It's 5 AM in London. I've just woken up and gone straight to my study while the kettle brews. I head to x.com and see this:
Full link: https://x.com/amasad/status/1831730911685308857
Peeling the crust out of my eyes, I squint to see if I read 'agent' incorrectly, Replit Agent? An AI agent that does what? Is this real? How can I use it? All these questions start racing through my mind. I have to get my hands on it.
I log into Replit and am introduced to what feels like a Ready Player One moment:
“Describe what you want to make”
Curious, I begin to write, "Build me a financial stocker with market analysis and an integrated news cycle API."
And just as I see the code unravel, my head instantly explodes, and I frantically text my friends that "this is one of the most innovative products I've ever used".
As a dedication to my "early" love for this product, I'm going deep into this tech company to understand how it got there.
Based in San Francisco but touching the lives of millions worldwide, let's dive deep into... Replit.
Scene 1: The Midnight Coder (Early Life)
A six-year-old Amjad sneaks into the room at night, his heart pounding. He turns on his father's prized computer - a machine that devoured the family's life savings.
As his small fingers dance across the keyboard, repeating commands he'd secretly memorised, he unknowingly takes his first steps towards changing the world of coding.
Fast forward two decades, and that midnight curiosity has evolved into a determined mission to democratise programming.
"We want to bring the next billion developers online,"
Amjad declares, his eyes gleaming with the same excitement that drove him as a child.
Now CEO of Replit, he's working to build a world where anyone can code. From the bustling streets of India to quiet suburbs in Middle America, Replit aims to turn smartphones into coding tools, potentially opening up programming to a wider audience.
"We are steadfast in our mission," Masad states. "AI has already brought that future closer. We're not just expanding our offerings; we're rewriting the rules of who gets to be a developer."
In Replit's San Francisco office, a mantra echoes: 'Making coding accessible to everyone'. This principle guides their development process. For Masad and his team, the goal is ambitious: to spark a significant change in how people approach programming.
From Classroom Rebel to Coding Brilliance
As Amjad grew, so did his passion for technology. In secondary school, he found himself under the wing of a teacher who recognised the potential behind his restless energy. Advanced maths and computer science became his after-school obsession, keeping his mind engaged long after his classmates had moved on to other pursuits.
But when his mentor departed, leaving a void that regular lessons couldn't fill, Amjad's brilliance turned disruptive. The principal's office became a familiar sight, with his parents frustratingly making frequent visits to address his behaviour.
"I was bored," Amjad admits candidly. "But looking back, I realise I was craving a challenge that school just couldn't provide."
From Princess Sumaya to Silicon Valley
That craving followed him to Princess Sumaya University for Technology, where nights and weekends became dedicated to intense coding sessions. It was here, during hours when most students were relaxing or partying, that the first lines of Replit's code took shape.
"I didn't know it then," Amjad reflects, "but those long nights were setting the stage for something much bigger."
After university, Amjad found himself at Yahoo's Jordanian outpost, where the company had recently acquired Maktoob, an email company, for $200 million. For most young developers, this would have been the pinnacle of success. But Amjad wasn't most developers.
"It was a great opportunity," Amjad reflects, "but I knew I had more to offer than just improving email systems."
As he worked on Maktoob by day, his nights were devoted to a side project that would change the face of coding. It was during this time, around 2011, that his creation - the early version of Replit - began to turn heads.
"Suddenly, I was getting messages from developers all over the world," Amjad recalls, his eyes lighting up at the memory. "Hacker News, GitHub - people were talking about this thing I'd built in my spare time. It was exhilarating and terrifying all at once."
"It was an intense time," Amjad remembers. "The world was changing around us, and I felt like I was onto something significant. I just didn't realise how far it would go."
Those late nights in Jordan were just the start. The groundwork was laid, the code was written, and Replit was poised to transform the world of programming.
Scene 2: From Midnight Sessions to Silicon Valley Sensation
In the heart of Silicon Valley, where dreams of the next big tech breakthrough hang thick in the air, three ambitious coders were about to turn a late-night idea into a global phenomenon. Replit, the brainchild of Amjad Masad, Haya Odeh, and Faris Masad, burst onto the scene in 2016, but its roots stretched back much further, to a cramped dorm room in Jordan.
