Some important context that I think that's missing here is that Amjad is the founder of repl.it
My participation in the start up ecosystem has been strictly as an engineer and advisor. What I've observed of founders and early leaders over the years is that they don't live in reality and this often by necessity. What people see from the outside is these strong, pervasive, bulletproof personalities that are leading, changing our way of thinking, and changing our way of life - often in a meta-sense very rapidly. These people, like anyone else, doubt themselves and are quite often doubted by a majority of people they come into contact with. Ordinary people in the face of such doubt and opposition would likely fold to this feedback; thinking something along the lines of, "The majority of people tell me this is a fruitless idea" and move on with some momentary pause. Start up founders can't afford such a luxury. Peoples money, jobs, and futures lie in their hands and their continued interest of chasing this dream. Something has to fuel that mentality and when I read a piece like this it speaks to me in the way I observed what those founders had to tell themselves every day just to get through the day.
One of my mentors, who also came from the startup ecosystem, recently reflected, "Great engineers deal in reality because reality can be defined, measured, and acted upon but perception matters too. That is the struggle of every great engineer." Amjad isn't wrong, he's just a founder, and he deals in reality but also has to dabble in perception.
My participation in the start up ecosystem has been strictly as an engineer and advisor. What I've observed of founders and early leaders over the years is that they don't live in reality and this often by necessity. What people see from the outside is these strong, pervasive, bulletproof personalities that are leading, changing our way of thinking, and changing our way of life - often in a meta-sense very rapidly. These people, like anyone else, doubt themselves and are quite often doubted by a majority of people they come into contact with. Ordinary people in the face of such doubt and opposition would likely fold to this feedback; thinking something along the lines of, "The majority of people tell me this is a fruitless idea" and move on with some momentary pause. Start up founders can't afford such a luxury. Peoples money, jobs, and futures lie in their hands and their continued interest of chasing this dream. Something has to fuel that mentality and when I read a piece like this it speaks to me in the way I observed what those founders had to tell themselves every day just to get through the day.
One of my mentors, who also came from the startup ecosystem, recently reflected, "Great engineers deal in reality because reality can be defined, measured, and acted upon but perception matters too. That is the struggle of every great engineer." Amjad isn't wrong, he's just a founder, and he deals in reality but also has to dabble in perception.