Podcast appearances and mentions of mike maples jr

On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, we engage in a riveting conversation with Mike Maples Jr., co-founder of Floodgate and a prominent venture capitalist. This episode, which is a part of the "Creator Capitalist Conversations" miniseries, goes into the themes of entrepreneurship, personal capital, and the transformative power of artificial intelligence (AI) in the ideation process. The dialogue offers a wealth of insights for aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned business professionals alike. You're listening to Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different. We are the real dialogue podcast for people with a different mind. So get your mind in a different place, and hey ho, let's go.   Mike Maples Jr.'s Journey: From Entrepreneur to Venture Capitalist Christopher Lochhead sets the stage by introducing the miniseries "Creator Capitalist Conversations," which celebrates individuals who have carved their own paths in the business world. The episode features Mike Maples Jr., who shares his journey from a successful entrepreneur to a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley. This transition, marked by risk-taking and self-discovery, offers valuable lessons for anyone looking to forge their own path in business. Mike Maples Jr. recounts his significant career shift from being a well-respected founder and head of marketing for a successful software company in Texas to starting anew in Silicon Valley as a venture capitalist. This transition, he notes, is daunting for many, especially for someone who had already achieved a level of success and recognition. Mike's approach to risk-taking involves viewing new ventures as opportunities to explore interesting ideas rather than potential failures. This mindset allows him to gradually escalate his commitment as he gains confidence.   Mike Maples Jr. on the Importance of Self-Awareness Mike shares that the journey to discovering one's superpowers is often a gradual realization rather than a single defining moment. He emphasizes the importance of honoring one's time and using it to share one's unique gifts with the world. This perspective aligns with the Japanese concept of "ikigai," which represents the intersection of what one loves, what the world needs, what one can be paid for, and what one is good at. Mike then discusses the distinction between deep work—discovering new knowledge—and harnessing pre-existing knowledge. He notes that many high-paying jobs rely on established knowledge, which may become commoditized in the age of AI. By integrating the insights of others with his unique perspective, Mike has developed a robust intellectual framework that guides his investment decisions.   Exploring Airbnb's Seed Deck: A Case Study in Innovation Mike Maples Jr. shares an intriguing case study involving Airbnb's original seed deck from 2008. Using a software tool he developed, the "Pattern Breakers Insight Stress Test," he analyzes Airbnb's business model. This analysis reveals that everyday people would rent their private homes to strangers, creating a new category of accommodation that transcends traditional hotels. This insight is underpinned by several inflection points, including the growing comfort with online transactions and the rising consumer preference for authentic experiences. Encouraged by the insights gained from Airbnb's seed deck, Mike explores further possibilities, including creating a business model canvas, potential logo designs, and a narrative framework for Airbnb. This exploration leads him to realize that similar analytical techniques can be applied to various mental models, facilitating ideation and refinement. To hear more from Mike Maples Jr. and his thoughts on careers that withstand the test of time and tech, download and listen to this episode.   Bio Mike Maples Jr. is an entrepreneur turned venture capitalist. He's co-founder of Silicon Valley based, early-stage VC Floodgate. And the host of the popular “Starting Greatness” podcast.

Mike Maples of Floodgate joins Nick to discuss The OG Seed Investor, Mike Maples Jr., on Spotting Inflection Points, Living in the Future, and Why the Best Form of Competition Is No Competition. In this episode we cover: The Evolution of Seed Investing Identifying Exceptional Founders The Role of Inflections in Startups The Impact of AI on Startups Sea Changes and Business Model Migrations The Importance of Specificity and Narrative Design The Role of Pattern Recognition in Venture Capital Guest Links: Twitter/X (guest)  Guest's LinkedIn Company's LinkedIn Company's Website The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area. Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social. You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

Amanda Kahlow shares her story of stepping away from her company, navigating IVF and adoption, and launching her new venture, 1mind. A candid look at reinvention, leadership, and what really matters. About Guest Amanda Kahlow is a confident, brave, positive, passionate, and spiritual individual with an abundance of energy, love, empathy, and enthusiasm for life. Amanda is a serial entrepreneur. She is the founder and former CEO of 6sense. She started her first company at 21 and is now working on her next AI venture.  Amanda is an eternal optimist with a healthy dose of skepticism and curiosity, always seeking purpose and new ideas. She is dedicated to creating a different kind of Silicon Valley startup, emphasizing passion, discipline, integrity, and accountability while leading with compassion.  Amanda is focused on giving back both personally and professionally. Years ago she got clear her personal mission statement "I am a passionate positive spiritual warrior to EMPOWER women and girls." She uses her aptitude for humanistic motivational speaking to share her story every chance she can to inspire others. She is an advisor to the organization, Girl Rising. Amanda is committed to their mission to educate girls in developing countries as a way to build thriving, prosperous, healthy communities and effect positive social change. About Guest Company1mind is a platform that deploys AI-powered Superhumans for revenue teams. These Superhumans have a face, voice, and deep technical and product knowledge. They lead unlimited, simultaneous conversations, 24/7—to qualify and pitch leads on websites, join conference calls as active participants, run custom demos, provide real-time support, and work alongside your team in deal rooms. 1mind Superhumans integrate with your existing workflows, scale instantly, and help you grow revenue, reduce headcount, and drive pipeline all the way to closed won.Social Links https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandakahlow/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/1mindai/Book recommended by Amanda: The greatest salesman in the world by Og Mandino Amazon.com : the greatest salesman in the worldPodcast recommended by Amanda: Pattern Breakers with host Mike Maples Jr. https://greatness.floodgate.com/ Connect with Alice HeimanLinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/Alice's Website: https://aliceheiman.com/

All's fair in love and war—and sales. At the end of the day, what really matters is whether the deal closed or if you were left holding the bag.  Did you make quota this quarter? Did you crush your numbers? Or did you fall short? If you missed quota, chances are you played it too safe. You followed the so-called 'best practices'—the ones that average reps cling to. Top performers don't just follow the playbook. They know when to bend the rules, take calculated risks, and do what it takes to win. Be a Pattern Breaker The greatest don't stick to rules and expectations. They forge their own path in a sea of conformity. They constantly reinvent themselves and their practices to push boundaries and find new ways to win. What you won't see is an elite sales rep following the same script day after day and struggling to escape mediocrity. As venture capitalist Mike Maples Jr. put it on this week's Sales Gravy Podcast, “People who are winning are the ones who change the rules and tell people how to think about it.” Now's the time to shake up your own sales routine and adopt the practices of Ultra High Performers. Fanatically Prospect You don't have an option—prospect every day, or get left behind. The pipe is life. If you're not feeding it, you're starving. Fanatical prospectors don't just carve out time—they demand it. Every single day. You make calls, period. Distractions? They don't exist.  But too many sales reps think they need to follow traditional suggestions: Prioritize research over calls; call when you think your prospects will be available; warm leads up with social touches and emails. These “rules” are screaming to be broken. There's no room in sales to avoid cold calling. The telephone is still the single most powerful weapon you have when it comes to selling. Sure, the norm is to hate cold calling, avoid the phone, and send out dozens of emails because it's easy. Rule breakers don't do easy—they're on the phone every day. The best reps value prospecting and know that—even when they're closing deals—they need to be watching out for tomorrow. Mediocre reps make fewer calls, qualify fewer prospects, and close fewer deals. Don't be mediocre.  Ruthlessly Disqualify; Pursue Those Who Will Buy Never waste your time on a prospect who simply won't pull the trigger. There are lots of tire kickers out there who will intentionally or unintentionally waste your time. Recognize early the deals that will never be done. Most sales reps chase every lead because they're told to ‘always be closing.' The best reps break that rule by disqualifying early. Be intentional in your discovery; ask all pertinent questions before spending precious time wooing a lead.  You don't have time to find out weeks down the road that your prospect wasn't the decision maker or that there's no budget for the deal. You can even disqualify before you start prospecting. When generating cold calling lists, zero in on a subset of your market that is most likely to buy—don't squander energy parsing through every single business simply to tell your boss you called everyone.  Jerome, a media rep in Texas, covered all of Austin. Instead of cold calling tens of thousands of businesses, he zeroed in on the ones most likely to be in the market for his services and who could afford them. He weaned out businesses that weren't strictly his target demographic and saved himself thousands of useless calls.  Break the norm by cutting deadweight fast. Play the Long Game  Mediocre reps make useless calls and let the fear of annoying prospects sabotage their follow up game.  Forget the outdated advice about not being ‘too persistent.' Elite pros break that rule and keep showing up until they hear ‘yes' or ‘no.' They bend the rules of social niceties (i.e. don't annoy your prospect) and keep calling, no matter how long it takes. Xant found that 50% of sales happen after the 5th follow-up,

En este episodio de Read to Lead, tengo el gusto de conversar con Felipe Novoa, cofundador y ex-CEO de Favic. Felipe es un emprendedor nato, con una trayectoria que comenzó desde muy joven y ha estado marcada por la innovación y la resiliencia. A pesar de los desafíos de cerrar su última startup, su aprendizaje y visión siguen impulsándolo hacia nuevas oportunidades. Hablamos sobre Pattern Breakers: Why Some Startups Change the Future de Mike Maples Jr. y Peter Siebelman, un libro que explora cómo las startups pueden romper esquemas y generar un impacto duradero. Felipe comparte sus reflexiones sobre lo que significa emprender, aprender de los fracasos y prepararse para el siguiente gran reto. Una conversación llena de ideas valiosas para todo aquel que busca innovar y construir el futuro.

Eeke de Milliano is the Head of Global Product at Stripe, helping drive innovation and success in the company's product line. Before this role, she was Head of Product at Retool and co-founded Constellate. Eeke previously spent 6 years as Product Lead at Stripe, working with the company during their hyper-growth era. – In today's episode, we discuss: Eeke's wealth of experience as an executive leader The challenges companies face when hiring new executives Common hiring red flags and pitfalls Practical advice for measuring success Why learning your strengths is an underrated piece of the process – Referenced: ASML: https://www.asml.com/en Claire Hughes Johnson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-hughes-johnson-7058/ Constellate: https://constellate.team/ John Collison: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbcollison/ Mike Maples Jr.: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maples/ Patrick Collison: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickcollison/ Retool: https://retool.com/ Stripe: https://stripe.com/ Will Gaybrik: https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-gaybrick-5730347/ – Where to find Eeke: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eeke-de-milliano-3b05a629/ – Where to find Brett: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-berson-9986094/ Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/brettberson – Where to find First Round Capital: Website: https://firstround.com/ First Round Review: https://review.firstround.com/ Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/firstround YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FirstRoundCapital This podcast on all platforms: https://review.firstround.com/podcast – Timestamps: (00:00) Should you ‘buy or build' a leader (03:45) Why do executive hires fail so often? (09:35) Why the stakes are so high for leadership hires (12:26) The hardest document Eeke ever wrote (14:06) Two red flags in a new hire (17:27) An example of an outstanding leader (21:40) What creates dysfunctional exec relationships (22:38) The three steps towards hiring successful leaders (30:30) What you should know about outside hires (33:12) Eeke's advice for easing leadership transitions (42:06) How to notice success patterns (47:21) Why high-functioning executive teams are like parents (52:02) The most surprising lesson from Eeke's first stint at Stripe (55:11) The leadership data Eeke wishes we had

Go to www.LearningLeader.com for full show notes. This is brought to you by Insight Global. If you need to hire 1 person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world have the hustle and grit to deliver. www.InsightGlobal.com/LearningLeader Rachel Botsman has become an expert on trust in the modern world. She's written three books: What's Mine is Yours, Who Can You Trust, and How to Trust and Be Trusted. Her TED talks have amassed over 5 million views. And she teaches at Oxford University's Business School where she created pioneering courses on trust in the digital age has become an expert on trust in the modern world. She's written three books: What's Mine is Yours, Who Can You Trust, and How to Trust and Be Trusted. Her TED talks have amassed over 5 million views.  Notes: Trust is being comfortable with uncertainty. Capability and Character - Assholes are capable people with low character. Demonstrate the ability to take risks. Confidence in the unknown. Healthy challenge and push mentality. Trust willing – Lead with Trust. Make the trust wager. What's the best way to earn someone's trust? LEAD with trust. Trust them first. This also creates a highly attractive company or team. Don't you want to attract highly trusting, capable people? The best way to do that is to lead with trust. Be more trust willing. Lead with Trust. Jim Collins story. Make the trust wager. You don't have to earn it, you got it. Willingness to be a beginner. Be curious. Look stupid at first. Those are good qualities in a leader. For keynote speaking: Share your expertise, but don't seek approval Share your stories, but don't look for validation Share your passion, but don't perform for the applause Don't sell from the stage. Don't show your book. Don't give your resume. Honor the present. If you're running a meeting, start it on time. Honor the people who showed up on time. Leaders who are overscheduled… It's usually their fault and it comes from ego. If you've hired a capable team, then you don't have to be in every meeting. Also, if you're always late, you aren't reliable. And that becomes part of your reputation. That's not something we want to be known for. How can people trust you if you're always late? They won't. You aren't reliable if you're always late. Reliability is a big part of your reputation. It can become the thing you're known for. That's bad. The power of consistency: Intensity makes a good story. Consistency makes progress. Consistency builds trust. Leaders who are overscheduled have a problem they've created for themselves. It's usually from ego. Interviewing leaders for jobs. High character is a must. We can teach capabilities later.  Paul Simon's audiobook with Pushkin is awesome. Rachel's five principles for trust: Competence: Having the skills, knowledge, time, and resources to do what you say you'll do  Reliability: Being dependable and consistent in your actions  Integrity: Being honest about your intentions and motives, and ensuring your words and actions align  Empathy: Caring about others' interests and how your actions affect them  Consistent action: Earning trust through how you show up, set expectations, and deliver acts of caring Life/Career Advice: Don't get boxed in too early and grow a career based on being able to tell people at parties that you work at a prestigious company.  Look for great teams and great bosses. The industry doesn't matter as much as the people. Culture is everything. People are everything. And then when you're younger it's helpful to be a generalist. Know a little about a lot of things. But as you get older, it's useful to become a specialist at something. Become an expert. Go deep on a topic. This is similar to what Mike Maples Jr said on episode #619.

Mike Maples Jr is a Co-Founding Partner at Floodgate. He was named a “Rising Star” by Fortune, and has been on the Forbes Midas List eight times in the last decade. Before becoming a full-time investor, Mike was a founder and operator at back-to-back startup IPOs. Now, Mike's own investments include companies like Twitter, Twitch, Lyft, Refinery29, and Clover Health. Mike is also the author of the National Bestselling book Pattern Breakers - sharing lessons from startup top performers. He is known as one of the world's most exceptional discoverers of talent. In this episode we talk about his giant idea - why we shouldn't focus on being better than the last company, we should focus on being completely different. We also talk about the aiming phase, when you should quit, and the art of the pivot. Welcome Mike!Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc.Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING. Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.

Today's guest is Mike Maples Jr. a partner at Floodgate, a pre-seed and seed-stage venture capital firm that's invested in companies like Twitter, Lyft, Twitch, Okta. He's also the author of Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future. In today's episode, Mike shares his framework for investing in successful early-stage companies. He explores the nature of startups as acts of disagreement with the status quo and the importance of being disagreeable in the entrepreneurial journey. Mike also touches on the evolving landscape of IPOs and private markets, the transformative power of AI, lessons from one of his first Limited Partners, Yale's David Swensen, and more. (0:00) Starts (1:06) Mike Maples' investment philosophy (7:26) Identifying pattern breaking startups (13:02) Spotting inflection points (23:14) Portfolio strategy (32:04) The future of private markets (38:58) AI's impact on investing (46:13) Early influences (53:55) AI in education (1:01:00) Controversial beliefs (1:03:58) Mike's most memorable investments ----- Follow Meb on X, LinkedIn and YouTube For detailed show notes, click here To learn more about our funds and follow us, subscribe to our mailing list or visit us at cambriainvestments.com ----- Follow The Idea Farm: X | LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok ----- Interested in sponsoring the show? Email us at Feedback@TheMebFaberShow.com ----- Past guests include Ed Thorp, Richard Thaler, Jeremy Grantham, Joel Greenblatt, Campbell Harvey, Ivy Zelman, Kathryn Kaminski, Jason Calacanis, Whitney Baker, Aswath Damodaran, Howard Marks, Tom Barton, and many more.  ----- Meb's invested in some awesome startups that have passed along discounts to our listeners. Check them out here!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Buckle up for a mind-bending journey into the heart of startup innovation! On this episode of Remarkable People, Guy Kawasaki goes deep with Silicon Valley's master of disruption, Mike Maples Jr. As the wizard behind Floodgate who spotted Twitter and Twitch before they exploded, Mike shatters conventional wisdom about what makes startups soar. Forget everything you think you know about "better products" – Mike reveals why the craziest ideas often win big and why being dismissed might be your biggest advantage. Warning: this episode may permanently rewire your entrepreneurial brain!---Guy Kawasaki is on a mission to make you remarkable. His Remarkable People podcast features interviews with remarkable people such as Jane Goodall, Marc Benioff, Woz, Kristi Yamaguchi, and Bob Cialdini. Every episode will make you more remarkable.With his decades of experience in Silicon Valley as a Venture Capitalist and advisor to the top entrepreneurs in the world, Guy's questions come from a place of curiosity and passion for technology, start-ups, entrepreneurship, and marketing. If you love society and culture, documentaries, and business podcasts, take a second to follow Remarkable People.Listeners of the Remarkable People podcast will learn from some of the most successful people in the world with practical tips and inspiring stories that will help you be more remarkable.Episodes of Remarkable People organized by topic: https://bit.ly/rptopologyListen to Remarkable People here: **https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/guy-kawasakis-remarkable-people/id1483081827**Like this show? Please leave us a review -- even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!Thank you for your support; it helps the show!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Go to www.LearningLeader.com for full show notes. The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk This is brought to you by Insight Global. If you need to hire 1 person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world have the hustle and grit to deliver. My Guest: Mike Maples Jr is a co-founding Partner at Floodgate. He has been on the Forbes Midas List eight times in the last decade and was recently profiled by Harvard Business School for his lifetime contributions to entrepreneurship. Some of his early investments include: Twitter, DemandForce, Twitch, and Applied Intuition. Mike is also the bestselling author of Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future. Notes   Chance favors the prepared mind. We are all visited by luck, but most of us don't answer the door. We need to become a professional noticer. That is Mike's favorite verb. Noticing. Most people don't have prepared minds. Be intentional about noticing the world around you and being prepared for when luck visits you. Mike's dad died 7 days before we recorded. “He was a mentor, a friend, and one of the greatest inspirations of my life.” His advice: Do your best. There's only one of you. Decide what to do with your gift of time, be intentional. Have gratitude for your time. Make the most of it. Don't waste it trying to be someone else. Focus - Fishing competition when Mike was 5 or 6. Let's find a good spot and stay there the entire time. While everyone else moved constantly, Mike and his dad stayed in their spot, caught a big carp, and won. Bill Gates begged Mike's dad to “be the adult in the room” at Microsoft. Mike Sr would say to the people he led at Microsoft, "I want to know that you're thinking about what you're doing." He used a Socratic method. He was not prescriptive. Be proactive. Have an intentional strategy. Be intentional. Jonathan Livingston Seagull - The biggest limits in the world are the limits of your mind, your imagination, and your actions– not the limits of the world itself. Have to get over that voice in your head that says, “You're not good enough.” We get told to be realistic or stay within the lines. Everybody is figuring it out as they go. Everyone is “winging it.” Only by being radically different can you make a radical difference. Great founders are like Patrick Mahomes and Steph Curry. You don't know how they're going to score, but you know they will. Practice Reckless Optimism – The world is built by Optimists. You need to be FOR something. Bet ON something, not against it. Mike sees himself as a co-conspirator more than an investor. There can't be a recipe for a breakthrough because by definition breakthroughs haven't happened yet. “Chance favors the prepared mind.” We are all visited by luck but most don't answer the door. Chris Rock - Forming unexpected connections. Sam Beskind (Stanford basketball player where he played for Rob Ehsan) - Time management strategy. Stanford coaches had a one-pager with 3 keys to winning. Not 20. 3. If you have 20 keys, you have none. Nobody can remember all that. Life/Career Advice: Internalize what it means to do your best. Gratitude for your time. Avoid the trap of mimetic desire. The “T” of knowledge. Charlie Munger. Try to know what the best ideas that have ever existed in a wide range of fields. Then choose one field to know about more than anyone else in the world. Have one area where you are fanatically obsessed. For Mike, that's startups.

