Pattern Breakers
130 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 days ago - ★★★★★ - 367 ratingsHost Mike Maples Jr. from venture capital firm Floodgate offers lessons from the rare startup super performers — BEFORE they were successful. Pattern Breakers features interviews with some of Silicon Valley’s most legendary entrepreneurs and thought leaders, including Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Kreiger, business maverick Mark Cuban, and Shopify co-founder Tobi Lütke.
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Episodes
Lessons of Greatness: Find your wave before your market
July 19, 2021 20:24 - 13 minutes - 12.1 MBThe best startups almost always ride a wave that represents a sea change. Such waves give the founders the power to show up with a radically different idea that changes the subject -- and the future. In this lesson of greatness, Mike Maples Jr talks about how the example of Jerry Yang and David Filo at Yahoo illustrates this perfectly and how you can leverage this insight as a founder seeking your own path to greatness for your startup.
Breakthrough Lessons: Find your wave before your market
July 19, 2021 20:24 - 13 minutes - 12.1 MBThe best startups almost always ride a wave that represents a sea change. Such waves give the founders the power to show up with a radically different idea that changes the subject -- and the future. In this lesson of greatness, Mike Maples Jr talks about how the example of Jerry Yang and David Filo at Yahoo illustrates this perfectly and how you can leverage this insight as a founder seeking your own path to greatness for your startup.Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreaker...
Jerry Yang: How Yahoo went from a hobby to the early King of the Internet
July 19, 2021 20:20 - 37 minutes - 34 MBBefore Google or Facebook; prior to the days of snapping, tweeting, and texting....Yahoo was the original King of the Internet. But in the early days, Jerry Yang and David Filo weren't sure if it was even a valid business. In this episode, Mike Maples, Jr of Floodgate interviews Jerry Yang about what it was like to learn that what started out as a hobby was destined for business greatness.Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com for even more Pattern Breaking co...
Lessons of Greatness: Hire like your life depends on it
June 28, 2021 14:24 - 12 minutes - 11.4 MBMany startup founders would agree that team building is the most important part of startup success. But very few startups actually live it. The founders of Cloudflare offer key lessons in how to start with the right founding team, how to collaborate more effectively, how to design a company culture....and most importantly, how to make hiring the very best your top priority...for real.
Breakthrough Lessons: Hire like your life depends on it
June 28, 2021 14:24 - 12 minutes - 11.4 MBMany startup founders would agree that team building is the most important part of startup success. But very few startups actually live it. The founders of Cloudflare offer key lessons in how to start with the right founding team, how to collaborate more effectively, how to design a company culture....and most importantly, how to make hiring the very best your top priority...for real.Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com for even more Pattern Breaking content...
Matthew Prince and Michelle Zatlyn of Cloudflare: How to build a better Company as well as a better Internet
June 28, 2021 14:23 - 44 minutes - 40.8 MBIt takes a lot of effort to build a breakthrough product. It's perhaps even rarer to design a company that endures. In this interview, Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate interviews Matthew Prince and Michelle Zatlyn of Cloudflare to highlight what we can learn about how to get a startup's foundation right, along with recruiting, hiring, and company design.Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com for even more Pattern Breaking content from Mike. Mike's new book Patte...
Breakthrough Lessons: Why you must master risk-taking to seize greatness
June 01, 2021 18:05 - 10 minutes - 9.6 MBMost people think that risk should be avoided. But Vinod Khosla teaches us otherwise...Risk is something people *take* when they create breakthroughs. This lesson of greatness talks about the key frameworks for why this is the case as well as how to take risks intelligently to tilt the odds in your favor.Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com for even more Pattern Breaking content from Mike. Mike's new book Pattern Breakers is available now wherever you buy...
Lessons of Greatness: Why you must master risk-taking to seize greatness
June 01, 2021 18:05 - 10 minutes - 9.6 MBMost people think that risk should be avoided. But Vinod Khosla teaches us otherwise...Risk is something people *take* when they create breakthroughs. This lesson of greatness talks about the key frameworks for why this is the case as well as how to take risks intelligently to tilt the odds in your favor.
