A 1-hour experiment: vibe-coding an app to break the ice at a networking event

It’s 5pm. My event starts in an hour. Plenty of time to build an app, right? I’m currently exploring a new project idea. Still early, still messy. One of the most common pieces of advice when building a product is to validate early by talking to potential users. So I thought: why not use this networking event to start? The problem is, walking up to people and asking them to answer questions about your idea can feel awkward. I wanted something lighter. Something that would make the interaction feel natural instead of forced. So I built a simple app. A spin-the-wheel game where people could either: win a prize or answer a short survey It may or may not have been slightly rigged 🤫 But the goal wasn’t the prize. It was to create a moment. A small interaction that lowers the barrier, gets a smile, and opens the door to a real conversation. And surprisingly, it worked. It made approaching people easier, sparked a few genuinely interesting discussions, and helped me collect my first real sig