In this episode of Frameworks for Growth, Vanta CEO Christina Cacioppo talks with Amjad Masad, Founder and CEO of Replit, about how persistent ideas evolve into breakout products and how founders can stay scrappy while scaling.

Amjad breaks down how Replit handled early competition, carved out space as one of the first AI-native dev platforms, and sustained momentum in a crowded, fast-moving market.

🔑 Topics covered:

00:20 - Introduction

00:41 - Software development trends Amjad is excited about

02:28 - What is Replit

03:21 - How long Amjad has been working on Replit

04:53 - How did Amjad start learning Javascript

06:34 - Why the web felt like the future

08:47 - Why AI feels like the future

12:15 - When models will solve coding

14:24 - How Amjad practices what he does

16:05 - Have the things that cause pain changed

17:22 - How Replit compounded

19:22 - Why Amjad learned SEO

20:12 - The day Replit went viral

24:18 - Navigating skepticism

29:18 - Hiring high agency individuals

35:25 - Replit's innovations being coped by giants

42:36 - Why Amjad wrote an AI manifesto

49:36 - Replit's approach to marketing

52:44 - Amjad's advice for X/Twitter

55:03 - Amjad's thoughts on building community

56:34 - Why powerlifting is similar to building a startup

57:25 - Reading philosophy and influences on AI

1:00:07 - What Amjad would be doing if not working on technology

1:01:43 - Why Amjad chose Foster City

1:03:34 - How Amjad would spend a day with a founder in Foster City

1:04:51 - Unconventional advice for founders

1:08:00 - What Amjad is reading

1:09:34 - The first program Amjad ever wrote

1:09:54 - Amjad's thoughts on layoffs

1:11:26 - Choosing between making Replit bespoke or general