Mike Maples on Navigating the Idea Maze and Building Breakthrough Companies

Mike Maples (@m2jr), co-founder and partner at Floodgate, joins Erik to talk about:

- Insight hacking as a scientific way to generate insights, including specific steps to take and how to “backcast.”

- The types of inflections that create potentially huge companies.

- How to systematically find those inflections.

- Lessons from founders who have successfully created companies built on inflections.

- Frameworks for thinking through whether a worthwhile company can emerge from a chosen inflection.

- How to lead effectively in the earliest stages through the growth phase.

- Why he says “you don’t want to be the best, you want to be the only.”

- His advice on pitching.

The final deadline for applications for the summer vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator is June 5th. Learn more and apply today at www.villageglobal.vc/network-catalyst.

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