"I was sick of lugging my laptop everywhere," Amjad recalls, a glint of frustration still visible in his eyes. "I thought, why can't I just code from any device, anywhere?" This seemingly simple question would set him on a path that would revolutionise the coding world.
In 2011, fuelled by countless cups of Turkish coffee and an unshakeable vision, Amjad cobbled together JSRepl. It was rough around the edges, but it caught the eye of the folks at Codecademy. "Suddenly, my little side project was powering tutorials for thousands of aspiring coders," Amjad grins, still seemingly amazed at the turn of events.
But JSRepl was just the beginning. Amjad's journey took him from the dusty streets of Amman to the gleaming offices of Facebook, each step bringing him closer to his ultimate goal. "Yahoo, Codecademy, Facebook - they were all stepping stones," he reflects. "I was learning, growing, but always with Replit in the back of my mind."
Scene 3: The Coding Revolution
In Replit's office, a large screen displays a world map dotted with pinpoints of light. Each light represents a project being created or run on their platform. It's a simple visualisation, but it effectively showcases the global reach of what Replit has built.
Masad, gestures towards the screen. "This is what we're about," he says. "Enabling people around the world to code, create, and deploy applications from anywhere."
Replit has evolved significantly since its inception. What began as a browser-based coding environment has grown into a comprehensive platform that's changing how people approach software development.
At its core, Replit offers an integrated development environment (IDE) accessible from any web browser.
But it's the features built around this IDE that set Replit apart:
- Multiplayer functionality: Replit allows real-time collaboration, similar to Google Docs but for code. Multiple developers can work on the same project simultaneously, seeing each other's changes in real-time.
- Deployment capabilities: Users can deploy their applications directly from Replit. In July 2023, the company announced significant upgrades to this feature, including a 3x increase in speed and improved logging functionality.
- AI integration: Replit is heavily investing in AI capabilities. As of July 2023, they reported an 80% quarter-over-quarter growth in AI projects on their platform.
One of Replit's most significant developments (pre-AI agent) is its partnership with Google Cloud Platform, announced in March 2023. This collaboration provides Replit users with access to GCP's infrastructure and services.
"The GCP partnership is a game-changer," a Replit engineer explains. "It allows our users to scale their projects from a simple idea to a full-fledged application with enterprise-level infrastructure."
Replit's impact extends beyond professional developers. In educational settings, from high school classrooms to coding bootcamps, Replit is becoming a go-to platform for teaching and learning programming.
Introducing ModelFarm 🚜
This democratisation is perhaps best illustrated by ModelFarm, Replit's tool for creating AI applications, launched in September 2023.
In a simple overview, ModelFarm is Replit's platform for integrating AI models into applications. It offers a variety of models including chat, text completion, and text embeddings. Some available models are chat-bison, text-bison, and textembedding-gecko.
The platform simplifies AI integration by managing API credentials and usage quotas behind the scenes. This allows developers to focus on building their applications without worrying about these technical details.
Put in a simple pitch:
"ModelFarm aims to make AI development accessible to a wider range of developers, not just those at large tech companies. This democratisation of AI aligns with Replit's broader mission of making coding accessible to everyone".
As night falls in SF, Replit's impact continues around the globe. On a large screen in their office, a world map flickers with constant activity. In this digital realm, there is no closing time. Somewhere, a student writes their first line of code. Elsewhere, a startup deploys its app to thousands of users. And perhaps, powered by ModelFarm, a developer is bringing a new AI application to life.
Replit prides itself on being low entry but high ceiling, meaning those without coding experience can utilise the platform and start building, while those with multiple years of experience can enhance their builds.
By providing full functionality across the spectrum of experience, it's clear that the possibility of it slowly replacing a full team of engineers is on the horizon.
# Scene 4: Decoding the Data
To truly understand Replit's trajectory, we need to look beyond the glossy exterior and examine the hard data. These are the numbers that drive decisions in boardrooms and shape the company's future.
