E29: Mike Maples on Building Successful Startups and Venture Funds

"Turpentine VC" | Venture Capital and Investing

This episode features an interview with Mike Maples, Jr, the co-founder of Floodgate, that took place in 2020. Mike's interview on Turpentine VC from September 2023 is one of our most popular episode to date, and this earlier interview offers relevant context to his success and discipline. The conversation covers how Mike got his first fund from Austin Ventures, his view on "Thunder Lizard," missed opportunities like Airbnb, and what VC could look like in the future.

---

RECOMMENDED PODCAST: History 102 with WhatifAltHist

Every week, creator of WhatifAltHist Rudyard Lynch and Erik Torenberg cover a major topic in history in depth -- in under an hour. This season will cover classical Greece, early America, the Vikings, medieval Islam, ancient China, the fall of the Roman Empire, and more.

• Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/36Kqo3BMMUBGTDo1IEYihm
• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/history-102-with-whatifalthists-rudyard-lynch-and/id1730633913
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@History102-qg5oj

---

SPONSOR: HARMONIC | BRAVE | SQUAD

🧲 Learn why Craft, Bedrock, NEA and 100s more trust Harmonic’s data to source deals. Harmonic is the most complete startup database, finding new companies as soon as they incorporate and tracking them through IPO. Head to https://bit.ly/harmonicturpentine and make sure to mention Turpentine VC during your demo.

Get first-party targeting with Brave's private ad platform: cookieless and future proof ad formats for all your business needs. Performance meets privacy. Head to brave.com/ads and mention “MoZ” when signing up for a 25% discount on your first campaign.

💥 Access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to choosesquad.com and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist.

---

Join our free newsletter: https://turpentinevc.substack.com/

---

RELATED SHOWS: 10X Capital Podcast

If you like Turpentine VC, check out our show The 10x Capital Podcast with David Weisburd, where David talks to the investors behind the investors: https://10xcapitalpodcast.com/

---

X / TWITTER:

@m2jr (Mike)

@eriktorenberg (Erik)

@turpentinemedia

@turpentineVC

---

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Intro

(00:33) Building Successful Venture Firms

(04:13) Journey from Insight to Growth

(07:30) Insight Hacking in Entrepreneurship

(08:57) Startup Success

(10:48) Market Timing in Startups

(14:11) Sponsor: Brave

(18:04) Picking Co-Founders

(33:54) Understanding the Venture Landscape

(38:53) Power of Indexing: A Case Study of AngelList

(41:32) Role of Brand in Venture Capital

(42:45) Future of Venture Capital

(46:52) Relationship Between VCs and LPs

(53:48) Investing in Non-Tech Businesses

(57:21) Potential Impact of Crypto on Venture Capital

(01:05:38) Importance of Ownership in Venture Capital

(01:09:16) Blitzscaling in Startup Growth

(01:15:43) Wrap

This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at [e-mail].