Vinod Khosla: Your willingness to fail is what will let you succeed
June 01, 2021 18:04 - 32 minutes - 30.2 MBVinod Khosla is a Silicon Valley legend, having achieved greatness as a founder with Sun Microsystems and as one of the best venture capitalists of all time. In this episode, Mike Maples, Jr of Floodgate talks to Vinod about why it's wrong for breakthrough builders to play it safe and how to turn the odds in your favor when setting out to build a massive breakthrough.Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com for even more Pattern Breaking content from Mike. Mi...
Breakthrough Lessons: Design your category
May 17, 2021 07:10 - 12 minutes - 11.6 MBStartups change the future so they MUST be different, rather than better. Christopher Lochhead shows us how category designers realize that different is believable from a startup, but better is not. Any powerful startup idea pre-supposes an exponentially different future, which means your startup MUST change the way the people think about the future rather than incrementally improve on the products they already use. Different forces a choice rather than a comparison. And different sticks, whi...
Lessons of Greatness: Design your category
May 17, 2021 07:10 - 12 minutes - 11.6 MBStartups change the future so they MUST be different, rather than better. Christopher Lochhead shows us how category designers realize that different is believable from a startup, but better is not. Any powerful startup idea pre-supposes an exponentially different future, which means your startup MUST change the way the people think about the future rather than incrementally improve on the products they already use. Different forces a choice rather than a comparison. And different sticks, whi...
Christopher Lochhead: Why Legendary Startups create Categories
May 17, 2021 07:05 - 38 minutes - 35.1 MBChristopher Lochhead is a bestselling author, #1-rated podcaster, and one of the best marketing minds of our time. As one of the co-inventors of category design, Christopher offers valuable insights for startups wanting to stand out in an ever noisier world. In this episode, Mike Maples Jr talks to Christopher Lochhead to clarify what category design is and why it’s vital for founders determined to create something legendary that changes the future. Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at ...
Breakthrough Lessons: DESIGN for network effects
May 03, 2021 13:32 - 11 minutes - 10.6 MBMany founders claim their startups contain network effects, but many of these claims only scratch the surface. Networks that achieve greatness are designed, with many trade-offs and factors in mind regarding the "nodes," how interactions take place, what causes people to stay engaged, and the types of relationships that get created. Anu Hariharan shows us the specific decisions and trade-offs we can weigh that startups often overlook.Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers....
Lessons of Greatness: DESIGN for network effects
May 03, 2021 13:32 - 11 minutes - 10.6 MBMany founders claim their startups contain network effects, but many of these claims only scratch the surface. Networks that achieve greatness are designed, with many trade-offs and factors in mind regarding the "nodes," how interactions take place, what causes people to stay engaged, and the types of relationships that get created. Anu Hariharan shows us the specific decisions and trade-offs we can weigh that startups often overlook.
Anu Hariharan: How to think about network effects for your startup, from the beginning
May 03, 2021 13:25 - 36 minutes - 33.4 MBAnu Hariharan from YCombinator's Continuity fund is one of Silicon Valley's top experts on network effects and how they can be applied to all types of different businesses. In this interview, Mike Maples of Floodgate talks to Anu about how a raw startup can design network effects into its business as a core strategy from the very beginning.Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com for even more Pattern Breaking content from Mike. Mike's new book Pattern Breake...
Lessons of Greatness: Start a Movement; not just a business
April 19, 2021 23:05 - 7 minutes - 7.12 MBDavid Sacks demonstrates how the best startup founders talk about causes much bigger than themselves or the companies they're building. Google was about organizing the world's information. Tesla was about moving the world to sustainability, not just selling cars. These startup leaders saw a world that they wanted to create and built a movement around their visions. Sacks shows us how great startup products aren't just selling a product that solves an immediate problem; they are selling a visi...
