Mike Maples Jr. PodBook™
Mike Maples is a co-founding Partner at Floodgate.
RELAYTO Podcast
RELAYTO CEO
Experience-Focused Leaders
PodBook
Interactive Content
About Alex Shevelenko
MASTERING THE ART OF SEED INVESTING AND STARTUP INNOVATION Mike Maples, Jr. Founding Partner at Floodgate, Author of the bestselling book Pattern Breakers
Mike Maple’s Bestselling Book
About Mike 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. Mike is the author of the National Bestselling book Pattern Breakers and host of the Pattern Breakers podcast, which shares startup lessons from the super performers.
Watch the full episode
Listen to the episode on your favorite platform S 01 | EP 55
Podcast notes
Snippets from the podcast
THE GENESIS OF SEED INVESTING 1. Domestic & General started out over 100 years ago, ensuring cattle and sheep rights. So not long after the Titanic went down there was a need all of a sudden to have protection and insurance on your livestock. (01:52-02:13) When I started working on the ideas of seed investing, it was really less of a reaction to what was happening in VC and more just what I observed and what founders needed. I kept seeing founder after founder says, “Really, all I need is a million dollars. I don't need $5 million.” And so that is what was the genesis of, “Hey, well, why don't I just write checks that the entrepreneurs actually want?” Mike Maples
EMBRASUSCING UNCONVENTIONAL IDEATAINABLE PROFITABILITY S 1. Domestic & General started out over 100 years ago, ensuring cattle and sheep rights. So not long after the Titanic went down there was a need all of a sudden to have protection and insurance on your livestock. (02:56 - 03:20) Human beings are conditioned to like things. So if everybody likes your new idea, it's too similar to what's already come before it. And what I would do is, when I would talk to potential investors, I'd say, “Okay, I'm about to tell you something, and if you're not inclined to believe what I'm about to say, I can give you the rest of your time back because nothing else is going to make sense.” Mike Maples
BRIDGING THE GAP 1. Domestic & General started out over 100 years ago, ensuring cattle and sheep rights. So not long after the Titanic went down there was a need all of a sudden to have protection and insurance on your livestock. (05:01 - 05:25) I'm addressing a gap between angels and VCs. I have no ambitions of competing with Benchmark, Sequoia, or Kleiner Perkins, and so I find that quite often you can get your insight on slide one — “What does the product do?” And explain to me like I know nothing, “You know, we're Airbnb, we let you rent an extra room in your house.” And then slide two is, “Okay, what is that?” Mike Maples
OVERLOADING SLIDES 1. Domestic & General started out over 100 years ago, ensuring cattle and sheep rights. So not long after the Titanic went down there was a need all of a sudden to have protection and insurance on your livestock. (07:23 - 07:47) I call those Franken-decks. What happens is you end up with 30 slides and every slide anticipates every possible conceivable objection. Then the story gets muddled because you feel forced to go through this deck of 30 slides and the person that was inclined to believe your advantage never got a chance to really understand what that advantage was, because it got lost in the discussion. Mike Maples
VIEW OF A STARTUP 1. Domestic & General started out over 100 years ago, ensuring cattle and sheep rights. So not long after the Titanic went down there was a need all of a sudden to have protection and insurance on your livestock. (08:50 - 39:53) A startup is an optimistic conspiracy theory to change the future and you're looking for co-conspirators, kind of like the movie Ocean's Eleven, where you have all the guys that work together to rob the Bellagio safe. You want something like that. Mike Maples
New episodes every week Watch us on your favorite platform Subscribe
About RELAYTO Experience-focused Leaders is the podcast from the RELAYTO.com Content Experience Platform. RELAYTO is the #1 Interactive Experience platform that transforms your static content (PDFs, MP4s, images) into engaging interactive experiences, enabling viewers to choose their own path and self-educate.
About the Podcast Host, Alex Shevelenko 5 Lines about Alex Alex Shevelenko: Co-Founder & CEO, RELAYTO/ Content Experience Platform Expert: Marketing, Customer & Employee Experience Design, Future of Work, AI & Cloud Founded Glocal Partners Ex: SuccessFactors|SAP, Salesforce, Oliver Wyman, Microsoft Academia: Stanford MBA, Penn BSE & BA, book research assistant for Dean of Wharton Awards: 60+ digital experience & comms. Excellence in Management Consulting, USA
Experience-focused Leaders Podcast We are on a mission to bring the most important ideas to life. We talk about the experiences that move forward organizations, customers, and society at large. If you love ideas and bringing ideas to life, stick around. Join us each week and explore the principles, strategies and insights that drive exceptional customer experiences and business growth. Learn more
