Colorado Startup Week: Vincent Owens presents The Art of Vibe Coding

On Wednesday afternoon at Colorado Startup Week, Denver native Vincent Owens took the stage to introduce his formula for vibe coding. His recipe is more than just a remix of the latest hot trend in artificial intelligence; it's a personal philosophy of working with AI that blends technical skill, cultural fluency, and human creativity.

Owens is no stranger to innovation. As founder and CEO of Park Hill Financial District, he built the FinLit app, a play-to-earn game that teaches financial literacy through blockchain and AI. He also co-founded UniverseCity.AI, dedicated to training Black and brown innovators in automation, Web3, and artificial intelligence. His projects all circle back to the same mission: bridging divides by showing people how to see technology not as something alien, but as something they already know how to wield.

In his recent book, The Art of Vibe Coding, Owens put it plainly:

Tech is no longer optional. It’s the new literacy. It’s the new capital. It’s the new protest. And if we’re not building it, someone else is deciding what we deserve from it.

At Colorado Startup Week, he explained that vibe coding is about more than just prompt engineering. It’s about infusing AI interactions with intention, style, and culture—so that the machine reflects human creativity instead of flattening it.

The vibe is the feeling that you feel,” he told the crowd. “You want it to match your flavor, your voice. That’s when it becomes yours.

In his book, Owens lays out a set of guiding principles meant to keep creators grounded while working with AI. He calls them the "12 Vibe Laws," making sure to point out that they aren’t technical instructions so much as protocols – practical, human-centered cues designed to make sure the process stays flexible, collaborative, and rooted in real-world needs. Or, as Owens says, these are "urban truths. The codes behind the code. These are survival skills, not study guides."

Together, these principles show how Owens frames vibe coding not just as a method, but as a mindset.

Owens pushed back against the fear that AI will stifle originality. Instead, he argued, vibe coding can act as a catalyst—helping creators sketch ideas in seconds that once took weeks. He gave examples of artists, entrepreneurs, even his own 75-year-old uncle, who discovered new ways to speed up their process without losing their voice.

Representation, he emphasized, is also part of the vibe. Large language models aren’t neutral, and often miss cultural nuance. That’s why his team is developing training sets tuned for overlooked communities. “Protect the culture. Guard the flavor. Honor the source,” he said, echoing one of his guiding principles.

The goal, as Owens defines it near the close of his book, is to shift mindsets:

The [digital] divide isn’t measured in megabytes – it’s measured in mindsets… The same creativity you use to stretch a dollar or flip a hustle is the same creativity that powers algorithms. That’s the work: not just introducing new tech, but introducing new truths.

For Owens, vibe coding is that bridge: a way to turn prompts into opportunity, capital, and influence.