Building for Impact with Mike Maples of Floodgate VC

Today we have a conversation with Mike Maples and early investor in Twitter, Chegg, Digg, and other great companies through his firm Floodgate VC Mike Maples Jr has been on the Forbes Midas List since 2010 and was also named one of "8 Rising Stars" by FORTUNE Magazine. 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, ngmoco, Weebly, Chegg, Bazaarvoice, Spiceworks, Okta, 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. He received his BS, from Stanford University and his MBA from the Harvard Business School. His hobbies include shooting clays, cinematography, and calligraphy. Lets listen into Mike Maples interviewed in Silicon Valley by Startup Grind’s founder Derek Andersen.  This podcast is brought to you by HBX ­ Harvard Business School’s digital learning initiative. Introducing “Disruptive Strategy with Clayton Christensen,” an engaging and interactive online learning experience from Harvard Business School’s HBX. Learn to create winning strategies to position your organization for long­term success by applying proven disruption and innovation theories from world renowned strategist Clay Christensen. Disruptive Strategy encourages active learning and peer collaboration, and requires a commitment of approximately thirty hours over six weeks. Applications are being accepted for upcoming cohorts in August and October. To learn more, visit disruptivestrategy.org