At the core of Replit's story is its user base. As of 2023, the platform boasts 22.5 million monthly active users (MAU). Impressive as this is, it's the projection that captures attention: by 2027, Replit aims to reach 236.2 million MAU. It's a bold target that would cement Replit's place as a major player in the tech world.
Daily active users (DAU), a key indicator of a platform's engagement, stand at 3.37 million. The forecast suggests this could grow to 35.4 million by 2027. These aren't just numbers; they represent a potential shift in how the world interacts with code.
The geographic distribution of these users tells its own story. Eighty percent are outside the US, underlining Replit's global reach. Perhaps more intriguingly, half of Replit's users are under 18. This isn't just a coding platform; it's potentially reshaping the landscape of computer science education.
made by Ali Galan
Financially, Replit's growth is equally noteworthy. From $28 million in annual revenue for 2023, projections suggest a leap to $293.9 million by 2027. This trajectory has not gone unnoticed in investment circles.
A Series B extension in April 2023 brought in $97.4 million at a $1.2 billion valuation, following an $80 million Series B in December 2021 that valued the company at $800 million. These figures speak to the confidence investors are placing in Replit's vision.
But perhaps the most telling statistic is this: 235 million projects hosted on the platform. Each represents a potential innovation, from a student's first program to a startup's breakthrough application. The growth in AI projects is particularly striking: an 80% quarter-over-quarter increase, and a 34-fold rise year-over-year.
Yet, rapid growth brings its own challenges. Replit's focus on performance improvements - a 3x increase in deployment speed and 10-20% improvement in workspace editing speed - indicates an awareness of the need to scale infrastructure alongside user growth.
As Replit expands, maintaining this growth while ensuring platform stability and user satisfaction will be crucial. The numbers tell a story of rapid ascent, but in the tech world, sustained success requires more than just impressive metrics.
In essence, these figures paint a picture of a company not just participating in the coding revolution, but actively shaping it. Replit is redefining what it means to be a coder in the 21st century. Whether it will etch its name in the annals of tech history or become another cautionary tale of rapid growth remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: Replit is coding its own future, one user, one project, one innovation at a time.
Conclusion: The Code Goes On 🕹️
Replit has grown from a dorm room project to a billion-dollar company, reflecting the market's appetite for accessible coding tools. While it's not literally "the killer of software engineers," Replit is changing how people approach software development.
By making coding more accessible and integrating AI capabilities, Replit is reducing the barriers between professional developers and hobbyists. This raises questions about the future role of software engineers. Will Replit and similar platforms revolutionise the profession or simply change its focus?
Replit's story is ongoing. The recent introduction of their AI agent and other AI integrations suggests further changes ahead. With the rate of innovation increasing rapidly, it's safe to say that knowledge workers like you and me, need to embrace artificial intelligence as it isn't going anywhere.
Replit aims to bring "the next billion developers online." If successful, this could significantly impact the software engineering job market. The long-term effects of this potential influx of new coders on the profession remain to be seen.
Questions to Consider:
- How might tools like Replit change the skillset required for software engineers?
- What are the potential downsides of making coding more accessible?
- How do you think AI-assisted coding will affect the job market for software developers?
- Do platforms like Replit enhance or potentially threaten the software engineering profession?
Your thoughts on these questions and Replit's impact on the industry are welcome. If you have insights or data to share, please reach out.If you've made it this far, congratulations! You're now part of a growing community passionate about the future of coding and its implications for the software engineering field. I'd love to hear your thoughts—drop me a DM with your insights, criticisms, or ideas for future deep dives.
Missed last week's deep dive into Wise? Check it out to see how another tech innovator is reshaping its industry.
A Note on Methodology: I approach these weekly deep dives with a Bayesian mindset, constantly updating my understanding as new information comes to light. If you spot any inaccuracies or have additional data to share, please reach out. Your input helps make these analyses more robust and valuable for everyone.
What's Next? Stay tuned for next week's deep dive, where we'll explore [shh it's a secret]. Until then, keep questioning, keep learning, and keep pushing the boundaries of what's possible in tech.
Thank you for joining me on this journey through the world of Replit and its potential impact on the future of software engineering. Until next time
Ali <3