software in the AI age should be an 80 percent solid work base (data, permissions, history, collaboration) plus 20 percent custom code for the company's unique process. From-scratch Codex and vibe-code platforms leave teams rebuilding auth and storage; specialized tools freeze the domain; Notion-class tools lack extension points. Custom code only works when it inherits the base and cannot corrupt it. Pick the accumulating base, not the cheap UI. He bets malleable tools reach that sweet spot first because extension points take quarters while a solid base takes years.
ideas
- 80% work base plus 20% custom code. Databases, permissions, history, collaboration, and notifications are identical across teams; the remaining fifth is the company's unique interfaces, logic, and connections.
- Bases differ in kind. Vibe-coding platforms give a tech base, low-code an app base, and malleable tools a work base where the data itself lives with comments and history.
- Custom code must inherit and stay bounded. Permissions, history, and integrity apply automatically; a bad app should be an inconvenience, not a data-loss incident.
- Choose the base, not the interfaces. Data, history, and permissions accumulate and are hard to re-pick in two years; UI is becoming the cheap, replaceable part.
- Malleable tools have the shorter road. Adding extension points takes quarters, while building a solid base takes years. Vibe-code tools still have to construct that base.
quotes
“The solid base should cover what's identical for every team, and custom code should cover what makes yours different.”
“If every generated app needs its own auth, storage and audit trail, you are doomed”
“Data, history and permissions accumulate and are relatively hard to re-pick in two years.”
“extension points take quarters to add, while a solid base takes years”