Welcome to the What's Next! Podcast with Tiffani Bova.    I have the wonderful pleasure of welcoming Mike Maples Jr. to the show this week. He is a co-founding partner at Floodgate. He has been on the Forbes Midas List eight times in the last decade and was also named a “Rising Star” by FORTUNE and profiled by Harvard Business School for his lifetime contributions to entrepreneurship. Before becoming a full-time investor, Mike was involved as a founder and operating executive at back-to-back startup IPOs, including Tivoli Systems, which was acquired by IBM, where his dad used to work, and Motive acquired by Alcatel-Lucent. Some of Mike's investments include Twitter, Clover Health, Okta, Outreach, Chegg, Demandforce, and Applied Intuition. And he has a new book out called Pattern Breakers with his co-author, Peter Zimmerman.    THIS EPISODE IS PERFECT FOR…anyone curious to learn about the ingredients to start-up success.    TODAY'S MAIN MESSAGE…why is it that 80% of start-ups fail? What factors sets the 20% apart? As a seasoned venture capitalist, Mike says it comes down to breaking patterns. In this episode, he shares how to break away from linear strategies and dare to think boldly and take a risk.    KEY TAKEAWAYS... Great startups force choices, not comparisons.  Early believers are essential for co-creating groundbreaking futures. Intrapreneurs succeed by innovating discreetly before scaling their ideas. Striking out on bold experiments is crucial - safe bets won't lead to grand slams.   WHAT I LOVE MOST…Mike says that the best ideas often begin as unsettling or even disliked by many. It's a testament to the power of sticking to bold, authentic visions despite early skepticism.   Running Time: 30:05   Subscribe on iTunes   Find Tiffani Online: LinkedIn Facebook X   Find Mike Online: Substack  X    Mike's Book: Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future

Mike Maples is the co-founding partner at Floodgate, a venture capital firm that focuses on early stage investments in technology companies. He has been featured on the Forbes Midas List eight times in the past decade, recognized as a “Rising Star” by FORTUNE, and profiled by Harvard Business School for his enduring contributions to entrepreneurship. As a founder and operating executive, Mike played pivotal roles in two successful IPOs: Tivoli Systems (later acquired by IBM) and Motive (acquired by Alcatel-Lucent). Mike's career as a seed investor has solidified his legendary status in Silicon Valley. Some of his notable investments include Twitter, Twitch.tv, Clover Health, Okta, Outreach, Chegg, Demandforce, and Applied Intuition. Together with Stanford Professor Peter Ziebelman, Mike developed insights on identifying "Pattern Breaking" concepts, referred to as "Inflections." These ideas form the foundation of his book, Pattern Breakers, which explores over 15 years of investment experience to reveal the sources of breakthrough potential in startups. The book is a National Bestseller and ranks as the #1 Venture Capital book on Amazon.On today's show, Alan and Mike dive into Mike's latest book, Pattern Breakers, exploring what pattern breakers are, their key components, and how they drive transformational change. They examine the concept of inflection points, pivotal moments that define the trajectory of a startup. Mike explains the importance of being radically different and the necessity of building a movement around your business and products to stand out in competitive markets. They also explore what truly makes a company radically different and how these elements come together to fuel extraordinary success.In this episode, you'll learn:Why being radically different is essential for startups and how to achieve itStrategies to identify and connect with your ideal customer base early Key startup principles that even large companies can adopt, plus actionable tips for collaborating with startupsKey Highlights:[02:17] Being a professional calligrapher  [03:32] Career path to Floodgate[05:50] Why is now the right time for the book, Pattern Breakers[08:53] Why startups need to be radically different[14:00] Is getting competition good or bad[15:58] How to find the customer base early on[18:59] How the principles of a startup can apply to large companies[22:28] Tips for large companies working with startups[23:46] Risk profiles and mindsets [26:16] Inflections [30:05] Different categories of growth[32:05] Inflections, pattern breakers, creating movements relating to marking[34:04] Does radically different only matter if its a commercial success[37:50] An experience from your past that defines you[41:35] Advice to your younger self- personal monopoly [43:50] A topic that you and other marketers need to learn more about - AI [50:12] Trends or subcultures others should follow[50:51] Largest opportunity or threat to marketers todayLooking for more?Visit our website for the full show notes, links to resources mentioned in this episode, and ways to connect with the guest! Become a member today and listen ad-free, visit https://plus.acast.com/s/marketingtoday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're going to do something totally different today! We're going to do an in-depth analysis of an incredible book that was just featured on a great podcast that we listen to: Pivot with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway - a favorite of ours! Kara and Scott interviewed Mike Maples Jr. on his new book with Peter Ziebelman: “Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future”. As a small business owner, “Pattern Breakers” delivers key insights into what separates transformative start-up businesses from those that follow predictable patterns. Mike and Peter are seasoned venture capitalists. Their book explores how some small businesses defy traditional industry practices and create exponential growth.

Mike Maples Jr., Founding Partner at Floodgate, sits down with David Weisburd to discuss Mike's new book “Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future”. This is a masterclass on early-stage venture investing. Mike shares his views on identifying ideas and founders that led to his early investments in Lyft, Twitter, and Okta. They also cover how Mike thinks about fundraising from LPs, his learnings from legendary LP David Swensen, and the power and importance of pursuing non-consensus ideas. —

Kara and Scott discuss California governor Gavin Newsom's veto of the AI bill that divided Big Tech, and Trump Media co-founders dumping $100 million worth of stock. Then, JD Vance and Tim Walz face off, Donald Trump's latest comments hit new lows, and is Kamala Harris leaning into crypto? Plus, a peek at OpenAI's financials reveals massive gains, but bigger losses. Will that be a problem for investors? Our Friend of Pivot is Mike Maples Jr., co-founder of the VC firm, Floodgate, and author of the new book, "Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future." Mike talks about what makes for a successful start-up, and shares the story behind one of his biggest misses. Follow Mike at @m2jr Follow us on Instagram and Threads at @pivotpodcastofficial. Follow us on TikTok at @pivotpodcast. Send us your questions by calling us at 855-51-PIVOT, or at nymag.com/pivot. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mike Maples Jr. is one fo the pioneers of seed-stage investing, and invested early in the likes of Twitter, Twitch, and Lyft. I asked him to do something a little unusual: give advice to small business owners who, instead of pitching VCs like him, are instead pitching their family and friends. His advice reveals a lot about how investors think, whether they're pros like him or just a mom or pop at home. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Venture capital legend Mike Maples Jr. shares his unique approach to identifying and investing in groundbreaking startups. Discover the principles behind pattern breaking, the importance of founder-future fit, and how to spot the next billion-dollar company before anyone else. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Howard Lindzon and Michael Parekh as they dive deep into the world of venture capital with Mike Maples Jr., founding partner at Floodgate Partners. This insightful conversation covers the evolution of VC from Web 2.0 to the era of AI, the importance of pattern-breaking in startup success, and the changing dynamics of founder-investor relationships. Key topics include: • The origins of Floodgate and Mike's journey in VC • The concept of "pattern breaking" in startup investing • The transition from mass computation to mass connectivity to mass cognition • The importance of valuation and return potential in seed investing • The future of AI and its impact on various industries • The delicate balance of being "founder friendly" while serving LPs • The potential for AI to create new consumer-focused breakthrough companies —  Recorded live on Tuesday, September 17th — Skip Ahead: (00:00) Introduction and Mike's background (05:40) The origins of Floodgate and early investments (14:15) Navigating the venture capital landscape (27:15) The role of founders in startups (32:30) The future of AI and its impact on various industries (38:08) What people miss about seed investing (44:14) Defining a circle of confidence and looking back on missed opportunities (50:40) What we're optimistic about: cognition and LLM's (01:01:53) The potential for AI in creating new consumer companies (01:08:04) Final thoughts on the future of venture capital (01:14:04) Founder-friendly investing —  Where To Find Howard and Friends:  • Howard - https://stocktwits.com/howardlindzon • Michael - https://stocktwits.com/MParekh • Mike Maples Jr. - https://x.com/m2jr • Production and Marketing - https://penname.co/ —  Trends with Friends is brought to you by Stocktwits: https://stocktwits.com/ —  Disclaimer: All opinions expressed on this show are solely the opinions of the hosts' and guests' and do not reflect the opinions of Stocktwits, Inc. or its affiliates. The hosts are not SEC or FINRA registered advisors or professionals. The content of this show is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Please consult with your financial advisor before making any investment decision. Read the full terms & conditions here: https://stocktwits.com/c/uncategorized/2024/02/21/stocktwits-newsletter-disclaimer/

Mike Maples Jr. is a partner at Floodgate, a pre-seed and seed-stage venture capital firm he co-founded in 2006 with Anne Miuro-Ko. He has been on the Forbes Midas list eight times in the last decade and backed Twitter, Lyft, Twitch, Okta, and many others in their earliest stages. Attempting to understand if he had been lucky or skillful, Mike studied venture winners and created a framework to describe startup capitalism, which he writes about in his recently released book, Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future. Our conversation covers Mike's path to venture capital and the curiosity that led to writing this book. We dive into his discovery of inflection theory and discuss components of the framework, including the power of incumbents, inflections that change the future, insights to capitalize on inflections, pivots, founder-future fit, creating a movement from misfits to the mainstream, and points of failure along the way.   Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Mike Maples, Jr., co-founding partner of the VC firm Floodgate, is the veteran seed investor behind some of the 21st-century's great success stories, including Twitter, Twitch, and Applied Intuition. His book, Pattern Breakers (co-authored with Peter Ziebelman), articulates a new model of foundership, one built on the simple premise that transformative startups upend rather than improve current practices. My company, OSV, is built around my belief that the collapse of the old models presents enormous opportunities to those savvy enough to seize them, so I had a blast quizzing Mike on the nuts and bolts of pattern-breaking foundership, from finding true believers to waging asymmetric war on the status quo. If Mike's theory sounds as interesting to you as it did to me, check out our Substack, where we've distilled some pattern-breaking insights and shared the episode transcript. I also encourage you to buy Mike's excellent book. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did! Important Links: Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future; by Mike Maples, Jr & Peter Ziebelman Twitter Substack (Starting Greatness) Floodgate LinkedIn Show Notes: Seagull mode: an unexpected founder paradigm How to wage asymmetric war on the present Evading the comparison trap Finding your people: how to build a movement Why we should continually seek the truth The customer isn't always right, but the ones living in the future are Why disagreeableness is undervalued How to fix a pitch Franckendeck Don't use jargon as a substitute for clear thinking How to find the true believers How to live in the future How founders are like trainspotters Why wanting to be a founder is a bad reason to start a company Reading habits of a pattern-breaker The unreliability of memory Mike as emperor of the world MORE! Books Mentioned: Jonathan Livingston Seagull: A story; by Richard Bach The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism; by Howard Bloom The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations that Transform The World; by David Deutsch What Works in Wall Street; by Jim O'Shaughnessy Poor Charlie's Almanac: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger; by Charles T. Munger

Is there a secret recipe for start-up success? Probably not. But if you take a close enough look at some of the massive success stories like Twitter and Lyft, patterns start to emerge. Venture capitalists Mike Maples, Jr. and Peter Ziebelman pull back the curtain and examine how start-ups go from seedling ideas to billion-dollar companies in their book, Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future.Mike, Peter, and Greg discuss the roles that insight and implementation play in determining a start-up's chance at success, how investors distinguish between genius and crazy, and why the best founders are like artists.*unSILOed Podcast is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:Distinguishing idea vs. insight25:33: [Mike Maples Jr.] A lot of people confuse risk and uncertainty. And so, like, I might have an idea in an existing market that there's a clear need for, but it's a bounded upside idea. But I can connect the dots between the idea, customers wanting it, and a successful business. I might, on the other hand, have an idea that's like Justin TV, right? Which is a reality 24/7 streaming TV show, which is crazy online. But it embodied a lot of inflections and insight. It was a terrible idea, but a great opportunity. And so what we're interested in is not certainty about the future, because if we're going after a non-consensus idea, if we have real insight, we can't know we're certain yet. All we can know is that we're non-consensus. Just because we don't know how the dots will forward connect doesn't mean they won't forward connect. And it doesn't mean that the expected value of the upside isn't higher. So that's what we kind of encourage people to say: just because you don't know how success will happen doesn't mean that it's not way better to pursue that path.The crucial elements that contribute to startup's breakthrough06:10: [Peter Ziebelman] There's still a lot of luck and perhaps intuition and guesswork to determine whether you're going to find a breakthrough or build a breakthrough. But having said that, we do believe there are elements that can tip the balance—inflections. Another element is seeing that the entrepreneur has insight, something they know to be true that others do not yet believe, and we believe insights are one of the things that explain a lot about startups.Being a founder is like being an artist52:34: [Mike Maples Jr.] A lot of people think about what type of business person is an entrepreneur. And what I've come to believe is that the right way to think about it is they're more like an artist than they are like an engineer, a salesperson, or anything else. [53:06] And by that, I mean two things. First of all, artists notice something that other people don't notice, right? And then the other thing that artists do is convince people to abandon their logic. And so, like, no rational employee would join a startup. No rational customer would buy from a startup. No rational investor would invest in a startup. [53:45] So the founder has to convince all of us to abandon logic and go on a journey where we're 85 percent likely to not succeed. And so the best founders I've ever met have those. Attributes of the artist, and they have the artistry to notice from their sensitivity, and they have the artistry to persuade and convince people. They have the artistry to notice from their sensitivity, and they have the artistry to persuade and convince people. How does a founder balance persistence with openness to new data and insights?21:06: [Mike Maples Jr.] If you have the right insight, when we talk about pivoting, your insight, like in basketball, is like your pivot foot. You hold it planted firm, and you move your body by either modifying your implementation, modifying the audience that you talk to, or some combination. But if you have to leave your pivot foot, you're no longer attached to anything as a startup, right? You might as well start over. You might as well try a new idea or just give up. And so that's where I think you reconcile it. You want to be flexible in your experimentation of navigating your insight to the desperate, but you want to be fixed about what you believe is different about the future.Show Links:Recommended Resources:Hamilton HelmerVilfredo Pareto Reed HastingsScott Cook Justin.tvFounders FundVinod KhoslaGuest Profile:Mike Maples, Jr. Professional Profile at FloodgateMike Maples, Jr. Podcast, Pattern BreakersPeter Ziebelman Professional Profile at Palo Alto Venture PartnersPeter Ziebelman Faculty Profile at Stanford Graduate School of BusinessTheir Work:Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future

Welcome to an interview with the author of Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future, Mike Maples, Jr. In this book, Maples and coauthor Peter Ziebelman set out to discover the hidden forces that drive extraordinary start-up success. Pattern-breaking success, they reveal, demands a different mindset and actions to harness developments others miss or that may, at first, seem crazy.   Mike Maples, Jr is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, podcaster, and the co-founder of FLOODGATE, a leading seed stage fund in Silicon Valley that invested in companies like Twitter, Twitch, Okta, and Outreach at the very beginning of their startup journeys.    An eight-time member of the Forbes Midas List of Top Venture Capital investors, he was one of the pioneers of the seed investing movement, which started in the mid-2000s and now is a mainstream part of startup funding.   Get Pattern Breakers here: https://rb.gy/z4l4i7   Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach   McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf   Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

The Floodgate co-founder considers how some startups change the future. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future by Mike Maples Jr, Peter Ziebelman https://amzn.to/4bQrwrx Based on extensive research and real-world examples, this book upends accepted wisdom about how to achieve success when launching a startup or creating a new product. The breakthrough concepts of Pattern Breakers come from the observations of Mike Maples Jr., a seasoned venture capitalist, who noticed something strange. Start-ups like Twitter, Twitch, and Lyft had achieved extraordinary success despite their disregard for “best practices.” In contrast, other startups deemed highly promising often failed, even when they seemed to do everything right. Seeking answers, Maples and coauthor Peter Ziebelman set out to discover the hidden forces that drive extraordinary start-up success. Pattern-breaking success, they reveal, demands a different mindset and actions to harness developments others miss or that may, at first, seem crazy. Pattern Breakers is filled with firsthand storytelling about initial interactions with some of the most transformative start-ups of recent times. Maples and Ziebelman challenge us to rethink how to transcend the ordinary and achieve the extraordinary. About the author Mike Maples, Jr. is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and author. He is focused on backing the founders of startup companies at the very beginning of their startup journeys. As a co-founding partner at Floodgate, he's been on the Forbes Midas List eight times for his investments in companies such as Twitter, Twitch, Okta, Outreach, Rappi, Chegg, and Applied Intuition. Maples co-authored Pattern Breakers, which entrepreneurship thought leader Steve Blank calls “the most important book on startups in the last ten years.” He additionally hosts a podcast and newsletter, which explore the pivotal role of pattern-breaking founders in reshaping business and culture in the 21st Century.

