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Why Every Founder Needs a Story | Replit CEO on a16z
9 segments available
Recorded live at the New Media Summit, Erik Torenberg sits down with Replit founder and CEO Amjad Masad to discuss founder-led storytelling, building in public, and the role of media in company building. Masad reflects on Replit’s decade-long journey, including the years before the company’s recent breakout growth, and explains why communicating a vision can be just as important as executing on it. He argues that for many founders, especially those building ambitious products ahead of the market, telling a compelling story is often necessary to attract talent, capital, and early believers. The conversation explores social media, authenticity, public communication, company-building, and how founders can develop a voice that resonates beyond their product. Along the way, Masad shares lessons from building Replit, navigating controversy, and why he believes founders should think carefully about when to go direct and what story they're trying to tell. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 00:52 - How Going Direct Saved Replit 02:38 - Improv, Exposure Therapy & Making Mistakes Early 05:20 - Build in Public & the Power of Authenticity 08:40 - Being Uncancellable: Why Retreating Is the Real Risk 13:21 - When to Respond & When to Let It Go 17:39 - Does Every CEO Need to Be an Influencer? 19:38 - Platform Strategy: X vs Instagram vs YouTube 22:53 - Understanding the Meta: How to Actually Go Viral Resources: Follow Amjad Masad on X: https://x.com/amasad Follow Erik Torenberg on X: https://x.com/eriktorenberg Stay Updated: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends! Find a16z on X: https://twitter.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711 Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see http://a16z.com/disclosures.
Segments Timeline
Intro
"Being canceled is a choice. You can choose to get cancelled and retreat from the public eye, but I think if you're still out there at some point, honestly, the haters kind of give up. Some people ask,..."
How Going Direct Saved Replit
">> I'm thank you for joining us. Of >> course. So, Replet is a 10-year-old company. Uh, for the last two years, it's gone absolutely vertical, but there was a a period of time well before that where t..."
Improv, Exposure Therapy & Making Mistakes Early
">> well I I think the journey starts like outside of Twitter even is like how do you um how do you get good at communicating how do you get good at public speaking um and so I always wanted to be able..."
Build in Public & the Power of Authenticity
">> Yeah. So, I I think uh a a few things. One is uh the concept of build in public. It wasn't coined when I started doing that, but the idea is that uh look, as as a CEO, you're going to do a good amo..."
Being Uncancellable: Why Retreating Is the Real Risk
"that >> well well you need to I I think it's deadly like PR can be PR crisis can be deadly uh if you retreat afterwards like if you're not in the news and I think the thing about I think Trump, Elon, ..."
When to Respond & When to Let It Go
"describing the the mental game is a lot of things we'll hear from CEOs is oh I don't want to have to tweet and then I'm in meetings now I have to think about the responses and I have to respond back a..."
Does Every CEO Need to Be an Influencer?
">> The you you mentioned earlier that you sort of developed a desire for this. For CEOs who are, you know, so locked in, they're just not that interested in in doing this. Would you recommend that the..."
Platform Strategy: X vs Instagram vs YouTube
">> So some people ask, hey, how should I think about X versus other platforms? You know, maybe their customers aren't on X, etc. How do you think about that? Well, I I think uh X is very good for the ..."
Understanding the Meta: How to Actually Go Viral
"Who who are some CEOs or leaders um that inspire you in terms of how they go direct that you've learned from looking at what what they do? >> Obviously we were all you know in the school of biology bi..."