Welcome to the What's Next! Podcast with Tiffani Bova. 

 

I have the wonderful pleasure of welcoming Mike Maples Jr. to the show this week. He 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, which was acquired by IBM, where his dad used to work, and Motive acquired by Alcatel-Lucent. Some of Mike's investments include Twitter, Clover Health, Okta, Outreach, Chegg, Demandforce, and Applied Intuition. And he has a new book out called Pattern Breakers with his co-author, Peter Zimmerman. 

 

THIS EPISODE IS PERFECT FOR…anyone curious to learn about the ingredients to start-up success. 

 

TODAY'S MAIN MESSAGE…why is it that 80% of start-ups fail? What factors sets the 20% apart? As a seasoned venture capitalist, Mike says it comes down to breaking patterns. In this episode, he shares how to break away from linear strategies and dare to think boldly and take a risk. 

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS...

• Great startups force choices, not comparisons. 

• Early believers are essential for co-creating groundbreaking futures.

• Intrapreneurs succeed by innovating discreetly before scaling their ideas.

• Striking out on bold experiments is crucial - safe bets won’t lead to grand slams.

 

WHAT I LOVE MOST…Mike says that the best ideas often begin as unsettling or even disliked by many. It’s a testament to the power of sticking to bold, authentic visions despite early skepticism.

 

Running Time: 30:05

 

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Mike’s Book: Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future