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
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Episode Highlights
Inflection Points
emphasizes the significance of identifying non-obvious inflection points in startups, which can transform seemingly ordinary ideas into groundbreaking ventures. He illustrates this with examples like the iPhone's GPS chip, which enabled ride-sharing services like Lyft, and AWS, which revolutionized startup infrastructure by eliminating the need for costly servers 1. Maples explains that while many ideas have been tried, the key is recognizing when the right circumstances make them viable 2.
There's always inflections that are non obvious, right. So that's part of what's so inspiring about it to me.
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He also notes that successful founders often backcast, envisioning radically different futures and working backwards to create them 1.
Timing
Timing is crucial when leveraging inflection points, as explains. He highlights the importance of aligning insights with current technological advancements, using Instagram's launch as an example of perfect timing with the improvement of phone cameras 3. Maples stresses that founders must live in the future and attract early believers who share their vision 4.
The inflection is a turning point. It's a point in time where something that was impossible yesterday suddenly became possible today.
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He also discusses the concept of founder-future fit, where authenticity to the future is a key signal of potential success 5.
Founder Insights
shares insights from founders who successfully leveraged inflection points, such as Justin Kan of Twitch, whose unconventional idea of live-streaming his life evolved into a major success 6. Maples reflects on the randomness of startup success, noting that 80% of his returns have come from companies that pivoted significantly, like Twitch and Lyft 7.
I have to explore ideas that are out of the convention. I have to explore ideas, even if they're wrong, that break the pattern.
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He emphasizes the need for founders to be non-consensus and right, as this approach allows for outsized returns by departing from conventional thinking 8.
