a16z(@a16z):Replit co-founder and CEO Amjad Masad says many startups begin as premature optimization: founders raise money for ideas they don't care about. "I think a lot of starting startups is premature optimization. I see it in a lot of kids now, where they're part of a group and a lot of their friends are raising a lot of money, and some of them are becoming unicorns." "The motivation becomes envy, a really negative motivation as opposed to a positive one." "They pre-commit to an idea they're not even interested in, raise money for it, and start pre-optimizing for some path that they haven't really reached yet. That's why I always come back to this idea of curiosity. What is actually driving you?" "Once you find that idea that you want to dedicate your life to, or dedicate the next 10 years to, it's going to have such gravity that you're not going to be able to avoid it." "I actively tried not to start Replit, but it exploded into a startup on its own. That's the feeling you should get: 'I guess I have to do it,' because there's so much momentum behind it." "There's a predatory thing I've heard that happens right now where VCs go to Stanford students and give them a million dollars pre-idea... It's like the music industry... You're taking this young person and pre-committing them to something they shouldn't have committed to." @amasad

2026.09.23 17:15

Replit co-founder and CEO Amjad Masad says many startups begin as premature optimization: founders raise money for ideas they don't care about. "I think a lot of starting startups is premature optimization. I see it in a lot of kids now, where they're part of a group and a lot of their friends are raising a lot of money, and some of them are becoming unicorns." "The motivation becomes envy, a really negative motivation as opposed to a positive one." "They pre-commit to an idea they're not even interested in, raise money for it, and start pre-optimizing for some path that they haven't really reached yet. That's why I always come back to this idea of curiosity. What is actually driving you?" "Once you find that idea that you want to dedicate your life to, or dedicate the next 10 years to, it's going to have such gravity that you're not going to be able to avoid it." "I actively tried not to start Replit, but it exploded into a startup on its own. That's the feeling you should get: 'I guess I have to do it,' because there's so much momentum behind it." "There's a predatory thing I've heard that happens right now where VCs go to Stanford students and give them a million dollars pre-idea... It's like the music industry... You're taking this young person and pre-committing them to something they shouldn't have committed to." @amasad

a16z@a16z

2026.09.23 15:05

Amjad Masad with Gagan Biyani and Erik Torenberg on HAA: The Horowitz Andreessen Academy The ideal education today is a place with room to meander, a space to go heads-down when you’re obsessed, alongside unconventional peers. Gagan sees it in every student he meets: the interesting thing they're building is happening outside class, unsupported. Amjad got really into chess and it evolved into a whole product line. The thesis behind HAA is side quests shouldn't be on the side. No grades, no tests. Trust is the design principle - Silicon Valley runs on it, so why not apply it to students? Empower ambitious young people to run with the ideas that have real gravity they can’t avoid. "Young people should be heretics… We respect the past, but we're unapologetically going to change it." 1:03 Why young people should be heretics 5:35 Amjad designs his ideal college 8:45 Side quests deserve more resources 10:55 Don't take a Python class 14:30 College vs. raising money at 18 17:15 Most teen startups are premature optimization 18:30 "I tried not to start Replit" 19:40 How a chess hobby became a Replit product 24:25 The self-driving company 26:30 Respect the past, change it anyway 28:50 What Oakland politics taught Gagan about trust 31:50 Why trust works better than rules 36:35 The positive-sum culture HAA wants to pass on 39:20 Speaking to the world vs. speaking to the in-group 41:05 How Amjad found his moral compass 44:00 What Amjad looks for in young talent YouTube: @amasad @gaganbiyani @eriktorenberg

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