Silicon Valley investor Mike Maples Jr. is known for having a ‘Midas Touch.' Think of a tech start-up that has changed your life in the last 20 years, and he was probably helping fuel its growth. Mike talks with host Reid Hoffman about the insights he's gathered from decades of investing, which he shares in his new book: Pattern Breakers. They also riff on how to build – and invest – in the AI revolution. Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.comSubscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeYou can find Pattern Breakers here: https://amzn.to/4d8fx9NSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career ✓ Claim Key Takeaways Check out the episode pageRead the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgMike Maples, Jr. is a legendary early-stage startup investor and a co-founder and partner at Floodgate. He's made early bets on transformative companies like Twitter, Lyft, Twitch, Okta, Rappi, and Applied Intuition and is one of the pioneers of seed-stage investing as a category. He's been on the Forbes Midas List eight times and enjoys sharing the lessons he's learned from his years studying iconic companies. In his new book, Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future, co-authored with Peter Ziebelman, he discusses what he's found separates startups and founders that break through and change the world from those that don't. After spending years reviewing the notes and decks from the thousands of startups he's known over the past two decades, he's uncovered three ways that breakthrough founders think and act differently. In our conversation, Mike talks about:• The three elements of breakthrough startup ideas• Why you need to both think and act differently• How to avoid the “comparison trap” and “conformity trap”• The importance of movements, storytelling, and healthy disagreeableness in startup success• How to apply pattern-breaking principles within large companies• Mike's one piece of advice for founders• Much morePre-order Mike's book here and get a second signed copy for free. Limited copies are available, so order ASAP: patternbreakers.com/lenny.—Brought to you by:• Enterpret—Transform customer feedback into product growth• Anvil—The fastest way to build software for documents• Webflow—The web experience platform—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-find-a-great-startup-idea-mike-maples-jr—Where to find Mike Maples, Jr.:• X: https://x.com/m2jr• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maples/• Substack: https://greatness.substack.com/• Website: https://www.floodgate.com/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Mike's background(03:10) The inspiration behind Pattern Breakers(08:09) Uncovering startup insights(11:37) A quick summary of Pattern Breakers(13:52) Coming up with an idea(15:30) Inflections(17:09) Examples of inflections(28:10) Insights(36:58) The power of surprises(47:36) Founder-future fit(55:33) Advice for aspiring founders(56:41) Living in the future: valid opinions(55:34) Case study: Maddie Hall and Living Carbon(58:40) Identifying lighthouse customers(01:00:53) The importance of desperation in customer needs(01:03:57) Creating movements and storytelling(01:24:22) The role of disagreeableness in startups(01:34:42) Applying these principles within a company(01:40:43) Lightning round—Referenced:• Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future: https://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Breakers-Start-Ups-Change-Future/dp/1541704355• Justin.tv: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin.tv• Airbnb's CEO says a $40 cereal box changed the course of the multibillion-dollar company: https://fortune.com/2023/04/19/airbnb-ceo-cereal-box-investors-changed-everything-billion-dollar-company/• Brian Chesky's new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-cheskys-contrarian-approach• The Unconventional Exit: How Justin Kan Sold His First Startup on eBay: https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/the-unconventional-exit-how-justin-kan-sold-his-first-startup-on-ebay-4d705afe1354• Kyle Vogt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylevogt/• The State of Telehealth Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9035352/• The Craigslist Killers: https://www.gq.com/story/craigslist-killers• The social radar: Y Combinator's secret weapon | Jessica Livingston (co-founder of Y Combinator, author, podcast host): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-social-radar-jessica-livingston• Michael Seibel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwseibel/• The Airbnb Story: How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions ... and Created Plenty of Controversy: https://www.amazon.com/Airbnb-Story-Ordinary-Disrupted-Controversy/dp/0544952669• Scott Cook: https://www.forbes.com/profile/scott-cook/• Chegg: https://www.chegg.com/• Aayush Phumbhra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aayush/• Osman Rashid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/osmanrashid/• Okta: https://www.okta.com/• The Man Who Makes the Future: Wired Icon Marc Andreessen: https://www.wired.com/2012/04/ff-andreessen/• Peter Ludwig on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterwludwig/• Qasar Younis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/qasar/• Paul Allen's website: https://paulallen.com/• Louis Pasteur quote: https://www.forbes.com/quotes/6145/• What was Atrium and why did it fail? https://www.failory.com/cemetery/atrium• Patrick Collison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickcollison/• Drew Houston on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewhouston/• William Gibson's quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/681-the-future-is-already-here-it-s-just-not-evenly• Maddie Hall on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maddie-hall-76293135/• Living Carbon: https://www.livingcarbon.com• Zenefits (now Trinet): https://connect.trinet.com/• Sam Altman on X: https://x.com/sama• Steve Wozniak on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wozniaksteve/• Horsley Bridge Partners: https://www.horsleybridge.com/• David Swensen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_F._Swensen• Judith Elsea on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judithelsea/• 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy: https://www.amazon.com/7-Powers-Foundations-Business-Strategy/dp/0998116319• Business strategy with Hamilton Helmer (author of 7 Powers): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/business-strategy-with-hamilton-helmer• Lyft's Focus on Community and the Story Behind the Pink Mustache: https://techcrunch.com/2012/09/17/lyfts-focus-on-community-and-the-story-behind-the-pink-mustache/• Logan Green on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/logangreen/• John Zimmer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnzimmer11/• Storytelling with Nancy Duarte: How to craft compelling presentations and tell a story that sticks: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/storytelling-with-nancy-duarte-how• Steve Jobs Introducing the iPhone at MacWorld 2007: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7qPAY9JqE4• Jonathan Livingston Seagull: https://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Livingston-Seagull-Richard-Bach/dp/0743278909• The paths to power: How to grow your influence and advance your career | Jeffrey Pfeffer (author of 7 Rules of Power, professor at Stanford GSB): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-paths-to-power-jeffrey-pfeffer• Robin Roberts on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-roberts-393a934b/• Skunkworks: https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/business-areas/aeronautics/skunkworks.html• Vision, conviction, and hype: How to build 0 to 1 inside a company | Mihika Kapoor (Product at Figma): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/vision-conviction-hype-mihika-kapoor• Hard-won lessons building 0 to 1 inside Atlassian | Tanguy Crusson (Head of Jira Product Discovery): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-0-to-1-inside-atlassian-tanguy-crusson• Figma: https://www.figma.com/• Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com/• Vinod Khosla: https://www.khoslaventures.com/team/vinod-khosla/• Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing: https://www.amazon.com/Top-Five-Regrets-Dying-Transformed-ebook/dp/B07KNRLY1L• Chase, Chance, and Creativity: The Lucky Art of Novelty: https://www.amazon.com/Chase-Chance-Creativity-Lucky-Novelty/dp/0262511355• Clay Christensen's books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Clayton-M.-Christensen/author/B000APPD3Y• Resonate: Present Visual Stories That Transform: https://www.amazon.com/Resonate-Present-Stories-Transform-Audiences/dp/0470632011• Ferrari on Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Ferrari-Adam-Driver/dp/B0CNDBN672• Montblanc fountain pens: https://www.montblanc.com/en-us—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career ✓ Claim Key Takeaways Check out the episode pageRead the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgMike Maples, Jr. is a legendary early-stage startup investor and a co-founder and partner at Floodgate. He's made early bets on transformative companies like Twitter, Lyft, Twitch, Okta, Rappi, and Applied Intuition and is one of the pioneers of seed-stage investing as a category. He's been on the Forbes Midas List eight times and enjoys sharing the lessons he's learned from his years studying iconic companies. In his new book, Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future, co-authored with Peter Ziebelman, he discusses what he's found separates startups and founders that break through and change the world from those that don't. After spending years reviewing the notes and decks from the thousands of startups he's known over the past two decades, he's uncovered three ways that breakthrough founders think and act differently. In our conversation, Mike talks about:• The three elements of breakthrough startup ideas• Why you need to both think and act differently• How to avoid the “comparison trap” and “conformity trap”• The importance of movements, storytelling, and healthy disagreeableness in startup success• How to apply pattern-breaking principles within large companies• Mike's one piece of advice for founders• Much morePre-order Mike's book here and get a second signed copy for free. Limited copies are available, so order ASAP: patternbreakers.com/lenny.—Brought to you by:• Enterpret—Transform customer feedback into product growth• Anvil—The fastest way to build software for documents• Webflow—The web experience platform—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-find-a-great-startup-idea-mike-maples-jr—Where to find Mike Maples, Jr.:• X: https://x.com/m2jr• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maples/• Substack: https://greatness.substack.com/• Website: https://www.floodgate.com/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Mike's background(03:10) The inspiration behind Pattern Breakers(08:09) Uncovering startup insights(11:37) A quick summary of Pattern Breakers(13:52) Coming up with an idea(15:30) Inflections(17:09) Examples of inflections(28:10) Insights(36:58) The power of surprises(47:36) Founder-future fit(55:33) Advice for aspiring founders(56:41) Living in the future: valid opinions(55:34) Case study: Maddie Hall and Living Carbon(58:40) Identifying lighthouse customers(01:00:53) The importance of desperation in customer needs(01:03:57) Creating movements and storytelling(01:24:22) The role of disagreeableness in startups(01:34:42) Applying these principles within a company(01:40:43) Lightning round—Referenced:• Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future: https://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Breakers-Start-Ups-Change-Future/dp/1541704355• Justin.tv: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin.tv• Airbnb's CEO says a $40 cereal box changed the course of the multibillion-dollar company: https://fortune.com/2023/04/19/airbnb-ceo-cereal-box-investors-changed-everything-billion-dollar-company/• Brian Chesky's new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-cheskys-contrarian-approach• The Unconventional Exit: How Justin Kan Sold His First Startup on eBay: https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/the-unconventional-exit-how-justin-kan-sold-his-first-startup-on-ebay-4d705afe1354• Kyle Vogt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylevogt/• The State of Telehealth Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9035352/• The Craigslist Killers: https://www.gq.com/story/craigslist-killers• The social radar: Y Combinator's secret weapon | Jessica Livingston (co-founder of Y Combinator, author, podcast host): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-social-radar-jessica-livingston• Michael Seibel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwseibel/• The Airbnb Story: How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions ... and Created Plenty of Controversy: https://www.amazon.com/Airbnb-Story-Ordinary-Disrupted-Controversy/dp/0544952669• Scott Cook: https://www.forbes.com/profile/scott-cook/• Chegg: https://www.chegg.com/• Aayush Phumbhra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aayush/• Osman Rashid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/osmanrashid/• Okta: https://www.okta.com/• The Man Who Makes the Future: Wired Icon Marc Andreessen: https://www.wired.com/2012/04/ff-andreessen/• Peter Ludwig on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterwludwig/• Qasar Younis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/qasar/• Paul Allen's website: https://paulallen.com/• Louis Pasteur quote: https://www.forbes.com/quotes/6145/• What was Atrium and why did it fail? https://www.failory.com/cemetery/atrium• Patrick Collison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickcollison/• Drew Houston on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewhouston/• William Gibson's quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/681-the-future-is-already-here-it-s-just-not-evenly• Maddie Hall on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maddie-hall-76293135/• Living Carbon: https://www.livingcarbon.com• Zenefits (now Trinet): https://connect.trinet.com/• Sam Altman on X: https://x.com/sama• Steve Wozniak on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wozniaksteve/• Horsley Bridge Partners: https://www.horsleybridge.com/• David Swensen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_F._Swensen• Judith Elsea on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judithelsea/• 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy: https://www.amazon.com/7-Powers-Foundations-Business-Strategy/dp/0998116319• Business strategy with Hamilton Helmer (author of 7 Powers): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/business-strategy-with-hamilton-helmer• Lyft's Focus on Community and the Story Behind the Pink Mustache: https://techcrunch.com/2012/09/17/lyfts-focus-on-community-and-the-story-behind-the-pink-mustache/• Logan Green on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/logangreen/• John Zimmer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnzimmer11/• Storytelling with Nancy Duarte: How to craft compelling presentations and tell a story that sticks: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/storytelling-with-nancy-duarte-how• Steve Jobs Introducing the iPhone at MacWorld 2007: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7qPAY9JqE4• Jonathan Livingston Seagull: https://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Livingston-Seagull-Richard-Bach/dp/0743278909• The paths to power: How to grow your influence and advance your career | Jeffrey Pfeffer (author of 7 Rules of Power, professor at Stanford GSB): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-paths-to-power-jeffrey-pfeffer• Robin Roberts on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-roberts-393a934b/• Skunkworks: https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/business-areas/aeronautics/skunkworks.html• Vision, conviction, and hype: How to build 0 to 1 inside a company | Mihika Kapoor (Product at Figma): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/vision-conviction-hype-mihika-kapoor• Hard-won lessons building 0 to 1 inside Atlassian | Tanguy Crusson (Head of Jira Product Discovery): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-0-to-1-inside-atlassian-tanguy-crusson• Figma: https://www.figma.com/• Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com/• Vinod Khosla: https://www.khoslaventures.com/team/vinod-khosla/• Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing: https://www.amazon.com/Top-Five-Regrets-Dying-Transformed-ebook/dp/B07KNRLY1L• Chase, Chance, and Creativity: The Lucky Art of Novelty: https://www.amazon.com/Chase-Chance-Creativity-Lucky-Novelty/dp/0262511355• Clay Christensen's books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Clayton-M.-Christensen/author/B000APPD3Y• Resonate: Present Visual Stories That Transform: https://www.amazon.com/Resonate-Present-Stories-Transform-Audiences/dp/0470632011• Ferrari on Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Ferrari-Adam-Driver/dp/B0CNDBN672• Montblanc fountain pens: https://www.montblanc.com/en-us—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career ✓ Claim Key Takeaways Check out the episode pageRead the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgMike Maples, Jr. is a legendary early-stage startup investor and a co-founder and partner at Floodgate. He's made early bets on transformative companies like Twitter, Lyft, Twitch, Okta, Rappi, and Applied Intuition and is one of the pioneers of seed-stage investing as a category. He's been on the Forbes Midas List eight times and enjoys sharing the lessons he's learned from his years studying iconic companies. In his new book, Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future, co-authored with Peter Ziebelman, he discusses what he's found separates startups and founders that break through and change the world from those that don't. After spending years reviewing the notes and decks from the thousands of startups he's known over the past two decades, he's uncovered three ways that breakthrough founders think and act differently. In our conversation, Mike talks about:• The three elements of breakthrough startup ideas• Why you need to both think and act differently• How to avoid the “comparison trap” and “conformity trap”• The importance of movements, storytelling, and healthy disagreeableness in startup success• How to apply pattern-breaking principles within large companies• Mike's one piece of advice for founders• Much morePre-order Mike's book here and get a second signed copy for free. Limited copies are available, so order ASAP: patternbreakers.com/lenny.—Brought to you by:• Enterpret—Transform customer feedback into product growth• Anvil—The fastest way to build software for documents• Webflow—The web experience platform—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-find-a-great-startup-idea-mike-maples-jr—Where to find Mike Maples, Jr.:• X: https://x.com/m2jr• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maples/• Substack: https://greatness.substack.com/• Website: https://www.floodgate.com/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Mike's background(03:10) The inspiration behind Pattern Breakers(08:09) Uncovering startup insights(11:37) A quick summary of Pattern Breakers(13:52) Coming up with an idea(15:30) Inflections(17:09) Examples of inflections(28:10) Insights(36:58) The power of surprises(47:36) Founder-future fit(55:33) Advice for aspiring founders(56:41) Living in the future: valid opinions(55:34) Case study: Maddie Hall and Living Carbon(58:40) Identifying lighthouse customers(01:00:53) The importance of desperation in customer needs(01:03:57) Creating movements and storytelling(01:24:22) The role of disagreeableness in startups(01:34:42) Applying these principles within a company(01:40:43) Lightning round—Referenced:• Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future: https://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Breakers-Start-Ups-Change-Future/dp/1541704355• Justin.tv: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin.tv• Airbnb's CEO says a $40 cereal box changed the course of the multibillion-dollar company: https://fortune.com/2023/04/19/airbnb-ceo-cereal-box-investors-changed-everything-billion-dollar-company/• Brian Chesky's new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-cheskys-contrarian-approach• The Unconventional Exit: How Justin Kan Sold His First Startup on eBay: https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/the-unconventional-exit-how-justin-kan-sold-his-first-startup-on-ebay-4d705afe1354• Kyle Vogt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylevogt/• The State of Telehealth Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9035352/• The Craigslist Killers: https://www.gq.com/story/craigslist-killers• The social radar: Y Combinator's secret weapon | Jessica Livingston (co-founder of Y Combinator, author, podcast host): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-social-radar-jessica-livingston• Michael Seibel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwseibel/• The Airbnb Story: How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions ... and Created Plenty of Controversy: https://www.amazon.com/Airbnb-Story-Ordinary-Disrupted-Controversy/dp/0544952669• Scott Cook: https://www.forbes.com/profile/scott-cook/• Chegg: https://www.chegg.com/• Aayush Phumbhra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aayush/• Osman Rashid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/osmanrashid/• Okta: https://www.okta.com/• The Man Who Makes the Future: Wired Icon Marc Andreessen: https://www.wired.com/2012/04/ff-andreessen/• Peter Ludwig on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterwludwig/• Qasar Younis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/qasar/• Paul Allen's website: https://paulallen.com/• Louis Pasteur quote: https://www.forbes.com/quotes/6145/• What was Atrium and why did it fail? https://www.failory.com/cemetery/atrium• Patrick Collison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickcollison/• Drew Houston on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewhouston/• William Gibson's quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/681-the-future-is-already-here-it-s-just-not-evenly• Maddie Hall on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maddie-hall-76293135/• Living Carbon: https://www.livingcarbon.com• Zenefits (now Trinet): https://connect.trinet.com/• Sam Altman on X: https://x.com/sama• Steve Wozniak on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wozniaksteve/• Horsley Bridge Partners: https://www.horsleybridge.com/• David Swensen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_F._Swensen• Judith Elsea on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judithelsea/• 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy: https://www.amazon.com/7-Powers-Foundations-Business-Strategy/dp/0998116319• Business strategy with Hamilton Helmer (author of 7 Powers): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/business-strategy-with-hamilton-helmer• Lyft's Focus on Community and the Story Behind the Pink Mustache: https://techcrunch.com/2012/09/17/lyfts-focus-on-community-and-the-story-behind-the-pink-mustache/• Logan Green on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/logangreen/• John Zimmer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnzimmer11/• Storytelling with Nancy Duarte: How to craft compelling presentations and tell a story that sticks: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/storytelling-with-nancy-duarte-how• Steve Jobs Introducing the iPhone at MacWorld 2007: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7qPAY9JqE4• Jonathan Livingston Seagull: https://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Livingston-Seagull-Richard-Bach/dp/0743278909• The paths to power: How to grow your influence and advance your career | Jeffrey Pfeffer (author of 7 Rules of Power, professor at Stanford GSB): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-paths-to-power-jeffrey-pfeffer• Robin Roberts on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-roberts-393a934b/• Skunkworks: https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/business-areas/aeronautics/skunkworks.html• Vision, conviction, and hype: How to build 0 to 1 inside a company | Mihika Kapoor (Product at Figma): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/vision-conviction-hype-mihika-kapoor• Hard-won lessons building 0 to 1 inside Atlassian | Tanguy Crusson (Head of Jira Product Discovery): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-0-to-1-inside-atlassian-tanguy-crusson• Figma: https://www.figma.com/• Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com/• Vinod Khosla: https://www.khoslaventures.com/team/vinod-khosla/• Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing: https://www.amazon.com/Top-Five-Regrets-Dying-Transformed-ebook/dp/B07KNRLY1L• Chase, Chance, and Creativity: The Lucky Art of Novelty: https://www.amazon.com/Chase-Chance-Creativity-Lucky-Novelty/dp/0262511355• Clay Christensen's books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Clayton-M.-Christensen/author/B000APPD3Y• Resonate: Present Visual Stories That Transform: https://www.amazon.com/Resonate-Present-Stories-Transform-Audiences/dp/0470632011• Ferrari on Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Ferrari-Adam-Driver/dp/B0CNDBN672• Montblanc fountain pens: https://www.montblanc.com/en-us—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Promising startups often fail despite following best practices, while rule-breakers and those running through chaos can achieve massive success. Why? Mike Maples Jr, Founding Partner at Floodgate, tackles this paradox in his book "Pattern Breakers." We discuss his Inflection Theory, why some pivots work and others don't, unexpected inspirations like Lord of the Rings, and explore the nature of breakthrough innovation and startups. Episode HighlightsThe genesis of Mike Maples' new book "Pattern Breakers" originated from his realization that over 80% of his exit profits came from startups that had pivoted significantly from their original ideas, leading him down the rabbit hole of why.Business is never a fair fight, and the key is deciding who gets to fight unfair; startups create value by changing the subject and denying the premise of existing rules.Inflection theory shows how breakthrough startups harness powerful technological or societal inflection points, combine them with founders' non-obvious insights, and then build movements around new ideas that fundamentally change how things are done. Living in the future to develop non-obvious insights is crucial for breakthrough startups, and founder-future fit is key to understanding what makes the right team that can turn that future vision into reality. What's Next?"I like to ask myself is in what world will certain types of cognition become asymptotically free and where, how will that shift power dynamics?... My instinct is it won't be the same way that the big companies of today monetize it. And my instinct is that an era of mass cognition will shift the balance of power in some very profound ways."Mike Maples Jr: X/Twitter, LinkedInPattern Breakers: Book, Podcast, Newsletter Floodgate: Website, X/Twitter, LinkedIn -------------------Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn

