480. The OG Seed Investor, Mike Maples Jr., on Spotting Inflection Points, Living in the Future, and Why the Best Form of Competition Is No Competition (Mike Maples) | The Full Ratchet (TFR): Venture Capital and Startup Investing Demystified | Podwise
480. The OG Seed Investor, Mike Maples Jr., on Spotting Inflection Points, Living in the Future, and Why the Best Form of Competition Is No Competition (Mike Maples)
This episode explores the evolution of seed investing and the characteristics of successful founders, featuring Mike Maples Jr., co-founding partner at Floodgate. Against the backdrop of his own accidental entry into venture capital after founding and exiting several companies, Maples Jr. recounts the early days of seed investing, highlighting the lack of competition and the shift in startup funding dynamics. More significantly, he emphasizes his unique approach of identifying exceptional founders before they even have a fully formed startup idea, focusing on their potential and long-term vision rather than immediate market trends. For instance, he describes his extended collaboration with the founder of Applied Intuition, spending 14 months together before the company officially launched. The discussion pivots to the importance of specificity in identifying problems and solutions, contrasting this with the common pitfalls of overly general approaches. In contrast to the conventional wisdom of targeting large markets, Maples Jr. advocates for creating fundamentally different products that disrupt existing norms, drawing parallels with artistic and scientific breakthroughs. This approach, he argues, is crucial for navigating the increasingly competitive seed funding landscape and identifying the "hundred-bagger" opportunities. Ultimately, this episode offers valuable insights into the evolving venture capital landscape and the qualities that define truly exceptional founders and their ventures.