Breakthrough Lessons: Start a Movement; not just a business
April 19, 2021 23:05 - 7 minutes - 7.12 MBDavid Sacks demonstrates how the best startup founders talk about causes much bigger than themselves or the companies they're building. Google was about organizing the world's information. Tesla was about moving the world to sustainability, not just selling cars. These startup leaders saw a world that they wanted to create and built a movement around their visions. Sacks shows us how great startup products aren't just selling a product that solves an immediate problem; they are selling a visi...
David Sacks: Legendary Startup Product Expert
April 19, 2021 23:00 - 36 minutes - 33.4 MBDavid Sacks, known as one of the best startup product strategists and operators of the last 20 years, discusses key lessons learned from his tenure in the PayPal Mafia, where he was head of product, along with key takeaways as founding CEO of Yammer and what he learned from working directly with industry greats like Peter Thiel and Elon Musk.Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com for even more Pattern Breaking content from Mike. Mike's new book Pattern Brea...
Lessons of Greatness: Be a Learn-it-All; not a Know-it-All
April 05, 2021 15:36 - 8 minutes - 8.15 MBMaybe you've struggled with needing to seem in charge or on top of a challenging situation, even when you're unsure of what to do. If so, you've likely heard the siren song that tempts you to be a know-it-all. But Matt Mullenweg shows us how the learn-it-all is most likely to achieve greatness. Check out Mike’s interview with Bob Metcalfe (of Metcalfe’s Law) where he also discusses leadership lessons.
Breakthrough Lessons: Be a Learn-it-All; not a Know-it-All
April 05, 2021 15:36 - 8 minutes - 8.15 MBMaybe you've struggled with needing to seem in charge or on top of a challenging situation, even when you're unsure of what to do. If so, you've likely heard the siren song that tempts you to be a know-it-all. But Matt Mullenweg shows us how the learn-it-all is most likely to achieve greatness. Check out Mike’s interview with Bob Metcalfe (of Metcalfe’s Law) where he also discusses leadership lessons. Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com for even more Pa...
Matt Mullenweg: How a modest empire builder powered a huge chunk of the web
April 05, 2021 15:29 - 40 minutes - 36.9 MBWordpress CEO Matt Mullenweg talks with Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate about his early successes, setbacks, and what founders can learn from his continued growth as a manager and leader. Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com for even more Pattern Breaking content from Mike. Mike's new book Pattern Breakers is available now wherever you buy books.
Lessons of Greatness: ALWAYS know your competitive edge
March 22, 2021 06:55 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MBMark Cuban shows us that it's not enough to play by the rules as they are defined. If you are going to achieve greatness as a startup, you need to find your EDGE...which means you have to outmaneuver your competition before they even engage with you on the competitive battlefield. You have to change the rules to your advantage and not just play by the rules as they are given to you. Never fall into the trap of not anticipating how a giant competitor will try to run you out of business someday...
Breakthrough Lessons: ALWAYS know your competitive edge
March 22, 2021 06:55 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MBMark Cuban shows us that it's not enough to play by the rules as they are defined. If you are going to achieve greatness as a startup, you need to find your EDGE...which means you have to outmaneuver your competition before they even engage with you on the competitive battlefield. You have to change the rules to your advantage and not just play by the rules as they are given to you. Never fall into the trap of not anticipating how a giant competitor will try to run you out of business someday...
Mark Cuban: You only have to be right once...if you take big enough swings along the way
March 22, 2021 06:46 - 44 minutes - 40.8 MBMike Maples of Floodgate talks to Mark Cuban about a wide range of topics with a common theme...you have to go after opportunities where the stakes are high enough that when you win, you can win BIG. And as a corollary, you have to anticipate that giant competitors will try to stop you because otherwise, you are thinking too small.Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com for even more Pattern Breaking content from Mike. Mike's new book Pattern Breakers is ava...
Breakthrough Lessons: Thinking in Bets
March 08, 2021 10:52 - 12 minutes - 11.2 MBAnnie Duke shows us that making high-quality decisions is one of the most important skills we can build for improving our odds of success in startups and in life. It's also a skill that can be sharpened and improved over time, regardless of how uncertain the circumstances. By adopting scientifically-proven frameworks from her books "Thinking in Bets" and "How to Decide," we can make better predictions and choices more often and with more confidence.Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at p...
