Lets take the stigma out of rebuilding.
Old world: "rebuilding is too expensive". So we commit to fundamentally broken products for too long.
New world: Plan & build v1, realize mistakes, rebuild v2, more learnings... Ship v3 (in weeks, not months).
I don't know if anyone else can relate...
I built Teachery back in 2013 with a dev co-founder (I'm not a dev).
Since then, about 10 different developers have worked on the product. It's gone through 3 major redesigns, 1 major refactor, and has been *good enough* as a side project to generate $1.5m in revenue and $30m in course creator sales.
I feel this crazy tension right now though.
For the first time, using Claude/Codex I can SEE a version of Teachery that I want to exist.
And while vibe coding is great and can get you pretty far, it's truly not there yet for apps as complex as Teachery.
I worked on a new version of Teachery for 3 weeks straight with Claude Code and my long-time dev looked at the code and said, "you absolutely cannot use this, it's a dumpster fire."
Right now, I'm working with the dev to have an entire agentic workflow that goes slower, has lots of checks and balances, and doesn't just yeet thousands of lines of code for every feature/change/fix.
And while it feels like there is a TINY light at the end of a VERY LONG tunnel, I can't help but feel like I need this to go faster 😔. Declining revenue, user feedback, and people's expectations for products in 2026.
The only way Teachery takes a big step forward is a full rebuild (trust me, I've tried reworking the current version and it's just too duct-taped together).
Is anyone else in a position like this? How are you dealing with the tension of wanting to go fast, but also wanting to do it right?
I'm a patient person by nature, but man, this project feels like it has months left and it's killing me 😂.