Equity Supabase CEO on the "painful" decisions that built a $5B company
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Nov 28, 2025 In this engaging discussion, Paul Copplestone, co-founder and CEO of Supabase, shares insights on building a $5 billion open-source database platform. He reveals his unique approach to rejecting lucrative enterprise contracts to focus on vibe coding, which he believes is shaping the future of tech. Paul dives into the scalability of Postgres, the importance of maintaining a strong developer experience, and how AI is redefining coding for both veterans and newcomers. He also emphasizes the ongoing need for skilled developers, even in an AI-driven landscape.
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Built For Developers Before Vibe Coding
- Paul Copplestone describes building Supabase deliberately for developers long before vibe coding existed.
- That foresight primed the platform to become the backend for many AI-driven builder platforms this year.
Turn Down Distracting Enterprise Deals
- Say no to lucrative contracts that would pull your company away from your roadmap.
- Focus on product-led growth and build features that serve millions, not just demanding single customers.
VC Capital To Scale Postgres Upstream
- Supabase raised capital to accelerate work making Postgres more scalable for real customer demand.
- They plan to develop storage and sharding projects and contribute them back to the open-source Postgres ecosystem.