Your chances of winning the lottery are horrible. Still, a lot of people play. This episode starts by revealing a few things worth knowing about playing the lottery – even though you likely won't ever win the big jackpot. https://www.wired.com/video/watch/lottery-strategy Stories of how great ideas become successful are always fascinating – particularly when those ideas are so different than anything that came before it. Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, Twitch, Twitter are all successful companies that broke a lot of rules on the road to success. They had to. Here to reveal how they and others do it is Mike Maples Jr. He is a venture capitalist who was an early investor in Twitter (he passed on Airbnb) and he knows what it takes to take an idea and make it soar. Mike is the co-founder of Floodgate, a leading seed stage fund in Silicon Valley that invested in companies like Twitter, Twitch, and others at the very beginning. Mike is host of the podcast Starting Greatness (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/starting-greatness/id1488560647) and author of the book Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future (https://amzn.to/3W8BXlT) We've all heard of black holes. They are those places in space that have such a strong gravitational pull that nothing can escape them – not even light. What you may not know is that there are black holes in the center of every galaxy and without black holes – or at least the one in the middle of our galaxy, we may not even be here. Joining me to discuss what black holes are, what they do and why you should care is Marcus Chown. He is an award winning science writer and broadcaster, former radio astronomer at the California Institute of Technology and author of several books, including A Crack in Everything: How Black Holes Came in from the Cold and Took Cosmic Centre Stage (https://amzn.to/3W9cFUE) If you are concerned about your skin – and skin cancer, I'm sure you use sunscreen. While that's a good thing, skin cancer rates are up. The implication is that sunscreen alone isn't enough and in fact your diet may have an impact on how the sun treats your skin. Listen as I explain the details. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/08/well/eat/diet-skin-cancer-risk-melanoma.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Maples Jr. is a prolific angel investor and co-founder of early-stage venture firm Floodgate. Over the years, he's taken a lot of bets. Some have paid off handsomely (Twitter, Twitch, Lyft and Bazaarvoice, for example). Others have not.On today's episode of Equity, Mary Ann sat down with Mike to dig into a number of topics, including some of his most memorable investments, the one that got away, what he looks for when evaluating startups that pitch him - and what Godzilla has to do with it. We also talked a bit about his new book that he co-authored with Peter Ziebelman called “Pattern Breakers. Why some startups change the future.” Press play and join the conversation!Equity is TechCrunch's flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes over at Simplecast. Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 464, featuring an interview with the author of Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future, Mike Maples, Jr. In this book, Maples and coauthor Peter Ziebelman set out to discover the hidden forces that drive extraordinary start-up success. Pattern-breaking success, they reveal, demands a different mindset and actions to harness developments others miss or that may, at first, seem crazy.   Mike Maples, Jr is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, podcaster, and the co-founder of FLOODGATE, a leading seed stage fund in Silicon Valley that invested in companies like Twitter, Twitch, Okta, and Outreach at the very beginning of their startup journeys.    An eight-time member of the Forbes Midas List of Top Venture Capital investors, he was one of the pioneers of the seed investing movement, which started in the mid-2000s and now is a mainstream part of startup funding.   Get Pattern Breakers here: https://rb.gy/z4l4i7   Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach   McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf   Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo  

On this episode of the Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different we have a conversation with Mike Maples Jr., co-founder of Floodgate, about his new book "Pattern Breakers." We explore the concept of Pattern Breakers, non-consensus thinking, and the breakthrough sequence for startups. Mike shares some insights on the role of language in defining new patterns and the significance of early adopters. The conversation provides valuable perspectives on the mindset and strategies essential for entrepreneurial breakthroughs and category design. You're listening to Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different. We are the real dialogue podcast for people with a different mind. So get your mind in a different place, and hey ho, let's go. Mike Maples Jr on Understanding Pattern Breakers Mike Maples Jr. introduces the concept of pattern breakers as individuals or companies that disrupt the status quo by proposing radically different futures. These entities don't just imagine a different future; they live in it, tinkering with new technologies and experiencing firsthand the opportunities to break the limits of current thinking, feeling, and acting. Mike also discusses non-consensus thinking, and how is crucial it is for pattern breakers. It involves challenging widely accepted norms and beliefs to create transformative value. He emphasizes that breakthrough startups often face resistance from the present and the status quo, making it essential for founders to be disagreeable in the right situations. The Breakthrough Sequence for Startups The first step in the breakthrough sequence is achieving insight breakthroughs. Founders need to immerse themselves in the future they envision, understanding new opportunities and creating new patterns. Mike uses examples of legendary founders like Marc Andreessen and Bob Metcalfe, who were visitors from the future, to illustrate this point. Once insight breakthroughs are achieved, the next step is to achieve product-market fit. This involves building what's missing for early adopters and lighthouse customers, who play a crucial role in shaping the direction of a startup. Founders must listen to these early believers and co-create the future with them. The final step in the breakthrough sequence is driving growth. This involves creating a movement and category design, gradually moving more people to the envisioned future. Mike highlights the importance of using differentiated language to escape the comparison trap and the conformity trap, leading people into a different future. The Role of Big Companies in Creating Breakthroughs Big companies can also create breakthroughs by harnessing inflections and insights to change the future. Mike discusses different approaches big companies can take, such as sustaining innovation, organic growth, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and partnering. However, he also acknowledges the challenges and biases that come with being a successful company. One effective strategy for big companies is backcasting, where leaders stand in the future and look back to the present, envisioning how they achieved a radically different future. This approach helps companies switch their mental scaffolding from being in the present and looking forward to being in the future and looking back to the present. To hear more from Mike Maples Jr on Pattern Breakers and creating breakthroughs for your company, download and listen to this episode. Bio Mike Maples Jr. is an entrepreneur turned venture capitalist. He's co-founder of Silicon Valley based, early-stage VC Floodgate. And the host of the popular “Starting Greatness” podcast. Investments include Twitter, Lyft, Bazaarvoice, Sparefoot, Ayasdi, Xamarin, Doubledutch, Twitch.tv, Playdom, Chegg, Demandforce, Rappi, Smule, and Outreach. Link Connect with Mike Maples Jr.! Floodgate | Twitter | LinkedIn | Starting Greatness Podcast Check out Mike's new book, Pattern Breakers! Amazon Books | Porchlight Books | Starting Greatness | Patte...

On today's episode of Equity, we're taking a look at news you might've missed over the holiday weekend here in the U.S., starting with the recent OpenAI security breach. While it doesn't seem that people have to be too worried about what the hackers actually accessed, the fact that it happened is worth paying attention to. TechCrunch's Devin Coldeway argues that AI companies are treasure troves of data and will likely become more of a target for hackers. Companies that work with the large AI companies should pay attention. We also had an update on Fisker's slide into bankruptcy. The EV startup, that you've already heard about on Equity, had a new update this week. The company asked its bankruptcy judge for permission to sell its remaining inventory for $14,000 a vehicle, a noticeable drop from the $70,000 Fisker was initially asking for. This has some fearing that this chapter 11 bankruptcy could turn into a chapter 7. To close out, we looked at a new trend of venture funds helping seed investors exercise their pro rata rights and avoid their equity stake being diluted. This is interesting because while it could be good for smaller funds to have a way to maintain their equity stakes, pro rata rights discussions can get contentious and bringing more capital to the table won't necessarily help that. Equity will be back on Wednesday with an interesting conversation between Mary Ann and  angel investor and Floodgate Co-Founder, Mike Maples Jr, so we'll talk to you then!Equity is TechCrunch's flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes over at Simplecast. Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

Mike Maples, Jr. is a legendary early-stage startup investor and a co-founder and partner at Floodgate. He's made early bets on transformative companies like Twitter, Lyft, Twitch, Okta, Rappi, and Applied Intuition and is one of the pioneers of seed-stage investing as a category. He's been on the Forbes Midas List eight times and enjoys sharing the lessons he's learned from his years studying iconic companies. In his new book, Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future, co-authored with Peter Ziebelman, he discusses what he's found separates startups and founders that break through and change the world from those that don't. After spending years reviewing the notes and decks from the thousands of startups he's known over the past two decades, he's uncovered three ways that breakthrough founders think and act differently. In our conversation, Mike talks about:• The three elements of breakthrough startup ideas• Why you need to both think and act differently• How to avoid the “comparison trap” and “conformity trap”• The importance of movements, storytelling, and healthy disagreeableness in startup success• How to apply pattern-breaking principles within large companies• Mike's one piece of advice for founders• Much morePre-order Mike's book here and get a second signed copy for free. Limited copies are available, so order ASAP: patternbreakers.com/lenny.—Brought to you by:• Enterpret—Transform customer feedback into product growth• Anvil—The fastest way to build software for documents• Webflow—The web experience platform—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-find-a-great-startup-idea-mike-maples-jr—Where to find Mike Maples, Jr.:• X: https://x.com/m2jr• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maples/• Substack: https://greatness.substack.com/• Website: https://www.floodgate.com/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Mike's background(03:10) The inspiration behind Pattern Breakers(08:09) Uncovering startup insights(11:37) A quick summary of Pattern Breakers(13:52) Coming up with an idea(15:30) Inflections(17:09) Examples of inflections(28:10) Insights(36:58) The power of surprises(47:36) Founder-future fit(55:33) Advice for aspiring founders(56:41) Living in the future: valid opinions(55:34) Case study: Maddie Hall and Living Carbon(58:40) Identifying lighthouse customers(01:00:53) The importance of desperation in customer needs(01:03:57) Creating movements and storytelling(01:24:22) The role of disagreeableness in startups(01:34:42) Applying these principles within a company(01:40:43) Lightning round—Referenced:• Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future: https://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Breakers-Start-Ups-Change-Future/dp/1541704355• Justin.tv: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin.tv• Airbnb's CEO says a $40 cereal box changed the course of the multibillion-dollar company: https://fortune.com/2023/04/19/airbnb-ceo-cereal-box-investors-changed-everything-billion-dollar-company/• Brian Chesky's new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-cheskys-contrarian-approach• The Unconventional Exit: How Justin Kan Sold His First Startup on eBay: https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/the-unconventional-exit-how-justin-kan-sold-his-first-startup-on-ebay-4d705afe1354• Kyle Vogt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylevogt/• The State of Telehealth Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9035352/• The Craigslist Killers: https://www.gq.com/story/craigslist-killers• The social radar: Y Combinator's secret weapon | Jessica Livingston (co-founder of Y Combinator, author, podcast host): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-social-radar-jessica-livingston• Michael Seibel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwseibel/• The Airbnb Story: How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions ... and Created Plenty of Controversy: https://www.amazon.com/Airbnb-Story-Ordinary-Disrupted-Controversy/dp/0544952669• Scott Cook: https://www.forbes.com/profile/scott-cook/• Chegg: https://www.chegg.com/• Aayush Phumbhra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aayush/• Osman Rashid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/osmanrashid/• Okta: https://www.okta.com/• The Man Who Makes the Future: Wired Icon Marc Andreessen: https://www.wired.com/2012/04/ff-andreessen/• Peter Ludwig on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterwludwig/• Qasar Younis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/qasar/• Paul Allen's website: https://paulallen.com/• Louis Pasteur quote: https://www.forbes.com/quotes/6145/• What was Atrium and why did it fail? https://www.failory.com/cemetery/atrium• Patrick Collison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickcollison/• Drew Houston on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewhouston/• William Gibson's quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/681-the-future-is-already-here-it-s-just-not-evenly• Maddie Hall on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maddie-hall-76293135/• Living Carbon: https://www.livingcarbon.com• Zenefits (now Trinet): https://connect.trinet.com/• Sam Altman on X: https://x.com/sama• Steve Wozniak on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wozniaksteve/• Horsley Bridge Partners: https://www.horsleybridge.com/• David Swensen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_F._Swensen• Judith Elsea on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judithelsea/• 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy: https://www.amazon.com/7-Powers-Foundations-Business-Strategy/dp/0998116319• Business strategy with Hamilton Helmer (author of 7 Powers): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/business-strategy-with-hamilton-helmer• Lyft's Focus on Community and the Story Behind the Pink Mustache: https://techcrunch.com/2012/09/17/lyfts-focus-on-community-and-the-story-behind-the-pink-mustache/• Logan Green on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/logangreen/• John Zimmer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnzimmer11/• Storytelling with Nancy Duarte: How to craft compelling presentations and tell a story that sticks: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/storytelling-with-nancy-duarte-how• Steve Jobs Introducing the iPhone at MacWorld 2007: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7qPAY9JqE4• Jonathan Livingston Seagull: https://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Livingston-Seagull-Richard-Bach/dp/0743278909• The paths to power: How to grow your influence and advance your career | Jeffrey Pfeffer (author of 7 Rules of Power, professor at Stanford GSB): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-paths-to-power-jeffrey-pfeffer• Robin Roberts on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-roberts-393a934b/• Skunkworks: https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/business-areas/aeronautics/skunkworks.html• Vision, conviction, and hype: How to build 0 to 1 inside a company | Mihika Kapoor (Product at Figma): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/vision-conviction-hype-mihika-kapoor• Hard-won lessons building 0 to 1 inside Atlassian | Tanguy Crusson (Head of Jira Product Discovery): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-0-to-1-inside-atlassian-tanguy-crusson• Figma: https://www.figma.com/• Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com/• Vinod Khosla: https://www.khoslaventures.com/team/vinod-khosla/• Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing: https://www.amazon.com/Top-Five-Regrets-Dying-Transformed-ebook/dp/B07KNRLY1L• Chase, Chance, and Creativity: The Lucky Art of Novelty: https://www.amazon.com/Chase-Chance-Creativity-Lucky-Novelty/dp/0262511355• Clay Christensen's books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Clayton-M.-Christensen/author/B000APPD3Y• Resonate: Present Visual Stories That Transform: https://www.amazon.com/Resonate-Present-Stories-Transform-Audiences/dp/0470632011• Ferrari on Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Ferrari-Adam-Driver/dp/B0CNDBN672• Montblanc fountain pens: https://www.montblanc.com/en-us—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

“My whole business isn't about how often I lose but it's about the magnitude of the rightness when I win”  Mike Maples is a co-founding Partner at Floodgate.  He has been on the Forbes Midas List eight times in the last decade and was also named a “Rising Star” by FORTUNE and profiled by Harvard Business School for his lifetime contributions to entrepreneurship.  Before becoming a full-time investor, Mike was involved as a founder and operating executive at back-to-back startup IPOs, including Tivoli Systems (IPO TIVS, acquired by IBM) and Motive (IPO MOTV, acquired by Alcatel-Lucent.) Some of Mike's investments include Twitter, Twitch.tv, Clover Health, Okta, Outreach, ngmoco, Chegg, Bazaarvoice, and Demandforce. Mike is the host of the Starting Greatness podcast, which shares startup lessons from the super performers. On this episode Mike shares the mindset that has had the greatest impact on his life, what is true about the greatest startup founders and the key to unlocking greatness in investments.  Interested in having Sean DeLaney be your executive coach? CLICK HERE  Caldera Lab– Get 20% off high performance men's skincare!  – Click HERE Marketer Hire– Get $500 off your first hire! – Click HERE https://youunleashedcourse.com/ You Unleashed is an online personal development course created by Sean DeLaney after spending years working with and interviewing high achievers.The online course that helps you ‘Unleash your potential'! You Unleashed teaches you the MINDSETS, ROUTINES and BEHAVIORS you need to unleash your potential and discover what you're capable of. You know you're capable of more and want to bring out that untapped potential inside of you. We teach you how. Enroll Today!- Click Here Subscribe to my Momentum Monday Newsletter Connect with us! Whatgotyouthere TikTok YouTube Twitter Instagram   

On this episode of Lochhead on Marketing, we have a dialogue with Mike Maples Jr. on how artificial intelligence is changing startups and venture capital. Mike Maples Jr. is the co-founder of Floodgate, one of the highest profile early stage venture capitalists. He also has a podcast called Starting Greatness, and it is one of my absolute favorites. By the end of it, we hope that you'll gain a new way to think about both technical risk for startups and market risk. And why in an AI world, you must either be radically different or radically disintermediate something. Welcome to Lochhead on Marketing. The number one charting marketing podcast for marketers, category designers, and entrepreneurs with a different mind. Mike Maples Jr. on AI We begin the discussion on the topic of challenges of making sense of the rapidly evolving field of AI. Mike also talks about the traditional funding model of startups, where the primary focus was taking out technical risk, and how the LAMP stack, which commoditized what was once expensive, made it easier to start a startup. Mike notes that the nature of the LAMP stack changed what startups were funded for. “What I like to say is that the LAMP stack was deflationary in terms of the cost of starting startup. And so what does that mean? It meant that what you were funding was different, because if Kevin Rose can start dig for $1,500, over a weekend, there's no technical risks there. I mean, he hired a contractor to do it that he didn't even know at the time.” – Mike Maples Jr. Who gets Product Market Fit first The conversation then moves on to the changing dynamics of venture capital investment. The discussion continues with the notion that technical risk and market risk are inversely related. Solving a technically difficult problem that is valuable to society will create a market; if the problem is easy to solve technically, it will all come down to who achieves product-market fit first. To add value to the business, Floodgate and YC have taken the approach of funding market risk takedown. As technology becomes more commoditized and innovations become more accessible, the person who creates something people want the quickest wins. This is why YC was so successful: it offered young people $100,000 to either take market risks or leave. He also mentions that the traditional venture capital model may not be appropriate for all businesses and that deflationary factors such as content, code, and data may change the way businesses are built. Mike Maples Jr. on AI and the future of Venture Capital Mike Maples Jr. then returns to the topic of artificial intelligence and its implications for the future of venture capital. Here, Mike emphasizes two ends of the risk spectrum: high technical risk and high market risk. On the one hand, some projects require large amounts of funding for mass computation in order to build massive models that have the potential to change humanity. On the other hand, AI is being used in a variety of fields, including content generation for marketing, customer service chatbots, and lead generation, resulting in a deflationary effect on content, code, and data. According to Mike, some businesses may not require traditional venture capital funding and should instead focus on achieving $50 million in revenue with a small team and minimal funding. There is also speculation that the current billion-dollar funds may be providing the wrong incentives to these companies. To hear more from Mike Maples Jr. and how AI can affect the future of startups and venture capital, download and listen to this episode. Bio Mike Maples Jr. is an entrepreneur turned venture capitalist. He's co-founder of Silicon Valley based, early-stage VC Floodgate. And the host of the popular “Starting Greatness” podcast. Investments include Twitter, Lyft, Bazaarvoice, Sparefoot, Ayasdi, Xamarin, Doubledutch, Twitch.tv, Playdom, Chegg, Demandforce, Rappi, Smule, and Outreach. Link

On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, we have a dialogue with Mike Maples Jr. on how artificial intelligence is changing startups and venture capital. Mike Maples Jr. is the co-founder of Floodgate, one of the highest profile early stage venture capitalists. He also has a podcast called Starting Greatness, and it is one of my absolute favorites. By the end of it, we hope that you'll gain a new way to think about both technical risk for startups and market risk. And why in an AI world, you must either be radically different or radically disintermediate something. You're listening to Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different. We are the real dialogue podcast for people with a different mind. So get your mind in a different place, and hey ho, let's go. Mike Maples Jr. on AI We begin the discussion on the topic of challenges of making sense of the rapidly evolving field of AI. Mike also talks about the traditional funding model of startups, where the primary focus was taking out technical risk, and how the LAMP stack, which commoditized what was once expensive, made it easier to start a startup. Mike notes that the nature of the LAMP stack changed what startups were funded for. “What I like to say is that the LAMP stack was deflationary in terms of the cost of starting startup. And so what does that mean? It meant that what you were funding was different, because if Kevin Rose can start dig for $1,500, over a weekend, there's no technical risks there. I mean, he hired a contractor to do it that he didn't even know at the time.” – Mike Maples Jr.   Who gets Product Market Fit first The conversation then moves on to the changing dynamics of venture capital investment. The discussion continues with the notion that technical risk and market risk are inversely related. Solving a technically difficult problem that is valuable to society will create a market; if the problem is easy to solve technically, it will all come down to who achieves product-market fit first. To add value to the business, Floodgate and YC have taken the approach of funding market risk takedown. As technology becomes more commoditized and innovations become more accessible, the person who creates something people want the quickest wins. This is why YC was so successful: it offered young people $100,000 to either take market risks or leave. He also mentions that the traditional venture capital model may not be appropriate for all businesses and that deflationary factors such as content, code, and data may change the way businesses are built. Mike Maples Jr. on AI and the future of Venture Capital Mike Maples Jr. then returns to the topic of artificial intelligence and its implications for the future of venture capital. Here, Mike emphasizes two ends of the risk spectrum: high technical risk and high market risk. On the one hand, some projects require large amounts of funding for mass computation in order to build massive models that have the potential to change humanity. On the other hand, AI is being used in a variety of fields, including content generation for marketing, customer service chatbots, and lead generation, resulting in a deflationary effect on content, code, and data. According to Mike, some businesses may not require traditional venture capital funding and should instead focus on achieving $50 million in revenue with a small team and minimal funding. There is also speculation that the current billion-dollar funds may be providing the wrong incentives to these companies. To hear more from Mike Maples Jr. and how AI can affect the future of startups and venture capital, download and listen to this episode. Bio Mike Maples Jr. is an entrepreneur turned venture capitalist. He's co-founder of Silicon Valley based, early-stage VC Floodgate. And the host of the popular “Starting Greatness” podcast. Investments include Twitter, Lyft, Bazaarvoice, Sparefoot, Ayasdi, Xamarin, Doubledutch, Twitch.tv, Playdom,

Pirate Lochhead is sailing the seven seas this week, so we're dropping a legendary conversation that he had recently with Mike Maples Jr. and Ann Miura on the Starting Greatness Podcast. They discuss the recent SVB bank run that lead to a variety of situations and accusations by “experts” on social media. They also discuss what lessons a Founder can learn by studying the cause and effect of such crisis and circumstances. Welcome to Lochhead on Marketing. The number one charting marketing podcast for marketers, category designers, and entrepreneurs with a different mind. How a crisis can make us better Mike opens up the discussion by stating that while crisis is something we do not wish to happen on anyone, it can be a valuable source of information and introspection on what Founders can improve upon within their own companies and organizations. No one saw it coming Ann Miura shares that the SVB bank run has caught her completely unawares, as did most of the companies in Silicon Valley. Even those who had their teams monitoring SVB activities only caught wind of the situation a day or two before it happened, and by then it was already too late even for them. The Difference between the Public and the Founders Ann also observed that while people on social media and the news media are shouting doomsday scenarios and blaming each other over the situation, the Founders that she was working with at Floodgate had their head down and was busy finding ways to mitigate the situation, and looking at possible scenarios to move forward, should the SVB run not get resolved in the near future. It showed a stark contrast on how the mind of a Founder operates in crisis situations, and it should be something that a lot of business leaders should emulate if they themselves suffer through a sudden situation that needed their immediate focus and levelheadedness. To hear more from Mike Maples Jr. Ann Miura, and the Pirate Lochhead himself, download and listen to this episode. Check out more Starting Greatness episodes! Bio Christopher Lochhead is a #1 Apple podcaster and #1 Amazon bestselling co-author of books: Niche Down and Play Bigger. He has been an advisor to over 50 venture-backed startups; a former three-time Silicon Valley public company CMO and an entrepreneur. Furthermore, he has been called “one of the best minds in marketing” by The Marketing Journal, a “Human Exclamation Point” by Fast Company, a “quasar” by NBA legend Bill Walton and “off-putting to some” by The Economist. In addition, he served as a chief marketing officer of software juggernaut Mercury Interactive. Hewlett-Packard acquired the company in 2006, for $4.5 billion. He also co-founded the marketing consulting firm LOCHHEAD; the founding CMO of Internet consulting firm Scient, and served as head of marketing at the CRM software firm Vantive. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Lochhead on Marketing™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on iTunes!

What percentage of the total value created in any given market category goes to the category designer or leader? That was a question that we had several years ago. And we thought there would be research about that. Well, when we were writing Play Bigger, we couldn't find that data. So we had to create it. The number has been an extraordinary insight. It turns out that the company that wins the category earns 76% of the total value created in the space, as measured by market cap and or valuation. And that insight was so compelling, we actually published it in the Harvard Business Review. On this episode, let's dig into how you could be that person. How do you be that company that earns that 76%? Or seven another way? What are the different ways that category designers, the people who create and dominate new market categories think and become the one who earns that 76%? Welcome to Lochhead on Marketing. The number one charting marketing podcast for marketers, category designers, and entrepreneurs with a different mind. Category Design is a Game Of Thinking Thinking about thinking is the most important kind of thinking for a Category Designer. You are responsible for changing the way a reader, customer, or consumer “thinks.” You are successful when you've moved their thinking from the old way to the new and different way you are educating them about. But what is “thinking?” According to Roger Martin, arguably the world's #1 management thinker, “thinking” is when you look at the world through an existing model. It's how you use learnings from the past to make sense of the present. So when another driver cuts you off on the highway, you apply your past experiences to the present and swerve on reflex. But almost all thinking is “reflexive” rather than “reflective.” Consider the difference we laid out in our mini-book The Art of Fresh Thinking: “Reflexive” thinking: Having an unconscious “reflex” in response to ideas or opinions. “Reflective” thinking: Taking a moment to consciously reflect on how the past may have created a preexisting mental model keeping you from considering a new and different future. Reflexive thinking causes a scarcity of fresh thinking in the world because it relies on mental scaffolding built in the past. Some of the smartest people stopped reflective thinking a long time ago. We would even go so far as to say that being declared a smart person is almost certain to make you stupid. Because when you get called “smart,” you become entrenched in your comfortable past. When you're smart, you know things. And most people who know things are called “experts.” Which means they already know. And when you already know, by definition you are using old mental scaffolding to consider new and different futures. Which makes you stupid. So, don't strive to become an expert (ever!)—it's the enemy of fresh thinking. Here's How a Category Designer Thinks You are presented with information. You become conscious of which model you are using to evaluate the information (which “lens” you are looking through). And then before you react, respond, or give in to your reflexive nature, you pause and first consider which mental model you're using to examine the information being presented. You train yourself to be curious, to ask why, to suspend your past opinions, beliefs, and mental models, and to open the aperture of your mind and consider something different. That's “thinking.” Our friend, Mike Maples Jr., calls this “Backcasting.” “Legendary builders must stand in the future and pull the present from the current reality to the future of their design. So an important additional job of the builder is to persuade early like-minded people to join a new movement.” To learn more on how you can become a Category Designer and start thinking more reflectively, download and listen to this episode. You can also read more about it at Category Pirates. Bio Christopher Lochhead is a #1 Apple podcaster and #1 Amazon bests...

On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, we talk about the idea of startup capital, how to have an exponential career, and maybe even a new way to think about the future with our guest, Mike Maples, Jr. Mike Maples, Jr. is the co-founder of Floodgate Capital. Floodgate has led early-stage investments in companies like Twitter, Lyft, and much more. His podcast, Starting Greatness, is truly one of the greatest business podcasts there is. That said, let's get into the discussion of how to think about the future. From Value Creators to Rent Seekers Mike Maples, Jr. dives into the idea of the industries and business leader's mindset and drive for creating new ideas or the lack thereof. At the time when the animating forces behind industrial economy was mass production, mass distribution, and eventually mass computation, the focus in new technology and ideas revolved around improving performance. Over time, it evolved into developing networks, whether physical or via software, and value was derived on how vast your network reached. Fast forward to recent years, in which Mike started noticing that there was a disconnect with most of the ideas from the founder of a company, to its current inheritors. A lot of them are starting to focus on creating a status quo, rather than moving forward. As a result, a lot of people in business make money through financial engineering rather than things that improve productivity. “They've transition from being value creators to rent seekers. And they've started to become more interested in preserving their institutional power than in fulfilling their mission to their constituents.” – Mike Maples, Jr. Mike Maples, Jr. on Nurturing an Economy that Rewards Productivity According to Mike, the issue nowadays is that people make money from the market without creating new ideas, and are incentivized to do it in the current financial economy. In order to become a successful society, we need to incentivize productive behaviors to move forward. “So hedge fund guy borrows money close to 0%, and then buys IBM stock or loans at IBM so they can buy back their own stock. And since they know they're gonna do that they front run it. And so Okay, did any jobs get created in that? No. Did any new products get created in that? No. But people who played financial engineering games did well. And what you want is an economy that is not financialized. You want an economy that rewards productivity gains, because fundamentally all abundance and standard of living advancement comes from people being more productive.” – Mike Maples, Jr. Engaging in fakery and keeping this charade of an economy will just lead to a cycle of economic bubbles and bursts in the future. Startup Capitalism If the current system won't lend itself to shifting back to a productive economy, then the third option is to exit. Though it was not as feasible before as it is now, Bitcoin and other non-Fiat currencies have given us the chance to break free and start over, without being tied down by Fiat economies. That said, Mike has been playing around the idea of a Startup Capitalism. As with most startups, they focus on creating a different future than just following the current flow of things. Which is why startups are born from the pursuit of new ideas, and could be the drive to a more productive economy that Mike wanted. And you don't necessarily need to start a new company to create a startup. It could be born inside a bigger one, much like the iPhone inside Apple. “At the very least, you get to exercise the option of doing things in a different way. “– Mike Maples, Jr. To hear more from Mike Maples, Jr. and his ideas on how to Rethink the Future, download and listen to this episode. Bio Mike Maples, Jr. is the Co-Founder and Partner at Floodgate, the host of the Starting Greatness podcast and a Co-conspirator with awesome Startup Founders. Links Connect with Mike! Website: Floodgate |Twitter: @m2jr | LinkedIn: in/Ma...

In today's show, Jennie and Davis talk about how Davis got ROASTED on TikTok for speaking ill of the Ford Raptor. We also learn about Mike Maples Jr. and listen to his advice in Timothy Ferriss' book: Tribe of Mentors.    Try ButcherBox! https://bchrbox.co/JennieandDavis   The Morning Show with Jennie and Davis: A FUN and POSITIVE way to take your day by storm!   The Morning Show with Jennie and Davis is a show about FUN, POSITIVITY, and GROWTH. We share our morning routine with you so we can all start the day on the right foot!    Streaming LIVE on Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok every weekday morning at 7AM CT. https://www.twitch.tv/jennieanddavis   We begin with our favorite segment: “What's in your mug?!” Then we hit some Daily Affirmations and answer a question out of our book of questions. After that, it's time to sharpen our Mind, Body, and Spirit with our daily exercises.

Check out www.nanopay.cash to keep up to date on these vids and more tiny payment stuff. I briefly explore a framework created by tech investor Mike Maples Jr. and apply it to the world of tiny payments to get the wheels turning on what might be built for possible futures.

The Danny Miranda Podcast Podcast Notes Key Takeaways “Ruling institutions often go from being service providers to rent-seekers”– Mike Maples Jr.The ability to exit is what gives your voice its powerBitcoin provides you an exit opportunity from the centralized financial systemCovid has digitally separated work from location, creating exit power over local governmentsGovernments are being forced to treat us more like customers again rather than assets because more options emerge from the decentralization of products/servicesCategory Design: Trying to be the better choice isn't credible, being different is believable“I'm not the best, I'm the only. You want to force a choice and not a comparison.” – Mike Maples Jr.Scalable start-ups that design new product categories are the way to defeat your susceptibility to inflationContributing towards existing institutional product categories only creates further dilution of the dollar down the corporate production line – feeding the machine per seThe phrase ‘the robots are going to eat your job' is political speak to uphold industrial-era social contracts that maintain organizational powerDon't subordinate your creativity as a trade-off for organizational hierarchySoftware gives people the ability to create a scalable business and participate in a more net positive, competitive, and decentralized business ecosystemCompetition drives innovation, the ‘robots' are going to create more opportunity for the entrepreneur“The future doesn't happen to us, it happens because of us” – Mike Maples Jr.Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgMike Maples Jr. is the co-founder of Floodgate (early investor in Twitter, Twitch, and Lyft) and the host of the Starting Greatness Podcast. In this conversation, we spoke about surviving how an entrepreneur survives near-death experiences, the balance of centralization vs. decentralization, why you should seek to join a breakthrough company, and how to manage your own psychology. Emoji to describe this episode:

The Danny Miranda Podcast Podcast Notes Key Takeaways “Ruling institutions often go from being service providers to rent-seekers”– Mike Maples Jr.The ability to exit is what gives your voice its powerBitcoin provides you an exit opportunity from the centralized financial systemCovid has digitally separated work from location, creating exit power over local governmentsGovernments are being forced to treat us more like customers again rather than assets because more options emerge from the decentralization of products/servicesCategory Design: Trying to be the better choice isn't credible, being different is believable“I'm not the best, I'm the only. You want to force a choice and not a comparison.” – Mike Maples Jr.Scalable start-ups that design new product categories are the way to defeat your susceptibility to inflationContributing towards existing institutional product categories only creates further dilution of the dollar down the corporate production line – feeding the machine per seThe phrase ‘the robots are going to eat your job' is political speak to uphold industrial-era social contracts that maintain organizational powerDon't subordinate your creativity as a trade-off for organizational hierarchySoftware gives people the ability to create a scalable business and participate in a more net positive, competitive, and decentralized business ecosystemCompetition drives innovation, the ‘robots' are going to create more opportunity for the entrepreneur“The future doesn't happen to us, it happens because of us” – Mike Maples Jr.Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgMike Maples Jr. is the co-founder of Floodgate (early investor in Twitter, Twitch, and Lyft) and the host of the Starting Greatness Podcast. In this conversation, we spoke about surviving how an entrepreneur survives near-death experiences, the balance of centralization vs. decentralization, why you should seek to join a breakthrough company, and how to manage your own psychology. Emoji to describe this episode:

The Danny Miranda Podcast Podcast Notes Key Takeaways “Ruling institutions often go from being service providers to rent-seekers”– Mike Maples Jr.The ability to exit is what gives your voice its powerBitcoin provides you an exit opportunity from the centralized financial systemCovid has digitally separated work from location, creating exit power over local governmentsGovernments are being forced to treat us more like customers again rather than assets because more options emerge from the decentralization of products/servicesCategory Design: Trying to be the better choice isn't credible, being different is believable“I'm not the best, I'm the only. You want to force a choice and not a comparison.” – Mike Maples Jr.Scalable start-ups that design new product categories are the way to defeat your susceptibility to inflationContributing towards existing institutional product categories only creates further dilution of the dollar down the corporate production line – feeding the machine per seThe phrase ‘the robots are going to eat your job' is political speak to uphold industrial-era social contracts that maintain organizational powerDon't subordinate your creativity as a trade-off for organizational hierarchySoftware gives people the ability to create a scalable business and participate in a more net positive, competitive, and decentralized business ecosystemCompetition drives innovation, the ‘robots' are going to create more opportunity for the entrepreneur“The future doesn't happen to us, it happens because of us” – Mike Maples Jr.Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgMike Maples Jr. is the co-founder of Floodgate (early investor in Twitter, Twitch, and Lyft) and the host of the Starting Greatness Podcast. In this conversation, we spoke about surviving how an entrepreneur survives near-death experiences, the balance of centralization vs. decentralization, why you should seek to join a breakthrough company, and how to manage your own psychology. Emoji to describe this episode:

