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Mike Maples, Jr. is a legendary early-stage startup investor and a co-founder and partner at Floodgate. He\u2019s 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\u2019s been on the Forbes Midas List eight times and enjoys sharing the lessons he\u2019s 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\u2019s found separates startups and founders that break through and change the world from those that don\u2019t. After spending years reviewing the notes and decks from the thousands of startups he\u2019s known over the past two decades, he\u2019s uncovered three ways that breakthrough founders think and act differently. In our conversation, Mike talks about:

\u2022 The three elements of breakthrough startup ideas

\u2022 Why you need to both think and act differently

\u2022 How to avoid the \u201ccomparison trap\u201d and \u201cconformity trap\u201d

\u2022 The importance of movements, storytelling, and healthy disagreeableness in startup success

\u2022 How to apply pattern-breaking principles within large companies

\u2022 Mike\u2019s one piece of advice for founders

\u2022 Much more

Pre-order Mike\u2019s book here and get a second signed copy for free. Limited copies are available, so order ASAP: patternbreakers.com/lenny.

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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-find-a-great-startup-idea-mike-maples-jr

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Where to find Mike Maples, Jr.:

\u2022 X: https://x.com/m2jr

\u2022 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maples/

\u2022 Substack: https://greatness.substack.com/

\u2022 Website: https://www.floodgate.com/

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Where to find Lenny:

\u2022 Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

\u2022 X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

\u2022 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Mike\u2019s 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

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Referenced:

\u2022 Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future: https://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Breakers-Start-Ups-Change-Future/dp/1541704355

\u2022 Justin.tv: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin.tv

\u2022 Airbnb\u2019s 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/

\u2022 Brian Chesky\u2019s new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-cheskys-contrarian-approach

\u2022 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

\u2022 Kyle Vogt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylevogt/

\u2022 The State of Telehealth Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9035352/

\u2022 The Craigslist Killers: https://www.gq.com/story/craigslist-killers

\u2022 The social radar: Y Combinator\u2019s secret weapon | Jessica Livingston (co-founder of Y Combinator, author, podcast host): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-social-radar-jessica-livingston

\u2022 Michael Seibel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwseibel/

\u2022 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

\u2022 Scott Cook: https://www.forbes.com/profile/scott-cook/

\u2022 Chegg: https://www.chegg.com/

\u2022 Aayush Phumbhra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aayush/

\u2022 Osman Rashid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/osmanrashid/

\u2022 Okta: https://www.okta.com/

\u2022 The Man Who Makes the Future: Wired Icon Marc Andreessen: https://www.wired.com/2012/04/ff-andreessen/

\u2022 Peter Ludwig on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterwludwig/

\u2022 Qasar Younis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/qasar/

\u2022 Paul Allen\u2019s website: https://paulallen.com/

\u2022 Louis Pasteur quote: https://www.forbes.com/quotes/6145/

\u2022 What was Atrium and why did it fail? https://www.failory.com/cemetery/atrium

\u2022 Patrick Collison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickcollison/

\u2022 Drew Houston on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewhouston/

\u2022 William Gibson\u2019s quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/681-the-future-is-already-here-it-s-just-not-evenly

\u2022 Maddie Hall on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maddie-hall-76293135/

\u2022 Living Carbon: https://www.livingcarbon.com

\u2022 Zenefits (now Trinet): https://connect.trinet.com/

\u2022 Sam Altman on X: https://x.com/sama

\u2022 Steve Wozniak on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wozniaksteve/

\u2022 Horsley Bridge Partners: https://www.horsleybridge.com/

\u2022 David Swensen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_F._Swensen

\u2022 Judith Elsea on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judithelsea/

\u2022 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy: https://www.amazon.com/7-Powers-Foundations-Business-Strategy/dp/0998116319

\u2022 Business strategy with Hamilton Helmer (author of 7 Powers): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/business-strategy-with-hamilton-helmer

\u2022 Lyft\u2019s 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/

\u2022 Logan Green on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/logangreen/

\u2022 John Zimmer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnzimmer11/

\u2022 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

\u2022 Steve Jobs Introducing the iPhone at MacWorld 2007: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7qPAY9JqE4

\u2022 Jonathan Livingston Seagull: https://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Livingston-Seagull-Richard-Bach/dp/0743278909

\u2022 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

\u2022 Robin Roberts on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-roberts-393a934b/

\u2022 Skunkworks: https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/business-areas/aeronautics/skunkworks.html

\u2022 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

\u2022 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

\u2022 Figma: https://www.figma.com/

\u2022 Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com/

\u2022 Vinod Khosla: https://www.khoslaventures.com/team/vinod-khosla/

\u2022 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

\u2022 Chase, Chance, and Creativity: The Lucky Art of Novelty: https://www.amazon.com/Chase-Chance-Creativity-Lucky-Novelty/dp/0262511355

\u2022 Clay Christensen\u2019s books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Clayton-M.-Christensen/author/B000APPD3Y

\u2022 Resonate: Present Visual Stories That Transform: https://www.amazon.com/Resonate-Present-Stories-Transform-Audiences/dp/0470632011

\u2022 Ferrari on Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Ferrari-Adam-Driver/dp/B0CNDBN672

\u2022 Montblanc fountain pens: https://www.montblanc.com/en-us

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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.