Building Web Apps with Just English and AI (with Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch)
Feb 18, 2025
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Guillermo Rauch, Founder and CEO of Vercel, dives into the revolution of web development. With over 6 million users, Vercel empowers developers with tools like Next.js. He reveals the creation of ‘v0’, an AI that turns English into functional web apps, hitting $2m ARR in just 14 days. The discussion covers balancing startup agility with enterprise reliability, and how AI is reshaping developer collaboration. Guillermo also shares insights on building a business around open-source projects and the future of web development for small teams.
Vercel has become a leading infrastructure platform by focusing on enhancing developer experience, performance, and design quality for web applications.
The launch of V0 represents a significant shift in web development, allowing non-coders to create applications using natural language prompts powered by AI.
Balancing a robust open-source project like Next.js with enterprise support, Vercel has successfully fostered a thriving community while maintaining rapid growth and innovation.
Deep dives
The Vision Behind Vercel
Vercel serves as an infrastructure platform designed to enhance the development and deployment of modern web applications, emphasizing developer experience, performance, and design quality. Guillermo Rauch, the CEO, expresses his obsession with ensuring that user interactions with web applications are fast and delightful. He cites real-world instances, such as news sites during significant events like elections, highlighting that many high-traffic, real-time sites are built on Vercel, showcasing its vast utility. Major brands like Bose and Fanatics also leverage Vercel during peak shopping events, indicating its strong presence in both established enterprises and burgeoning startups.
The Early Challenges and Unique Approach
The foundational ideas for Vercel emerged from the challenges developers faced in building high-quality web applications at scale, especially when competing against tech giants. Traditionally, creating dynamic web applications demanded extensive knowledge and considerable setup time with complex tools. Vercel's vision was to democratize web development by simplifying infrastructure and offering a cohesive platform that integrates modern technologies. This focus on front-end development allowed Vercel to create Next.js, a framework that provides developers with the necessary tools for building dynamic and engaging user experiences.
Evolving the Developer Experience
An essential feature of Vercel is its continuous deployment capabilities, which allow developers to create and test features in real time without the hassle of traditional staging environments. This functionality enables Git branches to be automatically deployed as previews accessible to anyone in the organization, fostering collaboration and reducing the iteration cycle. The insight that developers appreciate rapid feedback loops shaped Vercel's infrastructure, enhancing the overall development experience. As a result, enterprises can test and refine their applications efficiently, ensuring responsiveness to user needs and market dynamics.
The Impact of AI and V0
Vercel has recently launched V0, an AI assistant designed to revolutionize the web development landscape by simplifying the coding process. This tool allows users to generate applications and interfaces based on natural language prompts, democratizing the ability to create software. The rapid adoption of V0 in a matter of weeks speaks to its potential to transform how software is built and utilized, reaching audiences far beyond traditional developers. The success of V0 signifies a shift in software development, where non-coders can harness technology for innovation, reflecting an evolution in the tech skill landscape.
Building a Sustainable Business Model
Rauch highlights the importance of focusing on excelling at a particular niche, advocating for a deep understanding of developer needs and the market. Vercel's open-source approach to Next.js has enabled it to build a robust community while offering a for-profit enterprise that ensures excellent infrastructure support. The strategy evolves towards becoming a multi-faceted platform catering to various aspects of development, reflecting ongoing feedback from users. By prioritizing developer satisfaction and collaboration, Vercel has successfully positioned itself as a leader in the web development ecosystem, enhancing both individual developer experience and enterprise collaboration.
Vercel has become the infrastructure platform powering modern web development over the past several years, with companies from Stripe to Adobe to Runway all building their front ends on them. Today we’re joined by founder and CEO Guillermo Rauch, who shares why Vercel has been uniquely successful in the fragmented (to say the least!) world of web development platforms. There are now more than 6 million Vercel users, 80,000 active teams, and users have grown 200% year-over-year. The company also crossed $100m in annualized revenue last May, and Guillermo shared with us that they’ve been growing at 80% since, and were recently valued at $3.25 billion.
This is also a particularly interesting moment for Vercel. Last year they launched a new product, “v0”, which lets anyone create and deploy a working website simply by describing it in English and letting AI take care of the rest. Guillermo shares its origin story within the company (and insanely that it reached $2m ARR in the first 14 days!), and how it’s changed their entire thinking about what’s possible now with AI products.
We also cover:
How to build a business around an open source project (Next.js)
How they balance both being a fast and nimble platform for startups with being a reliable platform for enterprises
Guillermo's unconventional approach to staying deeply technical as CEO at scale
