How I Built a Startup in the Back of a Taxi in Vietnam
The story of how a much-needed vacation and a dead app led to the creation of Echo Ink.
Two weeks in Vietnam was supposed to be a complete reset. After two years of non-stop work, I was finally taking a real break. I expected to trade my keyboard for fresh coconuts and my code editor for the chaotic, vibrant streets of a country I’d never seen. I got all of that, but I also came home with something I never expected: a new startup.
This is the story of how a vacation turned into the birthplace of Echo Ink, my answer to the sudden death of my favorite read-it-later app, Pocket.
The Slow-Paced Inspiration of Vietnam
Vietnam was a sensory overload in the best way possible. The sheer number of motorbikes weaving through traffic, the sight of local riders wrapped head-to-toe in jackets and masks to shield themselves from the sun, and the simple joy of a fresh coconut that costs less than bottled water. It was all beautifully new.
But one observation stood out and, funnily enough, became the catalyst for this whole project: the pace of life. In Vietnam, nobody seems to be in a rush. The speed limits are low, and people happily cruise below them. A trip that would take 30 minutes back home in Australia easily stretched to an hour.
Suddenly, I had an abundance of one of my scarcest resources: time. Specifically, time spent in the back of taxis with nothing but my phone.
A Problem Worth Solving
Just before leaving for my trip, I was hit with some frustrating news: Pocket, my go-to app for saving articles to read later, was shutting down. I had a whole library of content I was counting on reading during my travels. It was a small annoyance, but it sparked an idea. I was sitting in traffic with hours to kill and a problem to solve.
So, I turned to my girlfriend in the back of a Grab taxi and said, "What if I just built my own?"
And so, Echo Ink was born.
"Vibe Coding" an App on My Phone
I started coding the entire thing on my phone using Replit. It felt less like traditional development and more like what some founders are calling "vibe coding"—using AI to rapidly bring an idea to life. The speed was mind-blowing. It was like having a team of developers in my pocket, instantly turning my ideas into functional code.
In just a few days of taxi rides, I had a working proof of concept with features that made the app genuinely useful. I even built a Progressive Web App (PWA) so I could "share" articles directly to Echo Ink from my phone's native share sheet. The initial progress was exhilarating.
When the Vibe Fades: Hitting AI's Limits
However, as the project grew more complex, the "magic" started to wear off. The AI began making more mistakes, leaving behind messy, duplicated code. Fixing one bug would often create another. I found myself spending more time iterating and correcting the AI's output than building new features.
The breaking point came just hours before our flight back to Australia. I wanted to add an offline mode so I could read my saved articles on the plane. This, it turned out, was pushing the AI past its limits. The attempt to implement this feature broke several others, leaving the app in a fragile state.
My experience perfectly mirrored an article I later read in The Founder's Corner titled "Vibe Coding 101." AI is an incredible tool for getting a project from zero to a minimum viable product (MVP). But as complexity and the need for refactoring grow, its limitations become clear. It's a fantastic starting point, but it's not the whole journey.
Try Echo Ink (and Embrace the Alpha)
Despite the challenges, I'm incredibly proud of what I built during my vacation. I use Echo Ink every day. It’s a brilliant tool born from a real need, a bit of boredom, and a lot of taxi time.
It's still very much an alpha version, so please don't expect a perfectly polished product. But if you're looking for a simple, effective read-it-later tool, I’d love for you to give it a try. Let me know what you think, and we'll see where the life of this unexpected project goes.
Check it out here: