1Coding Without a Computer
Amjad Masad was born in Amman, Jordan, to a Palestinian father and Algerian mother. Growing up, he didn't have a computer at home. He learned to program on borrowed machines and at internet cafes—paying by the hour to teach himself to code.
By seven years old, he was already trying to make things with computers. His first experience was pure fascination: the ability to give instructions to a machine and watch it execute them felt like magic. That feeling never left him.
"Growing up in Amman, Jordan, I didn't have a computer. I learned to program on borrowed computers, or at internet cafes. That constraint made me value every minute of coding time. It also made me want to make coding accessible to everyone."
— Amjad Masad
2The Road to Silicon Valley
Masad studied computer science at Princess Sumaya University in Jordan, then made his way to the U.S. His first major role was as a founding engineer at Codecademy from 2011 to 2013, helping build one of the most popular platforms for learning to code.
From there, he joined Facebook as a software engineer, eventually becoming tech lead on the JavaScript infrastructure team. His team built and maintained tools that millions of developers use: Babel, Jest, and the React Native packager.
3Rejected Four Times
In 2016, Masad co-founded Replit with his wife Haya Odeh and Faris Masad. Their vision: an online IDE that would make coding accessible to anyone, anywhere—no setup required. Just open a browser and start building.
They applied to Y Combinator. Rejected. They applied again. Rejected again. Four times they applied, and four times they were told no. Most founders would have given up or pivoted. Masad kept building and kept applying.
"We were rejected by YC four times. This repeated rejection would have deterred many entrepreneurs. But for me, it was fuel to refine the vision and prove the skeptics wrong."
4The AI Revolution
Replit eventually hit its stride, reaching a $1.2 billion valuation. But Masad wasn't satisfied with being a cloud IDE. When AI capabilities exploded in 2023-2024, he pivoted the entire company toward AI-powered development.
The result was "Agent"—a tool that can write working software applications from nothing but a natural language prompt. Replit's revenue grew 5x in six months. Masad's vision: software development shouldn't require knowing how to code.
The Bold Pivot:
"We don't care about professional coders anymore." Masad is betting that AI will make everyone a software creator.
The Result:
5x revenue growth in 6 months after launching AI Agent. Non-programmers building real applications.
5Key Lessons for Founders
1. Constraints create founders
Not having a computer taught Masad to value access. His biggest frustration became his company's mission: coding for everyone.
2. Rejection is data, not destiny
Four YC rejections. Each one was feedback to improve. The founders who succeed are the ones who treat "no" as information.
3. Build the tools you needed
Masad couldn't access computers easily as a kid. Now Replit runs in any browser. Your past frustrations point to real problems.
4. Be willing to cannibalize yourself
Masad pivoted Replit from "coding for coders" to "coding for everyone." He's willing to make his own product obsolete if it means a bigger vision.
5. Leave the bubble
Replit moved out of SF to Foster City. "There's such a tight feedback loop in SF... removing yourself has netted more original ideas."