Speed > everything.

Never apologize for charging what you’re worth.

Hard truth... not one wound that cut deep came from an enemy. They'll all come from people who once said they loved you.

Btw if you want to find similar opportunities in your business, you can talk to one of our advisors about the Boardroom here: info.contrarianthinking.co/d…

I've lost millions. I've failed publicly. I've been divorced. I’ve been fired. Every time I thought it was the end, every time I came back stronger. You will survive a lot more than you think. Stop playing small.

Last year I had the most eye-opening conversation with @amasad, the CEO who took Replit from near-death to $100M ARR in 6 months. Since then, Replit has reached a $9B valuation & is aiming for $1B in run-rate revenue by the end of 2026. 6 takeaways from that day that proved to be even more relevant today... 1) AI is Far From Consciousness People often assume that if AI becomes intelligent enough, it must eventually become conscious. Amjad pushed back on that assumption. His argument: LLMs can produce incredibly sophisticated outputs without possessing free will, intention, or an internal experience. Appearing intelligent isn’t proof of being conscious. 2) Contrarians Still Have Blind Spots Amjad pitched Peter Thiel in 2022 before ChatGPT took off. Thiel told him he was using “buzzwords” and selling “hype.” Four years later, Replit is valued at $9B and says people inside 85% of the Fortune 500 use its products. This isn’t to throw shade at Thiel... but rather to highlight: when you question everything, you're bound to miss something. Being contrarian has its advantages but also its blind spots. 3) Vibe Coding Is Redefining Technical Skill Programmers used to spend 80% of their time on infrastructure and only 20% on actual problem solving. This is now reversed. Key skills are shifting to: • Translating business problems into clear instructions • Deep understanding of what needs to be built • The ability to communicate effectively Replit’s latest Agent can build apps, designs, slides, and dashboards from plain-language instructions with no coding required. The definition of “technical” ability has already changed. 4) Always Seek Pain Too many people play startup. To win, you need to seek discomfort. At Replit, product managers interview their most frustrated users every week and bring those failures back to company meetings. This stems from Amjad's principle that delaying pain only builds up a larger debt of it. 5) Geographic Arbitrage Has Gone Digital Anyone can incorporate a Delaware LLC through Stripe Atlas, build on Replit, and sell to US customers without ever visiting America. This shows the democratization of the world's most dynamic market. We’re witnessing entrepreneurship become location-independent at scale: 6) Domain Knowledge Is the New Unused Space Just as Airbnb monetized unused rooms in people’s homes, AI is doing the same for unused intellectual capital. Every human being has domain knowledge that was previously unscalable. Now that expertise can be coded into software and distributed globally. - Search "BigDeal pod Amjad" on youtube to watch our full 90min conversation.

You will make a lot more money when you realize everything is negotiable. A business owner in our community said yes to a loan at 49% interest because he didn't have time to shop around. One of our loan advisors found him a new one at 22% in a few days. Saved the business over $1,000 a month in interest payments. Negotiation is one of the highest-return skills you can learn.

Funny… and true.

You won't ever get hate thrown at you from someone who truly loves themselves. A person at war with themselves will always try to draft you.

Kanye West said it best: "If every time someone asks you a question you try to say the right answer, your entire life is a test. I am not trying to say the right answer. I'm just doing what I feel." Nobody should ever get to grade your life but you.

Do the work. Show the work. Teach the work. Sell the system. Secret to winning.

How to be successful: - fall in love with rejection - be willing to look stupid for years - keep going way longer than anyone else

Why @TheSharkDaymond turned down a billion dollars?