He grew up in Jordan, was rejected from YC four times(!)... and today his side project is worth $1.16 billion! 😮
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He grew up in Jordan, was rejected from YC four times(!)... and today his side project is worth $1.16 billion! 😮
Amjad Masad, founder of Replit, is a story about perseverance, vision and innovation. In a fascinating interview he shares the journey he went through – from an internet cafe in Jordan to building one of the most influential platforms in the development world.
💥 The humble beginning:
Amjad grew up in Jordan, where he learned to program in an internet cafe.
"Every time I wanted to write a line of code, I had to set up the work environment again. It was unusually frustrating," he says.
That experience led him to ask: why can't you write and run code directly in the browser?
🌟 What happened in between?
After years of self-directed learning and honing his skills, Amjad was hired at Facebook, where he worked on internal development tools and deepened his knowledge of developing new technologies.
"I worked on projects that helped developers be more efficient, and that made me think: why not do this for everyone, not only for developers at Facebook?"
While working at Facebook, he kept working on Replit as a side project, until the project became too big for a hobby.
"I got to a point where the server costs grew, and I realized there was no choice but to turn it into a real company."
He sold Facebook shares that he owned, and invested the money to fund the initial stage of Replit.
📉 The failures along the way:
Amjad tried to get into Y Combinator four times and failed.
"It was hard to get so many rejections, but instead of giving up, I realized the idea was worth the effort. I simply didn't give up."
💡 What is Replit, actually?
Replit is a tool that lets anyone write and run code directly from the browser, with no need for complicated installations or work environment setups.
- Users choose a programming language from a wide range of languages.
- They write the code in a simple and intuitive work environment.
- They run the code and get immediate results – all in the cloud.
This simple approach saves time and effort, which makes Replit an ideal tool for beginners and professional developers alike.
🤖 How is AI changing the game?
Amjad talks about the impact of AI on the platform:
"We're seeing people create complex apps for less than $100, something that in the past would have taken months and cost tens of thousands of dollars."
According to him, the platform lets anyone – even without programming experience – become a software creator.
"This is the future of software development – ideas and creativity matter more than code."
🎤 An unforgettable moment from the journey:
Amjad tells how he managed to "get into" Y Combinator on the fifth attempt, and how he did it in an especially creative way:
"They weren't sure about me, so I decided to send them a demo they couldn't ignore. It was a Replit demo where you can run code – in real time – inside the email itself. They said, 'Okay, this is crazy. We're in.'"
🎥 The full interview in the first comment