Mike Maples Jr. is the co-founder of Floodgate (early investor in Twitter, Twitch, and Lyft) and the host of the Starting Greatness Podcast. In this conversation, we spoke about surviving how an entrepreneur survives near-death experiences, the balance of centralization vs. decentralization, why you should seek to join a breakthrough company, and how to manage your own psychology. Emoji to describe this episode:

My guest today is Mike Maples, co-founder and partner of Floodgate. As a child of the computer revolution, Mike was deconstructing calculators in grade school, writing video games in high school, and inevitably found himself building businesses in Silicon Valley after college. After his success as an operator, Mike eventually transitioned to become a full-time venture investor in the 2000s, and has since built a track record that includes Twitter, Twitch, Lyft, Octa, and a long list of successful tech businesses.   I'm not sure I've recorded a conversation with more applicable ideas and advice for company builders. We discussed early insights and secrets, value hypothesis testing, customer development, growth, team orchestration, and a lot more.   This is a masterclass from somebody who has seen it all. Also, do not miss his answer to the kindest thing question at the end of the conversation. I hope you enjoy this great talk with Mike Maples.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. -----   This episode is brought to you by SnackMagic. SnackMagic is the only 100% customizable snack and swag service that allows recipients to build their own snack stash. Whether you want to thank your global team, need goodie bags for your upcoming hybrid event or want to stock your office pantry, the menu of over 1,000 types of snacks and sips covers just about every preference. Learn more and get 10% off your first order with code Patrick at snackmagic.com/patrick.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Versett. Versett designs, builds, and scales digital platforms for some of the world's most ambitious companies. If you require a high-performance team to tackle a hard or ambiguous problem, then Versett is the firm to call. To check them out, visit versett.com/patrick .    -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:08] - [First question] - His philosophy on the power of forcing a choice [00:04:43] - How he knows when he comes across a team that has an apple quality [00:07:39] - Exploring and hunting new inflections in ever-changing systems [00:10:37] - Why recognizing winning insights allows you to not have to predict the future [00:12:23] - Whether or not the evolving nature of the funding landscape changes his thinking [00:14:18] - An example of his insight framework and stress testing a team's potential [00:17:21] - Practice reckless optimism [00:18:54] - Commonalities between teams and their ideas when they get inflections wrong  [00:20:12] - What the value hypothesis is and how to test it [00:22:15] - Ways that effective startup teams operate compared to big corporations  [00:25:36] - His involvement post-investment and where outsiders can be most helpful in a companies' early days [00:28:34] - Lessons learned about finding, convincing, and marketing to their first customers  [00:32:13] - An example of early customer selection done phenomenally well [00:34:09] - Why it was possible for companies like Justin.TV and Lift to pivot so dramatically from their original ideas  [00:38:49] - Customer development and using good customers to your advantage [00:42:31] - Who went from founder to the best growth executive  [00:43:05] - What he thinks his firm will need to do to continue offering an apple to founders [00:46:08] - The most useful stress tests his firm can offer founders [00:46:52] - Defining category design and what the process of category design looks like [00:50:33] - Inflections he's currently paying the most attention to [00:52:07] - His experience with an HP35 calculator and how it shaped his life  [00:54:41] - What venture capital may look like in the future [00:56:30] - The most difficult things he faces in his career [00:57:52] - Ways he's learned to manage failure more effectively [00:59:06] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for him  

Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz didn't start out life thinking she would be a tech founder, but she has achieved a feat that's very rare: Starting a great startup and going the distance, even past IPO. She also navigated one of the toughest setbacks in recent tech history when the COVID-19 pandemic jeopardized Eventbrite's entire business. In this episode, Mike Maples Jr interviews Julia Hartz to discuss what founders seeking greatness can learn from her varied experiences and choices along the way.

The conventional thinking is that a big total available market (TAM) is one of the most important factors in startup success. But Julia Hartz's success at Eventbrite shows the limits of this thinking. In this Lesson of Greatness, Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate talks about the difference between available markets and potential markets and offers heuristics for determining the potential market for future breakthroughs.

New startups fail for many reasons. Perhaps the most obvious is they can't get people to pay the necessary price for their products. Madhavan Ramanujam's book Monetizing Innovation, is the foremost guide in the industry for startups who want to make pricing a core part of their success rather than an afterthought. In this interview, Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate talks to Madhavan about the key success factors as well as mistakes to avoid.

The incredible origin story of Yahoo from start to $850m IPO in 2 years.Source: https://greatness.floodgate.com/episodes/jerry-yang-how-yahoo-went-from-a-hobby-to-the-early-king-of-the-internetYahoo Origin StoryJerry Yang: When the HTTP and the web and HTML came along, it was this moment of aha. All that information can be put together in a graphical way. That is point and click. You don't have to sit in and typing command line and hyperlink.[00:00:15] So you just kept going. You could keep exploring as owns there's links to click on now. Moment for us to say, wow, this is going to be big because anybody can create a website and can link to other websites. So you don't need a lot of content to start. Right. You could just start and say, Hey, here's my Madonna website and here's five other ones.[00:00:34] And it was totally decentral. There was no way of knowing who created what website, when and how was updated and things like that. So, so there were just websites out there. So there's websites that are popping up everywhere. And so we created a little, just the beginning when we called it hotlist and then David started writing the end to get it into more of a database format, more tagging or labeling more keywords and a more directory structure.[00:01:00] And. Publish it onto a webpage in the front end. And so it was called Jerry's guide to the world wide web. And then. And I don't quite remember exactly when it was, has gotta be, early 94, mid 94. And then at some point I got sick of putting my name out there and David doing 80% of the work. So I put David and Jerry's guide to the world wide web, and then all hell broke loose.[00:01:19] So we said, One night, let's not leave until we come up with a new name. Right. So I remember we were, at the office and God, it must've been midnight and we were getting tired and sick of this. And so, so we said fine, let's look up all the acronyms that had yet another Y There's all kinds of computer tools.[00:01:37] I have Yia references and we looked in the dictionary and Yahoo stood out. Partly it was because if you look in the dictionary, it means people who are very uncivilized uncouth, rude, and were like cost. Great. We're just a couple of years. [00:01:50] Mike Maples Jr: And was David [00:01:51] Jerry Yang: from Louisiana. He was from Louisiana. Yeah, he claims his father called him a Yahoo or Yahoo growing up.[00:01:57] So, and so we just thought it was funny. It was short because we were typing our thing. We could get a short Yahoo that, Stanford IDU, everybody thought we were the chocolate drink it's it was it was just a totally zany off the cuff decision. [00:02:11] Mike Maples Jr: And at the time, did you even really think it was that important of a decision or is this just still a hobby?[00:02:16] Jerry Yang: It was absolutely a hobby. And so it was only important because, we had to go and tell people that this is what is now called. You don't have to type in David and Jerry's guide to the world wide web anymore. And it remained a hobby until. Until it wasn't. [00:02:29] Mike Maples Jr: And when you were designing the original Yahoo product, did you draw on any lessons from like library science or attempts pre prior attempts and just throughout history to classify [00:02:41] Jerry Yang: it?[00:02:41] Thanks. Yeah, it was funny. I, as a college student, I, one of the jobs I had to take was working in the engineering library, working in the stocks too. To restack books. So I was very familiar with it, the Dewey decimal system, and a bunch of other ways of organizing information. And it just didn't seem right when we started Yahoo to go to any existing system.[00:03:00]So we created our own sort of ontology our tagging system, our directory tree that I think lived on for quite a while but it was a bit ad hoc. And so we realized we needed somebody that understood organizing information at a grand scale. And that's when you know, , who was a symbolic systems major, Stanford joined us and she like.[00:03:22] Put order into the chaos. [00:03:23]Mike Maples Jr: And I guess, with libraries, you've got some type of hierarchy, I suppose, right. Books are in a classification or sub classification and you're trying to put them back on shelf. Right. So, but the internet, I suppose, you discover pretty quickly, it's different. Right?[00:03:38] You can cross link to [00:03:40] Jerry Yang: lots of different, right. You're exactly right. So it's more of a graph than a tree, in a it's more interconnected graph. It doesn't. We try to avoid circles. You don't want to get in the place where you just can't get self out, but the idea that you can interrelate, you can get to you can get to a music artist from Iceland, from starting with Iceland, countries, Iceland, or you can start with music artists, or you can start with pop.[00:04:02]The idea was to get people where they want to go. If you think of a keyword, why would you. Not let that keyword get you where you want to go, rather than following some crazy hierarchical system that may or may not make sense to you. So, so it was again, this mental and mentality of really focusing on the user needs and creating a system that you will go, oh, okay.[00:04:21] I see how you got here. So next time I know. I could start here. I would start there and making sure that's consistent. And that's, that was, that's why I ended up being a search metaphor too is whatever keywords you typed in allows you to get to the right place, not multiple places.[00:04:36] Mike Maples Jr: When did it start to occur to you? Whoa, like this is starting to [00:04:39] Jerry Yang: take off. Once we became the place known for having a pretty well organized, pretty comprehensive in a very fast site. I mean, David really emphasize making sure that, we had a really quick loading site and that was really important because.[00:04:54] Back then, most computers were dial ups. Most people viewing our stuff wasn't on a fast connection. So yes, you want to put all these fancy images out there, but if it takes forever to load, so he always really emphasized that user benefit. I can't quite remember it, but probably by the end of, mid 94, towards the end of 94, we had IP addresses from over a hundred different countries, hitting our service.[00:05:17]We have millions of unique IPS that were hitting us. We didn't know about users back then. And people started, we started to become this network effect where if you were putting up a website, you have to register it in different places. And we became one of the places you had to.[00:05:29] People know, you have to let Yahoo know that you have this website, or I have this change, or can I get reclassified because I did this. And so we ended up being in this constant communication with a web community that was very human. That was very there's two guys behind it. And that was an important element because I.[00:05:46] You could have easily written algorithms to do all that, but back then, it wasn't, it was a little too chaotic and it was a little, the quality really varied and websites went up and down all the time. And there's nothing worse than hitting a 4 0 4. Right. So it was just, it was, you could feel the energy of the web growing through.[00:06:03] The work we were doing. And that was really compelling. And, we stayed up all night and barely slept. And then, you had to come back, otherwise the list just gets long. [00:06:10]And then I remember finally, one day our system administrator came to us and says, we can't hide you guys anymore.[00:06:15] There's so much bandwidth being sucked up by these two servers over here. You guys got to, got to go find a home. And that's when I think we became more visible and aware of the opportunities out there. And once people realize Yahoo is finding home, that's right. That's when the opportunities avail themselves, whether it's corporate partners or venture capitalists.[00:06:36]So we, we said to ourselves, well, we might as well explore those. We, we don't know what it's going to become of it, but why not? Why not check it out. And so [00:06:43] Mike Maples Jr: how many venture capitalists did you talk [00:06:45] Jerry Yang: to? I would say probably a handful. So consumed and busy trying to keep the service going that we couldn't spend a lot of time fundraising, if you want to call it that we didn't know that was the process.[00:06:55] And I think we pretty quickly settled on. On who we thought understood what we wanted to do the best. And that was Mike Morrison. [00:07:04]Mike Maples Jr: And what was your pitch like? Did you have a slide deck? Did you, or did you say here's [00:07:09] Jerry Yang: Yahoo to the, well, when you, I think someday, if you talk to Mike on the podcast, you have to ask him his version.[00:07:15] But I, to this day, I remember. Who were in that general partner's meeting saying, oh yeah, I remember when you guys come in and present it. And I don't remember a presentation. I remember sitting in a corner of a room, a large table, a bunch of Sequoia partners and talking, and so, maybe I think we show the service or something.[00:07:31] So, so I don't know, maybe there was a pitch deck who knows, but no, it wasn't. In retrospect, I don't think it was a lot of capital for Sequoia. Yeah. But it was also probably an Unconvention. Investment, right? I mean, you got two PhD students that no experience, no business model, no business plan. We had a great service that had a lot of users, but but there were tons of competitors.[00:07:53] Everybody says, look, These two guys put together by hand that [00:07:56] Mike Maples Jr: it's hard to remember now, but I remember in those days, people didn't even think Netscape was going to have a business model, right? Like no, nobody could figure out what the business model of the internet would be. [00:08:06] Jerry Yang: Right. And it was a research and an academic medium that was staunchly believed in non-commercial activities.[00:08:14] And so it was this very tender. Time where, whether you could charge for software, like Netscape ended up doing or charge for advertising. Like we ended up doing those are very non-obvious speculative kind of ideas because the internet community could have easily rejected that. Okay. So [00:08:32] Mike Maples Jr: then Mike just decides to take the risk and he invests.[00:08:35]How much did Sequoyah invest [00:08:36] Jerry Yang: in you? Yeah. They did a million dollars of the $4 million post, not bad. And then I [00:08:42] Mike Maples Jr: think they did all right. I think they did. Okay.[00:08:43] So from the time you raise money to IPO, how long was it? [00:08:47] Jerry Yang: We were incorporated like on March 1st, 1995. And then we went public on April in 1996, right? Yeah. I remember driving down one, went to, we went to Montgomery securities on the day of the IPO.[00:09:00] I was driving back down, one-on-one going to work and it hits you, it's like, oh my God, we're a public company. But because the internet was. He was so competitive and was a land grab and we had to at least, get enough cash so that we're not. So the cash wasn't, that then will be the reason that we didn't succeed.

The best startups almost always ride a wave that represents a sea change. Such waves give the founders the power to show up with a radically different idea that changes the subject -- and the future. In this lesson of greatness, Mike Maples Jr talks about how the example of Jerry Yang and David Filo at Yahoo illustrates this perfectly and how you can leverage this insight as a founder seeking your own path to greatness for your startup.

Starting Greatness with Mike Maples Podcast Notes Key Takeaways The creation and maintenance of your start-up's foundational team is critical for successIf there is a conflict around responsibilities, you have the wrong founding teamThe greatest start-ups have a valuable mission and have a team that enjoys working togetherInbound recruiting processes are much more valuable to hiring talented and long-term employeesCloudflare utilizes a blog to consistently communicate the company's current problems, processes, technology, and goals to the public. Then, potential candidates come to them.Understand if your employees value title hierarchy or product success, these different environments can benefit or hinder start-up growthThis article outlines Andreessen's & Zuckerberg's differing opinions on the topicGrowth solves a lot of problems – opens exponential opportunity to scale, hire talented people, etc.Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgIt takes a lot of effort to build a breakthrough product. It's perhaps even rarer to design a company that endures. In this interview, Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate interviews Matthew Prince and Michelle Zatlyn of Cloudflare to highlight what we can learn about how to get a startup's foundation right, along with recruiting, hiring, and company design.

Starting Greatness with Mike Maples Podcast Notes Key Takeaways The creation and maintenance of your start-up's foundational team is critical for successIf there is a conflict around responsibilities, you have the wrong founding teamThe greatest start-ups have a valuable mission and have a team that enjoys working togetherInbound recruiting processes are much more valuable to hiring talented and long-term employeesCloudflare utilizes a blog to consistently communicate the company's current problems, processes, technology, and goals to the public. Then, potential candidates come to them.Understand if your employees value title hierarchy or product success, these different environments can benefit or hinder start-up growthThis article outlines Andreessen's & Zuckerberg's differing opinions on the topicGrowth solves a lot of problems – opens exponential opportunity to scale, hire talented people, etc.Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgIt takes a lot of effort to build a breakthrough product. It's perhaps even rarer to design a company that endures. In this interview, Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate interviews Matthew Prince and Michelle Zatlyn of Cloudflare to highlight what we can learn about how to get a startup's foundation right, along with recruiting, hiring, and company design.

Starting Greatness with Mike Maples Podcast Notes Key Takeaways The creation and maintenance of your start-up's foundational team is critical for successIf there is a conflict around responsibilities, you have the wrong founding teamThe greatest start-ups have a valuable mission and have a team that enjoys working togetherInbound recruiting processes are much more valuable to hiring talented and long-term employeesCloudflare utilizes a blog to consistently communicate the company's current problems, processes, technology, and goals to the public. Then, potential candidates come to them.Understand if your employees value title hierarchy or product success, these different environments can benefit or hinder start-up growthThis article outlines Andreessen's & Zuckerberg's differing opinions on the topicGrowth solves a lot of problems – opens exponential opportunity to scale, hire talented people, etc.Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgIt takes a lot of effort to build a breakthrough product. It's perhaps even rarer to design a company that endures. In this interview, Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate interviews Matthew Prince and Michelle Zatlyn of Cloudflare to highlight what we can learn about how to get a startup's foundation right, along with recruiting, hiring, and company design.

It takes a lot of effort to build a breakthrough product. It's perhaps even rarer to design a company that endures. In this interview, Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate interviews Matthew Prince and Michelle Zatlyn of Cloudflare to highlight what we can learn about how to get a startup's foundation right, along with recruiting, hiring, and company design.