Lessons of Greatness: Thinking in Bets
March 08, 2021 10:52 - 12 minutes - 11.2 MBAnnie Duke shows us that making high-quality decisions is one of the most important skills we can build for improving our odds of success in startups and in life. It's also a skill that can be sharpened and improved over time, regardless of how uncertain the circumstances. By adopting scientifically-proven frameworks from her books "Thinking in Bets" and "How to Decide," we can make better predictions and choices more often and with more confidence.
Annie Duke: Decision-making Secrets from a World Series of Poker Champion
March 08, 2021 10:36 - 38 minutes - 34.8 MB(04:51) - Explaining what makes a decision good or bad (6:36) - On how memory creep impacts our view of Hilary Clinton’s 2016 campaign (11:30) - On the use of a knowledge tree to inform decision making (16:59) - Looking at Pete Carrol’s controversial decision in the Super Bowl (26:16) - On founders falling into a trap around pricing their product (38:08) - When to make informed decisions and follow a process Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.su...
Breakthrough Lessons: Get REAL
February 22, 2021 08:30 - 9 minutes - 9.1 MBTim Ferriss' success shows the value of building real things for real people rather than creating abstract approximations that represent what's real. The lessons of getting real apply directly to startups who want to avoid the trap of unshaped work and indirect understanding of what customers are truly desperate for. Check out Mike’s interviews with Steve Blank for more learnings on product-market fit. Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com for even more Pat...
Lessons of Greatness: Get REAL
February 22, 2021 08:30 - 9 minutes - 9.1 MBTim Ferriss' success shows the value of building real things for real people rather than creating abstract approximations that represent what's real. The lessons of getting real apply directly to startups who want to avoid the trap of unshaped work and indirect understanding of what customers are truly desperate for. Check out Mike’s interviews with Steve Blank for more learnings on product-market fit.
How Tim Ferriss found product-market fit for “The Four Hour Workweek”
February 22, 2021 08:05 - 43 minutes - 40.1 MB(2:47) - Tim looks back at the origins of the 4-Hour Workweek and early incarnations of the book (9:30) - Mike and Tim discuss the idea of talking to real customers and of “getting real” to increase the chances of your startup’s success (12:41) - Tim offers his thoughts on category design and the importance of creating a category, as well as working in categories where there were few competitors (18:02) - Tim discusses the marketing ideas behind the 4-Hour Workweek and finding p...
Welcome to Season 2!
February 22, 2021 08:00 - 8 minutes - 7.76 MBIn this opener for Season 2, Floodgate Co-Founder Mike Maples, Jr talks sets the agenda for a new season of Starting Greatness and plans for taking the show and content to the next level.Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com for even more Pattern Breaking content from Mike. Mike's new book Pattern Breakers is available now wherever you buy books.
Lessons of Greatness: You are Yoda, not Luke
July 27, 2020 17:31 - 8 minutes - 7.74 MBNancy Duarte emphasizes that storytelling has been one of the most compelling tools of persuasion for centuries. But founders embracing the storytelling form often make a crucial mistake: They cast themselves as the protagonist in the hero's journey, rather than the specific people they intend to persuade. Getting storytelling right means the founder is the mentor of the story (ie Yoda), rather than the hero (ie Luke.) This is true whether the audience is the customer, future employees, inve...
Breakthrough Lessons: You are Yoda, not Luke
July 27, 2020 17:31 - 8 minutes - 7.74 MBNancy Duarte emphasizes that storytelling has been one of the most compelling tools of persuasion for centuries. But founders embracing the storytelling form often make a crucial mistake: They cast themselves as the protagonist in the hero's journey, rather than the specific people they intend to persuade. Getting storytelling right means the founder is the mentor of the story (ie Yoda), rather than the hero (ie Luke.) This is true whether the audience is the customer, future employees, inve...
