Amjad Massad (@amasad) started Replit to make programming accessible to anyone, anywhere. What began as a tool for learning to code has grown into a platform pushing the limits of AI-assisted software creation and recently surpassed $100M in ARR. On The Breakdown with @t_blom and @dflieb, Amjad shares the journey from his early days in Jordan, working on open-source projects, to leading Replit through major pivots from "teach a billion people to code" to "let anyone build software." He discusses the evolving nature of programming, the future of work, and the next generation of human-computer collaboration. 00:38 - From YC to Replit: The Early Days 02:00 - A Billion Developers: Pre-LLM Vision 02:58 - Betting the Company on Agents 04:20 - AI Autonomy Jumps (Claude 3.x → 4.0) 05:22 - Computer Use: The Last Mile 06:40 - Sampling & Branching for Reliability 10:00 - Non-Engineers Shipping Software 12:10 - Security & Safe Components 17:40 - Where Replit Fits (Cursor ↔ No-Code) 18:50 - Ambient Building & Mobile Workflows 23:00 - AI in Meetings & Granola Maximalism 32:00 - Should Kids Still Learn to Code? 33:52 - DIY SaaS & The Vertical SaaS Crunch 34:46 - Final Advice for Founders