BioMike is a co-founding Partner at Floodgate, a venture firm in the bay area. Some of Mike's investments include Twitter, Twitch.tv, Lyft, Clover Health, Okta, and Chegg. Before founding Floodgate Mike was founder and operating executive at back-to-back startup IPOs, including Tivoli Systems and Motive. Mike is the host of the Starting Greatness podcast, which shares startup lessons from the super performers.Times1:10 - Intro to Mike2:10 - Centralization vs decentralization13:40 - Metcalfe's law & deploying capital based on it17:10 - How does network capitalism and decentralization connect?21:40 - Federalism & Austin23:25 - Nihilism vs A Time to Build28:40 - How do you get people to believe in progress?36:00 - Impact of culture39:40 - Technology & institutions43:00 - Nation states vs micro-sovereignties (like bitcoin)46:40 - Mike's framework for companies of Beer Slammer vs Wine Sipper applied to ideas58:10 - Choices, agency, & optimism1:00:10 -  Mayor Francis Suarez1:03:00 - Mike's closing wisdomLinksMike's podcastMike's twitternarrativemonopoly.com

Welcome to a special episode of Lochhead of Marketing. What you’re about to hear are the thoughts of one of the smartest people in Silicon Valley on Category Design. He is the entrepreneur turned venture capitalist Mike Maples, Jr. Mike Maples, Jr. Is the co-founder of Floodgate Capital. Floodgate has led early-stage investments in companies like Twitter, Lyft, and much more. Recently, I had the pleasure of showing up as a guest on Mike’s podcast. Usually after the guest podcast, he does a shorter episode where he synthesizes what he thinks he has learned from the guest. Today’s episode is just that. Listen to Mike Maples, Jr. as he shares his thoughts on category design for entrepreneurs. With that said, let’s get into it. Being a Legendary Entrepreneur “Why do I, as an entrepreneur, want to begin category design at the beginning? Because you want to be 80 percent of a multi-billion dollar market that you created, that you design. And that makes you almost impossible to catch.” - Christopher Lochhead Mike starts off by quoting a quote from the episode. This quote pretty much sums up why someone aiming to be a legend should do category design right from the onset. Legendary companies are born from extraordinary startups building breakthrough products that change the future. Though you don’t always have to start from scratch. Few entrepreneurs and businesses realize that there's a third lever to pull on the path to greatness: creating a category to add to the confusion. Category Design vs Branding Mike is aware that a lot of people are still not clear as to what Category Design is. Some confuse it with branding; some marketing ploy that can help your product resonate without actually changing the product. “Category design could be confused with getting the right marketing slogan or the right three letter acronym like CRM or ERP or some other type of message that will hopefully resonate. Or we make the mistake of believing it's a message you use to describe your business after you've achieved product market fit. But it's far more than that.” - Mike Maples, Jr. Traditional Marketing vs Breakthrough Startup Mike gives a brief explanation of how Traditional Marketing works. Simply put, they are more concerned on fighting for market share of their current category. Think marketing battles between Pepsi and Coke. Conventional Startups tend to think along the same lines. Whereas Breakthrough Startups try to create new categories to dominate in, making sure that they are the Kings of the Category before anyone else grabs a share of the market. In a world of marketing slogans blaring at you left and right, having your own category lets you avoid the need to seek attention to compete. All you have to do is to show people that your new category is worth it, and the market will do the rest. “All of us, including your future customers, employees and any potential believers, live in a very confusing and noisy world. Your startup won't have a chance to get people to remember much about you and why you matter. So you have to be really clear on what you want people to know about you and only you, why it matters and why they should join your cause. The way to do this is not to talk about jargon, buzz words, or what Christopher Lochhead calls why my carbondigulator is better. Category design is about avoiding the comparison game. It's not about being the best, it's about being the only one in the category.” - Mike Maples, jr. To hear more from Mike Maples, Jr. and his insights on category design for entrepreneurs, download and listen to this episode. Bio Mike Maples, Jr. is the Co-Founder and Partner at Floodgate, the host of the Starting Greatness podcast and a Co-conspirator with awesome Startup Founders. Links Connect with Mike! Twitter: @m2jr LinkedIn: in/Maples Podcast: Starting Greatness Website: Floodgate We hope you enjoyed this episode of Lochhead on Marketing™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners.

Christopher Lochhead is a bestselling author, #1-rated podcaster, and one of the best marketing minds of our time. As one of the co-inventors of category design, Christopher offers valuable insights for startups wanting to stand out in an ever noisier world. In this episode, Mike Maples Jr talks to Christopher Lochhead to clarify what category design is and why it’s vital for founders determined to create something legendary that changes the future.

Matt shares several such pivotal moments in an episode full of stories and insight from the growth of Automattic, and of his own journey and leadership evolution, with Mike Maples Jr., host of the Starting Greatness podcast.More Subscribe to Distributed at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RSS, or wherever you like to listen.

Wordpress CEO Matt Mullenweg talks with Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate about his early successes, setbacks, and what founders can learn from his continued growth as a manager and leader.

"Sometimes not getting what you want opens the door to getting exactly what you need." - Mike Maples Jr.In this episode of Building Men, I discuss adjusting the way you look at perceived misfortunes in life.  I share a few stories about my own journey and how going through low points helped me appreciate life in a different way.  "Life won't always go your way...YOU have to go your way and take life with you." Jay Shetty Holistic Alpha - Steven Mathis

Podcast Notes Key Takeaways During the pandemic, there’s been a lot of inflection points in belief. People believe in telemedicine, remote work, and eCommerce more now than ever before“Part of these belief inflections happen because of the elimination of the paradox of choice. If you have no choice but to work remote, you figure out how to do it.” – Mike Maples Jr. What’s the secret to becoming a great venture capitalist?“I think it gets lucky in the first five years” – Mike Maples Jr.Mike’s first investment was Twitter and most investors on the Midas list made an incredibly lucky first investmentA college degree is more of a signal than proof of skill“Really what a college degree is, is it’s a signal. And companies have decided that they respect that signal.” – Mike Maples Jr.Instead of thinking of a startup or market when trying to start a company, think about inflections that you can become obsessed with. Then imagine multiple different futures that would be possible with that inflection and work your way backward to the present.That’s backcasting: Using an insight to predict multiple futures and then working backward to the present  “The asymmetric upside of being right about the bet is where you have an awesomely powerful startup” – Mike Maples Jr.More on Backcasting from MikeGreat entrepreneurs are able to resolve the impedance mismatch between people who live in the future and people who live in the present “What an entrepreneur really is, is a time traveler who based on inflections, identifies a valuable non-consensus future. Then comes back to the present and starts a movement, and recruits early people to join their movement.” – Mike Maples Jr. “The future is not something we try to predict, it’s something we create”– Mike Maples Jr.Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgMike Maples (@m2jr) is the co-founder and partner at Floodgate Capital and was one of the original “super angels”. For episode #15, I chatted with Mike about the process entrepreneurs should use to uncover breakthrough insights, a fishing trip with his Dad that taught him a lifelong lesson, how he stumbled into his first angel investment (Twitter), how he broke into venture capital after being a founder, and one of the biggest issues facing our country that almost no one talks about. We even turned the tables and Mike fired some questions my way. Mike has been on the Forbes Midas List since 2010 and was also named one of the “8 rising stars” by Fortune Magazine. Before becoming a full-time investor, Mike was involved as a founder and operating executive at back-to-back startup IPOs, including Tivoli Systems (IPO TIVS, acquired by IBM) and Motive (IPO MOTV, acquired by Alcatel-Lucent.) Some of Mike’s investments include Twitter, Twitch.tv, ngmoco, Weebly, Chegg, Bazaarvoice, Spiceworks, Okta, and Demandforce. Mike is the host of an amazing podcast called “Starting Greatness” and freely shares his insights on Twitter @m2jr. Mike is someone I’ve really enjoyed getting to know over the past year and he is compassionate and big hearted as he is insightful and wise. I hope you enjoy this episode with Mike Maples.

Mike Maples (@m2jr) is the co-founder and partner at Floodgate Capital and was one of the original “super angels”. For episode #15, I chatted with Mike about the process entrepreneurs should use to uncover breakthrough insights, a fishing trip with his Dad that taught him a lifelong lesson, how he stumbled into his first angel investment (Twitter), how he broke into venture capital after being a founder, and one of the biggest issues facing our country that almost no one talks about. We even turned the tables and Mike fired some questions my way. Mike has been on the Forbes Midas List since 2010 and was also named one of the “8 rising stars” by Fortune Magazine. Before becoming a full-time investor, Mike was involved as a founder and operating executive at back-to-back startup IPOs, including Tivoli Systems (IPO TIVS, acquired by IBM) and Motive (IPO MOTV, acquired by Alcatel-Lucent.) Some of Mike’s investments include Twitter, Twitch.tv, ngmoco, Weebly, Chegg, Bazaarvoice, Spiceworks, Okta, and Demandforce. Mike is the host of an amazing podcast called “Starting Greatness” and freely shares his insights on Twitter @m2jr. Mike is someone I’ve really enjoyed getting to know over the past year and he is compassionate and big hearted as he is insightful and wise. I hope you enjoy this episode with Mike Maples.

The present has stopped working. Now, more than ever, we need breakthroughs that put us on a better trajectory. In this episode, we flip the script and Shane Parrish from the Farnam Street Blog and Knowledge Project interviews Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate about tools available to people who want to build a better future.

Today, the 1st in a two-part series on entrepreneurship, we have entrepreneur, Co-Founder of FloodGate and host of “Starting Greatness” Mike Maples, Jr. He recently wrote “How to build a breakthrough: the secret of back-casting” and we’re going to go deep on it today! Watch out for our next episode, we’re having founder/CEOs Osman Rashid. He started $8B, publicly-traded Chegg and now Convo.com. Status of Silicon Valley Christopher and Mike starts their discussion about the state of Silicon Valley. Both agreed that most of Silicon Valley companies are the first adopters of sheltering in place and work from home arrangements. It has definitely benefitted some companies who have adjusted early on. However, they also Mike also describes this coronavirus pandemic as a “hand of God” who “punished” some companies and catapulted some to success.  “I've never really seen a situation where you have a tale of two types of businesses. Most recessions, they affect some worse than others, but they affect everybody badly to some degree. Whereas what we're seeing in this one is: it's almost like a lot of things that were already starting to gather, got accelerated forward — telemedicine, remote distributed work, distance learning, remote work infrastructure. So you could make the case that this has had a dramatic impact in both directions ironically.” - Mike Maples Jr. Moving Forward By Looking Backward Mike recently created an interesting piece about moving forward by looking backward. He mentions that the future doesn't happen to us. It happens because of us. He further explains why he wrote the piece and how it can help entrepreneurs plan their future.  “Great founders design the future. Design is the right word. It's not just about drawings or how things look or even how they function or perform. It's about people with a determined idea of what a better future should be. Not only building that better future, but convincing people in the present to change the trajectory, that they're on.”  - Mike Maples Jr. Create A Movement To Move A Market For Mike, entrepreneurs don't discover markets. They create movements that become markets. They move people to their point of view and they move people from the present to a better future.  “I thought it might be useful to try to help entrepreneurs get some lessons that I'd received from some of the super performers that I've worked with on how do you build a breakthrough. I've spent a lot of time over the years trying to deconstruct what they do and how it's different from what normal startups look like. That is why I wrote this post on backcasting.” - Mike Maples Jr. To know more about how backcasting can help you design the future that you want and for more information about Mike, download and listen to this episode. Bio: Mike Maples, Jr is a Partner at Floodgate. He has been on the Forbes Midas List since 2010 and was also named one of “8 Rising Stars” by FORTUNE Magazine. Before becoming a full-time investor, Mike was involved as a founder and operating executive at back-to-back startup IPOs, including Tivoli Systems (IPO TIVS, acquired by IBM) and Motive (IPO MOTV, acquired by Alcatel-Lucent.) Some of Mike’s investments include Twitter, Twitch.tv, ngmoco, Weebly, Chegg, Bazaarvoice, Spiceworks, Okta, and Demandforce. Mike is known for coining the term “Thunder Lizards,” which is a metaphor derived from Godzilla that describes the tiny number of truly exceptional companies that are wildly disruptive capitalist mutations. Mike likes to think of himself as a hunter of the “atomic eggs” that beget these companies. Interests: Calligraphy, cinematography, and sporting clays. Links: FloodGate Twitter: @m2jr Linkedin: Maples How to build a breakthrough, Medium We hope you enjoyed this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!

Today, the 1st in a two-part series on entrepreneurship, we have entrepreneur, Co-Founder of FloodGate and host of “Starting Greatness” Mike Maples, Jr. He recently wrote “How to build a breakthrough: the secret of back-casting” and we’re going to go deep on it today! Watch out for our next episode, we’re having founder/CEOs Osman Rashid. He started $8B, publicly-traded Chegg and now Convo.com. Status of Silicon Valley Christopher and Mike starts their discussion about the state of Silicon Valley. Both agreed that most of Silicon Valley companies are the first adopters of sheltering in place and work from home arrangements. It has definitely benefitted some companies who have adjusted early on. However, they also Mike also describes this coronavirus pandemic as a “hand of God” who “punished” some companies and catapulted some to success.  “I've never really seen a situation where you have a tale of two types of businesses. Most recessions, they affect some worse than others, but they affect everybody badly to some degree. Whereas what we're seeing in this one is: it's almost like a lot of things that were already starting to gather, got accelerated forward — telemedicine, remote distributed work, distance learning, remote work infrastructure. So you could make the case that this has had a dramatic impact in both directions ironically.” - Mike Maples Jr. Moving Forward By Looking Backward Mike recently created an interesting piece about moving forward by looking backward. He mentions that the future doesn't happen to us. It happens because of us. He further explains why he wrote the piece and how it can help entrepreneurs plan their future.  “Great founders design the future. Design is the right word. It's not just about drawings or how things look or even how they function or perform. It's about people with a determined idea of what a better future should be. Not only building that better future, but convincing people in the present to change the trajectory, that they're on.”  - Mike Maples Jr. Create A Movement To Move A Market For Mike, entrepreneurs don't discover markets. They create movements that become markets. They move people to their point of view and they move people from the present to a better future.  “I thought it might be useful to try to help entrepreneurs get some lessons that I'd received from some of the super performers that I've worked with on how do you build a breakthrough. I've spent a lot of time over the years trying to deconstruct what they do and how it's different from what normal startups look like. That is why I wrote this post on backcasting.” - Mike Maples Jr. To know more about how backcasting can help you design the future that you want and for more information about Mike, download and listen to this episode. Bio: Mike Maples, Jr is a Partner at Floodgate. He has been on the Forbes Midas List since 2010 and was also named one of “8 Rising Stars” by FORTUNE Magazine. Before becoming a full-time investor, Mike was involved as a founder and operating executive at back-to-back startup IPOs, including Tivoli Systems (IPO TIVS, acquired by IBM) and Motive (IPO MOTV, acquired by Alcatel-Lucent.) Some of Mike’s investments include Twitter, Twitch.tv, ngmoco, Weebly, Chegg, Bazaarvoice, Spiceworks, Okta, and Demandforce. Mike is known for coining the term “Thunder Lizards,” which is a metaphor derived from Godzilla that describes the tiny number of truly exceptional companies that are wildly disruptive capitalist mutations. Mike likes to think of himself as a hunter of the “atomic eggs” that beget these companies. Interests: Calligraphy, cinematography, and sporting clays. Links: FloodGate Twitter: @m2jr Linkedin: Maples How to build a breakthrough, Medium We hope you enjoyed this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!

Many startups face difficult choices when it comes to overcoming COVID-19. In this special episode, Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate interviews Steve Blank about techniques founders can use to shape circumstances rather than be shaped by them. Steve has a unique vantage point since he's weathered every dislocation affecting startups since 1978, including the 1987 crash, the dotcom bubble burst, and the 2008 financial crisis.

Podcast Notes Key Takeaways The world around us is about to change dramatically“This is not a recession it’s a mass extinction event for a good number of businesses and industries” – Steve BlankHowever, in crisis comes opportunity“For founders and employees who fight the good fight, there will be a morning after, the sun will come up”Look at the top 5 things your company is buying to survive and what things you cut out from your budgetYou want your product to be on that top 5 buying list for your customersIn the last decade or so, startups forgot about revenue and profits, and instead went for blitzscaling but that is backfiring now“Which worked great until it didn’t” – Steve BlankNow is the time for startups to focus on generating revenue and hopefully profitsIf you’re a startup CEO right now, survival equals 3 things:(speed of understanding) x (magnitude of pivots and cuts) x (speed of time to make those changes)Before you start laying off employees, the founder and executives should cut their compensation, this will help build solidarity among employees“I’d be thinking about how do I eliminate the free food before I eliminate the hourly worker salary” – Steve Blank“If you’re going to go down, you might as well go down with people remembering how well you treated them”Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgMany startups face difficult choices when it comes to overcoming COVID-19. In this special episode, Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate interviews Steve Blank about techniques founders can use to shape circumstances rather than be shaped by them. Steve has a unique vantage point since he's weathered every dislocation affecting startups since 1978, including the 1987 crash, the dotcom bubble burst, and the 2008 financial crisis.

Podcast Notes Key Takeaways The world around us is about to change dramatically“This is not a recession it’s a mass extinction event for a good number of businesses and industries” – Steve BlankHowever, in crisis comes opportunity“For founders and employees who fight the good fight, there will be a morning after, the sun will come up”Look at the top 5 things your company is buying to survive and what things you cut out from your budgetYou want your product to be on that top 5 buying list for your customersIn the last decade or so, startups forgot about revenue and profits, and instead went for blitzscaling but that is backfiring now“Which worked great until it didn’t” – Steve BlankNow is the time for startups to focus on generating revenue and hopefully profitsIf you’re a startup CEO right now, survival equals 3 things:(speed of understanding) x (magnitude of pivots and cuts) x (speed of time to make those changes)Before you start laying off employees, the founder and executives should cut their compensation, this will help build solidarity among employees“I’d be thinking about how do I eliminate the free food before I eliminate the hourly worker salary” – Steve Blank“If you’re going to go down, you might as well go down with people remembering how well you treated them”Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgMany startups face difficult choices when it comes to overcoming COVID-19. In this special episode, Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate interviews Steve Blank about techniques founders can use to shape circumstances rather than be shaped by them. Steve has a unique vantage point since he's weathered every dislocation affecting startups since 1978, including the 1987 crash, the dotcom bubble burst, and the 2008 financial crisis.

The legendary investor Mike Maples Jr joins me on Base Layer. Some of Mike’s investments include being one of the first investors in Twitter & Twitch.tv as well as early investor in Chegg, Bazaarvoice, Okta, and Demandforce. Mike comes on to talk about a whole spectrum of issues relating to pre and post COVID19 world as it relates to venture investing; we also talk extensively about Bitcoin and its role in a world where governments are flooded the economy with liquidity. This is a very special episode and one to send around! 

Bob Metcalfe has lived in the future since the late 1950s. And lucky for the rest of us, he has brought us along for the ride. In this interview, Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate talks to him about the origins of networked computing as well as the birth of "Metcalfe's Law."

Hailey is a trial attorney at Connecticut Trial Firm representing victims of personal injury, professional injury and other forms of harassment. Prior to joining Connecticut Trial Firm, Hailey has been in house counsel for mortgage companies and lenders. Her most recent in-house role was General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at a mortgage company. Her expertise in Dodd-Frank Act compliance and consumer protection law now serve her in private practice. She has previous experience in established companies, in the start-up world, and in the courtroom. Hailey is an advocate and voice for victims, clients and women. We talk with Hailey about “having all the jobs” as she put it. Hailey has switched careers once or twice and discussed the thought process around each one. She provides some valuable advice on how to approach hard work, opportunity and creativity. “Every decision has consequences” is just one of the many quotes you’ll take away from this episode. If you’ve ever thought about law school, considered switching jobs or contemplated an entire career change, this episode will speak to you. Hailey’s endorsement:Simon Sinek’s Starting with Why - https://simonsinek.com/product/start-with-why/Brene Brown’s The Call to Courage - https://www.netflix.com/title/81010166Brene Brown’s Books - https://brenebrown.com/books-audio/Jeremy’s endorsement:Starting Greatness with Mike Maples Jr - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/starting-greatness/id1488560647?i=1000458416917Brock’s endorsement:Remote: Office Not Required by Jason Fried and DHH - https://amzn.to/2UdTNnmJason Fried’s Twitter - @jasonfriedJason Fried Q&A - https://www.pscp.tv/w/cUbYgzQ0NjU5OTJ8MU1ZR05renpOcFhKdyGsoaxXlIymQ9So1MMJDihrYdSqqJ4dECcJWA_z9sBL?t=1m1s

Many say that in real estate, the key to success is location, location, location. A key lesson of greatness from Reid Hoffman is that for consumer products and network effects businesses, a key to success is distribution, distribution, distribution. In this Lesson of Greatness, Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate builds on this by outlining specific strategies founders can learn from Reid Hoffman to get distribution for their startup ideas.