Nancy Duarte: Why storytelling is vital to entrepreneurship
July 27, 2020 17:26 - 38 minutes - 35.1 MBNancy Duarte has helped people like Al Gore tell an inconvenient truth, as well as some of the most important tech execs, get their stories told. She has cracked the code in applying story patterns to business communication. In this interview, Mike Maples, Jr of Floodgate asks Nancy for the most important ways that founders can leverage storytelling to turn their movements from ideas to reality.Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com for even more Pattern Break...
Lessons of Greatness: Why the world needs breakthrough builders; How it can be you
July 06, 2020 19:54 - 12 minutes - 11 MBThe future doesn't happen to us: It happens because of us. In this Lesson of Greatness, we introduce backcasting as a tool for entrepreneurs or people in any field who want to create a future that is meaningfully better and doesn't just bring forward the baggage of the past.
Breakthrough Lessons: Why the world needs breakthrough builders; How it can be you
July 06, 2020 19:54 - 12 minutes - 11 MBThe future doesn't happen to us: It happens because of us. In this Lesson of Greatness, we introduce backcasting as a tool for entrepreneurs or people in any field who want to create a future that is meaningfully better and doesn't just bring forward the baggage of the past.Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com for even more Pattern Breaking content from Mike. Mike's new book Pattern Breakers is available now wherever you buy books.
Mike Maples and Shane Parrish: How to create a Breakthrough
July 06, 2020 19:48 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBThe present has stopped working. Now, more than ever, we need breakthroughs that put us on a better trajectory. In this episode, we flip the script and Shane Parrish from the Farnam Street Blog and Knowledge Project interviews Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate about tools available to people who want to build a better future.Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com for even more Pattern Breaking content from Mike. Mike's new book Pattern Breakers is available now w...
Breakthrough Lessons: Don't Just Be Resilient: How to be Anti-Fragile
June 10, 2020 17:03 - 6 minutes - 6.06 MBEveryone knows a fragile team is more likely to fail. But an anti-fragile team is more than just resilient....it's more like a Hydra: When you cut off one of it's heads it grows two back in its place. Anti-fragile teams actually get BETTER when the environment around them is high-pressure and chaotic. In this lesson of greatness, we drill down into what it means to be anti-fragile and how you can apply the concept to your own startup team.Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbrea...
Lessons of Greatness: Don't Just Be Resilient: How to be Anti-Fragile
June 10, 2020 17:03 - 6 minutes - 6.06 MBEveryone knows a fragile team is more likely to fail. But an anti-fragile team is more than just resilient....it's more like a Hydra: When you cut off one of it's heads it grows two back in its place. Anti-fragile teams actually get BETTER when the environment around them is high-pressure and chaotic. In this lesson of greatness, we drill down into what it means to be anti-fragile and how you can apply the concept to your own startup team.
Manny Medina: From Hell and Back to the Threshold of Greatness
June 10, 2020 17:03 - 39 minutes - 36.3 MBFrom his surprising beginnings as a shrimp farmer with Communist parents in Ecuador to his death-defying pivot from a failed startup idea to what is now Outreach, Manny Medina's story is both colorful and compelling. In this episode, Mike Maples, Jr of Floodgate discusses Manny's unconventional journey and his struggles and triumphs on the path to greatness with Outreach, now valued at more than $1 Billion.Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com for even more P...
Breakthrough Lessons: You have to take the Initiative
May 11, 2020 15:26 - 10 minutes - 9.94 MBCommander John Boyd was a fighter pilot who changed the art of war in the late 20th Century. He offers a vital lesson of greatness, especially in times of massive uncertainty: Decisive leaders take the initiative, ALWAYS. This episode describes why that's the case and how the philosophy of taking the initiative can help you achieve greatness in what matters to you.Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com for even more Pattern Breaking content from Mike. Mike'...
