Finding greatness in non-consensus startups, the story of Twitch from Justin.TV, and why great companies need insights and inflection points with Mike Maples

Venture Unlocked: The playbook for venture capital managers

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.

We're re-joined by Mike Maples, Jr. of Floodgate, this time to discuss his just released new book "Pattern Breakers."

Mike was first on the pod in 2021 and it was great to catch up again, this time to discuss the importance of identifying founders who are true pattern breakers. We spoke about how his observations on the last 14 years at Floodgate inspired him to write the book.

We went through concepts such as founder-future fit, the winning formula of inflections and insights, and his experience that 80% of their returns have been from companies with some major insight or pivot.

You can find Mike's book "Pattern Breakers" and additional insights on his substack at patternbreakers.substack.com.

About Mike Maples, Jr.: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 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 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.

Mike is the host of the Pattern Breakers podcast, which shares startup lessons from the super performers.

In this episode, we discuss:

(02:00) The story behind writing "Pattern Breakers" and the investment in Twitch and the importance of pivots

(04:07) Insights from returns on pivots and major insider pivots

(05:02) The concept of founder-future fit and initial skepticism

(07:04) The inflection point of Twitch pivoting from Justin.tv

(10:28) Authenticity and insights in startup founders

(14:32) The role of pattern recognition in startup success

(16:24) Creating movements and attracting early believers

(21:12) Importance of inflection points in startup success

(25:00) Non-obvious inflection points and backcasting

(29:52) The formula of inflection plus insight

(32:00) Non-consensus and right: key to venture success

(34:52) Venture capital and risk-taking

(38:00) Inflections and protecting unconventional ideas

(41:00) Patience as a form of arbitrage in venture investing

(45:00) Insights from Annie Duke on decision-making in venture capital

I’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Mike. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you’d like to be considered as a guest or have someone you’d like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on Twitter.

Podcast Production support provided by Agent Bee

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com