In Crossing the Chasm Geoffrey Moore clearly lays out a very important idea: you need to appeal to a niche of visionaries, before pragmatists—or your startup will usually fail. In this Lesson of Greatness, Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate builds on this by showing that to get big, you have to start small. The episode contains specific strategies for founders to consider when nailing their early niches on the way to massive success.

Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moores is the most influential book on technology go-to-market ever written, and for good reason. In this episode, Mike Maples Jr from Floodgate talks to Geoffrey Moore about how startup founders can apply its core principles to building great startups, as well as how to avoid critical mistakes.

Among other topics, in the second part of this conversation we touch on mentors, college entrepreneurship and getting a foothold in venture. If you're building something (especially if it's in the elder care space), check out Mike Maples Jr.'s podcast — https://greatness.floodgate.com/ — and slide in Shawn's DMs! Twitter linked below... [0:31]: Shawn's take on the landscape of college entrepreneurship [3:38]: How he thinks about cultivating an "information diet" [8:15]: Learning under the legendary Ann Miura-Ko and Mike Maples Jr. at Floodgate [14:47]: The acute impact Eric Liu and Jack Dorsey have had on Shawn's life [17:25]: An author and podcast recommendation Worth website - worth.carrd.co On college entrepreneurship - https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/06/how-students-are-founding-funding-and-joining-startups/ Advice for breaking into venture - https://medium.com/startup-grind/9-essential-lessons-that-helped-me-break-into-vc-fb05d2bd058 Shawn's Twitter - https://twitter.com/shawnxu Book recommendations - https://www.notion.so/book-podcast-recommendations-59abba1db1db4fc2b9b9a4e08edb0b24

Ethan sits down with Shawn Xu of Floodgate, recently named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in venture. Shawn shares how his passion for different cultures has guided him from launching international markets at Square, to investing in brilliant student founders at Dorm Room Fund and now to learning under the legendary Ann Miura-Ko and Mike Maples Jr. at Floodgate. Before all this, he was just a kid hustling for restaurant tips. Listen to his exceptional story and much more, here. [1:33]: Growing up an immigrant in SF's backyard [11:58]: How Shawn evaluates opportunities in international markets [16:59]: Why business school is worth it sometimes [19:45]: The exceptional Dorm Room Fund family [22:26]: On being non-consensus and right Worth website - worth.carrd.co Shawn's experience at Dorm Room Fund - https://medium.com/startup-grind/reflections-on-2-years-at-dorm-room-fund-c815e614e0dc How to evaluate international markets - https://medium.com/@shawnxu/how-to-identify-the-next-big-market-894208c118c9 Shawn's Twitter - https://twitter.com/shawnxu Book recommendations - https://www.notion.so/book-podcast-recommendations-59abba1db1db4fc2b9b9a4e08edb0b24

Mike Maples, Jr. is Founder and General Partner of Floodgate, a seed investing firm that has made early investments in companies like Twitter, Demandforce and Lyft.  He was #12 on the 2018 “Midas List” of top venture capitalists. The seed investing trend he identified has become, literally, an entire category of investors.  He is also the host of his own podcast – Starting Greatness. In this episode of Something Ventured we talk about Mike’s path to Silicon Valley, the investing opportunity he saw here, and how it has changed over time.  He explains terms like ‘earned secret’ and “thunder lizard”, and the overarching importance of “why now”. If you’d like to get to know Mike Maples, Jr. – don’t miss this episode, and listen to his new podcast – Starting Greatness. Starting Greatness podcast https://medium.com/starting-greatness Floodgate https://floodgate.com Something Ventured https://somethingventured.us 

“Getting out of the building” means something deeper than many realize. Mike Maples Jr explores why in this key lesson of greatness.

"If the customer doesn't scream, you don't have product-market fit." — Andy RachleffWelcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show. This time, we have a slightly different episode—a takeover by Mike Maples, Jr.Mike Maples, Jr. (@m2jr) and his firm, Floodgate, have invested in and supported many of the startups you might recognize — including Twitter, Twitch, Lyft, Chegg, and Okta, among others — long before they were household names. He's been on the Forbes Midas List eight times in the last decade, but he's much more than a successful investor. Mike has also succeeded as both a founder and operating executive.He's also simply a great guy and the first person who really taught me how to angel invest. For more on that background, listen to my interview with Mike at tim.blog/mikemaples.In this episode, however, Mike speaks with Andy Rachleff (@arachleff), co-founder of Wealthfront and Benchmark Capital, about two of the biggest questions that should be on every start-up founder's mind: How do you reach "product-market fit" (a term that Andy coined), and how do they know when you've achieved it?Andy has known many of the start-up world's giants and synthesized their lessons, so you will also hear what Andy learned from Don Valentine of Sequoia, Scott Cook of Intuit, Reed Hastings of Netflix, Geoffrey Moore, Clay Christensen, Eric Ries, and Steve Blank.The audio from this conversation is from the premiere episode of Mike's brand-new podcast, Starting Greatness, which I encourage you check out. There are some incredible guests coming.So, if you like this conversation between Mike and Andy, be sure to subscribe to Starting Greatness on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also check out the website at greatness.floodgate.com, and on Twitter you can follow Mike at @m2jr and Andy at @arachleff.Please enjoy!This podcast is brought to you by Peloton, which has become a staple of my daily routine. I picked up this bike after seeing the success of my friend Kevin Rose, and I’ve been enjoying it more than I ever imagined. Peloton is an indoor cycling bike that brings live studio classes right to your home. No worrying about fitting classes into your busy schedule or making it to a studio with a crazy commute.New classes are added every day, and this includes options led by elite NYC instructors in your own living room. You can even live stream studio classes taught by the world’s best instructors, or find your favorite class on demand.Peloton is offering listeners to this show a special offer: Enter the code you heard during the Peloton ad of this episode at checkout to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase. This is a great way to get in your workouts, or an incredible gift. That’s onepeloton.com and enter the code you heard during the Peloton ad of this episode to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase.This podcast is also brought to you by 99designs, the global creative platform that makes it easy for designers and clients to work together to create designs they love. Its creative process has become the go-to solution for businesses, agencies, and individuals, and I have used it for years to help with display advertising and illustrations and to rapid prototype the cover for The Tao of Seneca. Whether your business needs a logo, website design, business card, or anything you can imagine, check out 99designs.You can work with multiple designers at once to get a bunch of different ideas, or hire the perfect designer for your project based based on their style and industry specialization. It's simple to review concepts and leave feedback so you'll end up with a design that you're happy with. Click this link (99designs.com/tim) and get $20 off plus a $99 upgrade.***If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests.For show notes and past guests, please visit tim.blog/podcast.Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (“5-Bullet Friday”) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Interested in sponsoring the podcast? Please fill out the form at tim.blog/sponsor.Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss YouTube: youtube.com/timferriss

Podcast Notes Key Takeaways How do you know when you have product-market fit? Here are a few reliable indicators:You need exponential organic growth, primarily driven by word of mouthIf you give someone your product for free for 30 days, and then abruptly take it away from them:“If the customer doesn’t scream, you don’t have product-market fit because if they’re not going to buy it at the end of 30 days, they’re not desperate, and if they’re not desperate, you don’t have product-market fit.” – Andy RachleffNever iterate on your product to cater to a potential customer’s beliefsInstead, spend the time finding people who LOVE what you’re doing“The best startup scenarios I’ve seen are when the entrepreneur, the investors, and the early customers are all-in on a secret together. They’re starting a movement that the rest of the world will one day accept, but they’re starting it as rebels.” – Mike MaplesNot everyone needs to like your product (nor should they)“The only way to make outsized returns as an investor or entrepreneur is to be right and non-consensus” – Andy RachleffRead the full notes @ podcastnotes.org"If the customer doesn't scream, you don't have product-market fit." — Andy RachleffWelcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show. This time, we have a slightly different episode—a takeover by Mike Maples, Jr.Mike Maples, Jr. (@m2jr) and his firm, Floodgate, have invested in and supported many of the startups you might recognize — including Twitter, Twitch, Lyft, Chegg, and Okta, among others — long before they were household names. He's been on the Forbes Midas List eight times in the last decade, but he's much more than a successful investor. Mike has also succeeded as both a founder and operating executive.He's also simply a great guy and the first person who really taught me how to angel invest. For more on that background, listen to my interview with Mike at tim.blog/mikemaples.In this episode, however, Mike speaks with Andy Rachleff (@arachleff), co-founder of Wealthfront and Benchmark Capital, about two of the biggest questions that should be on every start-up founder's mind: How do you reach "product-market fit" (a term that Andy coined), and how do they know when you've achieved it?Andy has known many of the start-up world's giants and synthesized their lessons, so you will also hear what Andy learned from Don Valentine of Sequoia, Scott Cook of Intuit, Reed Hastings of Netflix, Geoffrey Moore, Clay Christensen, Eric Ries, and Steve Blank.The audio from this conversation is from the premiere episode of Mike's brand-new podcast, Starting Greatness, which I encourage you check out. There are some incredible guests coming.So, if you like this conversation between Mike and Andy, be sure to subscribe to Starting Greatness on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also check out the website at greatness.floodgate.com, and on Twitter you can follow Mike at @m2jr and Andy at @arachleff.Please enjoy!This podcast is brought to you by Peloton, which has become a staple of my daily routine. I picked up this bike after seeing the success of my friend Kevin Rose, and I’ve been enjoying it more than I ever imagined. Peloton is an indoor cycling bike that brings live studio classes right to your home. No worrying about fitting classes into your busy schedule or making it to a studio with a crazy commute.New classes are added every day, and this includes options led by elite NYC instructors in your own living room. You can even live stream studio classes taught by the world’s best instructors, or find your favorite class on demand.Peloton is offering listeners to this show a special offer: Enter the code you heard during the Peloton ad of this episode at checkout to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase. This is a great way to get in your workouts, or an incredible gift. That’s onepeloton.com and enter the code you heard during the Peloton ad of this episode to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase.This podcast is also brought to you by 99designs, the global creative platform that makes it easy for designers and clients to work together to create designs they love. Its creative process has become the go-to solution for businesses, agencies, and individuals, and I have used it for years to help with display advertising and illustrations and to rapid prototype the cover for The Tao of Seneca. Whether your business needs a logo, website design, business card, or anything you can imagine, check out 99designs.You can work with multiple designers at once to get a bunch of different ideas, or hire the perfect designer for your project based based on their style and industry specialization. It's simple to review concepts and leave feedback so you'll end up with a design that you're happy with. Click this link (99designs.com/tim) and get $20 off plus a $99 upgrade.***If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests.For show notes and past guests, please visit tim.blog/podcast.Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (“5-Bullet Friday”) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Interested in sponsoring the podcast? Please fill out the form at tim.blog/sponsor.Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss YouTube: youtube.com/timferriss

Mike Maples, Jr. is a founding partner at Floodgate, a venture capital firm that focuses on early-stage investments in tech companies. A few of Mike and Floodgate's notable investments include being the first investor in Twitter, as well as early investors in Lyft, Digg, Taskrabbit, and Twitch, just to name a few.   In addition to being an investor, Mike is a serial entrepreneur. And in the interview, Mike tells us about his first business, how he got into investing, some of his best investments, as well as a couple he regretfully missed out on.   You can find the show notes and photo I took of Mike on the Stories website (thestoriespodcast.com).

In this episode, I sit down with Mike Maples Jr. to talk about the role stress plays in entrepreneurship. 

How will people embrace the idea of the abundance of networks for the betterment of humanity? On today's episode of Legends and Losers, a venture capitalist in the Silicon Valley Mike Maples, Jr. joins us to talk networks and the stock market, and why we need to underscore the opportunity and hope technological innovations bring. “We can either destroy each other out of our cynicism or we can lift each other up out of our shared purpose.” - Mike Maples, Jr. Three Things We Learned Accepting the shift from companies to networks for business Most people think that companies have always been there as we know them, but the truth is far from it. In the 1800s, there were no companies in America with less than a hundred employees. But since the arrival of the railroad and steam engine, the stock market came to be, hence the birth of networks. The power of investing in networks Corporations characterized by mass production and distribution would eventually yield to networks characterized by mass computation and connectivity. These networks would also impact transportation and consequently, energy, housing and manufacturing. Mike claims that investing in these networks is one sure way to improve one's standard of living. Embracing networks and the future People must start entertaining the thought that investing in networks will bring about the same kind of change 200 years ago. Prior to the stock market, people just tried to get by. Change accelerated in the 1800s after humanity embraced the power of technological innovations and their impact on overall standard of living. When we frame the issues that surround technology and the stock market, we need to do so through the lens of opportunity and hope. We should shy away from using language that induces fear in those less informed. Instead, we should help people realize that the abundance of networks and wealth ultimately aids humanity. Bio: Mike Maples, Jr. is a Partner at Floodgate and is widely considered to be one of the top venture capitalists in Silicon Valley. He has been on the Forbes Midas List since 2010 and was also named one of “8 Rising Stars” by FORTUNE Magazine. Before becoming a full-time investor, Mike was involved as a founder and operating executive at back-to-back startup IPOs, including Tivoli Systems (IPO TIVS, acquired by IBM) and Motive (IPO MOTV, acquired by Alcatel-Lucent.) Some of Mike's investments include Twitter, Twitch.tv, ngmoco, Weebly, Chegg, Bazaarvoice, Spiceworks, Okta, and Demandforce. Mike is known for coining the term “Thunder Lizards,” which is a metaphor derived from Godzilla that describes the tiny number of truly exceptional companies that are wildly disruptive capitalist mutations. Mike likes to think of himself as a hunter of the “atomic eggs” that beget these companies. Interests: Calligraphy, cinematography, and sporting clays. Links: Floodgate Twitter Medium LinkedIn We hope you enjoyed Mike Maples, Jr. on this episode of Legends and Losers! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!

“Just like a stock market was a financial platform for creating the scalable corporation, blockchains can be governance platforms for enabling the scalable commons.” -@m2jr Check out the medium article and other interesting work by Mike Maples Jr: https://blog.usejournal.com/crypto-commons-da602fb98138 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bitcoinaudible/message

“Just like a stock market was a financial platform for creating the scalable corporation, blockchains can be governance platforms for enabling the scalable commons.” -@m2jr Check out the medium article and other interesting work by Mike Maples Jr: https://blog.usejournal.com/crypto-commons-da602fb98138 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thecryptoconomy/message

It hasn’t even been four years since Amazon bought Twitch.tv, the live-streaming platform that has become the primary destination for broadcasting the playing of video games. Since then, the service has grown to 15 million daily users, with the average person watching 106 minutes per day. In hindsight, it’s no wonder that Amazon was willing to pay $1 billion to snap up Twitch — but for a long time, it was an open question whether anyone would buy it at all. Twitch began life as Justin.tv, a web-based live broadcasting platform. As venture capitalist Mike Maples Jr. of Floodgate Capital tells us on this week’s episode of Converge, it wasn’t always clear that Twitch would thrive. In fact, it was more or less stagnant before the company pivoted into games. “They were Justin.TV for five years before Justin.TV Games took off, and we realized that was the company,” Maples said. (In a nice Silicon Valley twist, Twitch has lately been embracing all sorts of non-gaming video, effectively pivoting back to Justin.tv’s original vision.) The only reason Twitch lived long enough to be sold to Amazon is that its creators were patient with it, Maples said — spending less money than they could, and continually experimenting to figure out which parts of their streaming service resonated the most broadly. “Where I give the Twitch founders a lot of credit is they survived five years to have that discovery,” Maples said. “And most startups would have spent too much money too soon, felt the pressure to grow super fast, and run out of money before the discovery ever happened.” Twitch is an unusually successful company. But social apps often succeed by accident, Maples says — and as one of Twitter’s first investors, he would know. “To me, these exponential outcomes happen when you have great founders with very specific and deep domain knowledge of some major new shift that’s even bigger than the company,” Maples said. “Twitter happened because everybody was getting connected, everything was getting mobile, and the web was kinda going through this new phase of not just being a place to go visit pages, but becoming a platform to connect people. And they just were right place, right time, right product.” Maples lays out his investing strategy on this episode of Converge, an interview game show where tech’s biggest personalities tell us about their wildest dreams. It’s a show that’s easy to win, but not impossible to lose — because, in the final round, I finally get a chance to play and score a few points of my own. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What’s up Fitness Peeps! Thanks for checking out my podcast. In today’s episode there’s a moment for gratitude, an inspiration from Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist, Mike Maples Jr.,  a “comedy show” visualization and then 5 minutes of meditation. Here are the inspiring words from Mike: Defining yourself relative to somebody else's accomplishment or how somebody else acts, causes you to not spend the time to discover how you could be your best self For more info, listen to Mike on the Tim Ferriss podcast at: Tim Ferriss Podcast with Mike Maples Jr. About Meditation for Fitness Peeps Podcast: If you’re saying to yourself, “What the heck is this podcast all about?”, here’s the quick version.  I’m into health and fitness and so are a lot of my friends.  I’m also into meditation, but most of my fitness friends aren’t, because they don’t know how to do it, or, they think it’s too hard.  Because of that, I put together a quick and easy meditation practice that can be done in approximately 10 minutes and it includes: a moment for gratitude, an inspiration, a visualization and 5 minutes of meditation using a soundtrack that contains a binaural beat or an isochronic tone.  I’ve made it super easy for you and my fitness friends to start meditating.  YOU’RE WELCOME! :)   By the way, I recommend that you use headphones while you listen to these meditations and NEVER LISTEN WHILE YOU’RE DRIVING If you want to know more about me, check out my website: http://www.philstolaronek.com If you want to check out my Zenabration meditation app: www.zenabration.com https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zenabration/id1140890387?mt=8 Please follow me on Instagram @Zenabration Intro / Outro Music:  “Blank” by Disfigure https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7ZsBPK656s http://www.facebook.com/DisfigureOffi... http://www.soundcloud.com/disfigureof... http://www.youtube.com/user/Disfigure...

Mike is a Founding Partner at Floodgate, a venture capital firm that invests in the extraordinary top ".1%" of companies earlier than anyone else, including Twitter, Lyft, Twitch.tv, and Sparefoot. After earning his MBA from Stanford, he went to Silicon Graphics where he was developing CGI that studios such as Industrial Light and Magic used in their feature films. He then joined his college roommate, Joe Liemandt, at Trilogy Software, which soon after went public and was acquired by IBM. In this compelling conversation, Mike revealed investment tips for entrepreneurs searching for success and shared how proactive businesses can become empires.  

Mike Maples Jr., co-founder of the venture capital firm Floodgate, explains what entrepreneurs can learn from the very few technology startups that achieve hyper-exceptional success and market disruption. The Silicon Valley veteran urges tomorrow's innovators to "only do things that have a chance to be legendary" – because it takes just as much work to do something mediocre.