Replit’s Amjad Masad on the Cursor deal, fighting Apple, and why he’d rather not sell

Replit CEO Amjad Masad spoke at TechCrunch's StrictlyVC event about the company's rapid growth — from $2.8M in 2024 revenue to tracking toward a billion-dollar ARR — and why he prefers to stay independent despite Cursor's reported $60B SpaceX acquisition talks. Masad highlighted Replit's positive gross margins (contrasting with Cursor's alleged -23%), 300% net revenue retention in some cases, and its full-stack security advantages. He also addressed Replit's App Store dispute with Apple, calling their stated reason for blocking updates a lie he's prepared to prove in court, and discussed the possibility of Replit investing in customer startups given the entrepreneurial activity on the platform.