Lessons of Greatness: You have to take the Initiative
May 11, 2020 15:26 - 10 minutes - 9.94 MBCommander John Boyd was a fighter pilot who changed the art of war in the late 20th Century. He offers a vital lesson of greatness, especially in times of massive uncertainty: Decisive leaders take the initiative, ALWAYS. This episode describes why that's the case and how the philosophy of taking the initiative can help you achieve greatness in what matters to you.
Steve Blank: How to turn the tables on COVID-19
May 11, 2020 15:14 - 31 minutes - 28.8 MBMany startups face difficult choices when it comes to overcoming COVID-19. In this special episode, Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate interviews Steve Blank about techniques founders can use to shape circumstances rather than be shaped by them. Steve has a unique vantage point since he's weathered every dislocation affecting startups since 1978, including the 1987 crash, the dotcom bubble burst, and the 2008 financial crisis.Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com fo...
Breakthrough Lessons: Don't Mess with Metcalfe's Law
April 04, 2020 04:11 - 5 minutes - 4.59 MBBob Metcalfe has traveled in many orbits, but most recently he has been a professor at the University of Texas....so it seemed only appropriate to honor the unstoppable power of Metcalfe's Law in this lesson of greatness. Mess with it at your peril :)Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com for even more Pattern Breaking content from Mike. Mike's new book Pattern Breakers is available now wherever you buy books.
Lessons of Greatness: Don't Mess with Metcalfe's Law
April 04, 2020 04:11 - 5 minutes - 4.59 MBBob Metcalfe has traveled in many orbits, but most recently he has been a professor at the University of Texas....so it seemed only appropriate to honor the unstoppable power of Metcalfe's Law in this lesson of greatness. Mess with it at your peril :)
Bob Metcalfe: Co-inventor of Ethernet. Tech industry legend and Polymath.
April 04, 2020 04:05 - 39 minutes - 36.2 MBBob Metcalfe has lived in the future since the late 1950s. And lucky for the rest of us, he has brought us along for the ride. In this interview, Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate talks to him about the origins of networked computing as well as the birth of "Metcalfe's Law."Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com for even more Pattern Breaking content from Mike. Mike's new book Pattern Breakers is available now wherever you buy books.
Lessons of Greatness: Distribution, Distribution, Distribution
March 02, 2020 14:13 - 8 minutes - 7.56 MBMany say that in real estate, the key to success is location, location, location. A key lesson of greatness from Reid Hoffman is that for consumer products and network effects businesses, a key to success is distribution, distribution, distribution. In this Lesson of Greatness, Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate builds on this by outlining specific strategies founders can learn from Reid Hoffman to get distribution for their startup ideas.
Breakthrough Lessons: Distribution, Distribution, Distribution
March 02, 2020 14:13 - 8 minutes - 7.56 MBMany say that in real estate, the key to success is location, location, location. A key lesson of greatness from Reid Hoffman is that for consumer products and network effects businesses, a key to success is distribution, distribution, distribution. In this Lesson of Greatness, Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate builds on this by outlining specific strategies founders can learn from Reid Hoffman to get distribution for their startup ideas.Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.su...
Reid Hoffman: The Network Philosopher King
March 02, 2020 14:12 - 35 minutes - 32.9 MBReid Hoffman's success as a founder of LinkedIn, investor in Airbnb and Facebook, and charter member of the PayPal Mafia have a common thread - an intense passion for creating valuable networks with people at the center. In this episode, Mike Maples, Jr of Floodgate talks to Reid about key approaches for building valuable business and consumer networks from the ground-up.Check out the new Pattern Breakers Blog at patternbreakers.substack.com for even more Pattern Breaking content from Mike. ...
Lessons of Greatness: Why You Need to Nail a Niche before Going Big
February 18, 2020 17:13 - 8 minutes - 7.47 MBIn Crossing the Chasm Geoffrey Moore clearly lays out a very important idea: you need to appeal to a niche of visionaries, before pragmatists—or your startup will usually fail. In this Lesson of Greatness, Mike Maples Jr of Floodgate builds on this by showing that to get big, you have to start small. The episode contains specific strategies for founders to consider when nailing their early niches on the way to massive success.