Amjad Masad: How I Founded Replit; Zuck's Famous Saying; Will TikTok be banned? | E987

Amjad Masad is the Founder and CEO @ Replit, whose mission is to bring the next billion software creators online. With Replit, Amjad has raised over $100M from the likes of Peter Thiel, a16z, Coatue and Addition, to name a few. Before founding Replit, Amjad was a tech lead on the JavaScript infrastructure team at Facebook. Before Facebook, Amjad was #1 employee at Codecademy. ------------------------------------- Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:51 Who is Amjad Masad? 7:57 Great Startups are Conspiracies to Change the World 11:53 Planners vs Doers 13:54 Why Gen-Z Doesn’t Work Hard 17:07 Zuck’s Famous Saying 17:57 Why Replit Seeks Pain 20:26 Employees Who Don’t Scale with Their Role 23:10 Amjad’s Biggest Hiring Mistake 26:37 The History of Software Development 31:20 40%-80% of Code is Written by AI Today 37:53 Will AI drive down the wages of developers? 40:45 Why Income Inequality is Going to Get Much Worse 43:03 ChatGPT Will Shrink the Knowledge Gap 44:20 Why Zuck is Switching his Focus from Metaverse to AI 45:29 Should the US ban TikTok? 51:14 Quick-Fire Round --------------------------- In Today’s Episode with Amjad Masad We Discuss: 1.) From Troublemaker Child in Iran to Silicon Valley Founder: How did Amjad make his way into the world of tech and Silicon Valley having grown up as a misbehaving child in Iran? In what ways did Amjad show early signs of exceptionalism? Why does he always look for this in people he is hiring for Replit? What does Amjad know now that he wishes he had known when he started Replit? 2.) The Future: A New World with AI at the Centre: Why does Amjad believe we will see thousands of billionaires created from the innovation in AI? Why does Amjad believe AI will lead to 100 more Elon Musks? If Amjad were CEO of Facebook, what would he do? Why and how do they have to invest in AI? Will TikTok be banned in the US? How will this be resolved? Why does Amjad believe that 300 people control the future of AI? Is that not concerning? 3.) The Future of Society, Employment and Wages: Why does Amjad believe in 10 years, 1 engineer will be able to do what 100 do today? What will happen to the real wages of engineers? How does Amjad see the inclusion of universal basic income in the future? Is Amjad concerned about societal and civil unrest with wealth disparity widening further? 4.) Building the Replit Army: Why does Amjad believe that so many in tech have gotten too soft in the last few years? Why does Amjad release a “Why You Should Not Join Replit” page and share it with all candidates? How can a founder know if they have good company values or not? Why does Amjad feel we need a spiritual reform in company building? Why are startups and religion the same? ------------------------------------------------------ Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Amjad Masad on Twitter: https://twitter.com/amasad Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vc_reels Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com ———————————— #AmjadMasad #Replit #HarryStebbings