Mike Maples, founding partner at Floodgate, explains his core investment thesis on why breakthrough startups must be pattern breakers rather than incremental improvers.
“A startup capitalist is a different type of capitalist that they don't They don't create value through persistent compounding or competitive moats. They create value by changing the subject. And they break the pattern of how people do things. And only by doing that, do they change the future. And only by being radically different, can you make a radical difference.”
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More from Mike Maples
Opinion
Founders Must Be Able to Get Out of the Present
“A lot of people say to me, Hey, well, I don't have a natural way to get out of the present. And I'm like, okay, then maybe you shouldn't be thinking of starting a startup.”
Mike MaplesJul 17, 2025▶ 25:29Mike Maples: Your Startup Idea Isn’t Crazy Enough—And it's holding you back | Mike Maples, Founde... · PMF Show
Insight
Maples: A startup's only advantage is turning incumbents' strengths into weaknesses
“When you're a startup, the only advantage you have is your ability to change the subject. And so you want to have something that disorients the incumbents that turns, you know, Airbnb, they didn't try to have a better hotel. They turned the strengths of hotels…”
Mike MaplesJul 17, 2025▶ 16:03Mike Maples: Your Startup Idea Isn’t Crazy Enough—And it's holding you back | Mike Maples, Founde... · PMF Show
Insight
A Founder's True Failure is Wasting Years on the Wrong Idea
“In my view, the only way to really fail as a founder is to lose your time. And it's to, you know, be three years in on an idea that you now realize wasn't good enough, wasn't worthy of your time.”
Mike MaplesJul 17, 2025▶ 38:15Mike Maples: Your Startup Idea Isn’t Crazy Enough—And it's holding you back | Mike Maples, Founde... · PMF Show
Insight
Maples: Seed rounds should only raise enough to de-risk the core hypothesis
“So let's figure out what the biggest risk is and let's raise the minimum amount of money we can raise to take out that risk as soon as possible. If we can't take out that risk, we're not going to succeed, but at least we get our time back. If we take out that …”
Mike MaplesJul 17, 2025▶ 39:12Mike Maples: Your Startup Idea Isn’t Crazy Enough—And it's holding you back | Mike Maples, Founde... · PMF Show
Insight
Validated Learning Enables Scaling $1M to $10M ARR in Two Years
“Validated learning about customers, if it's truly valid, should allow you to go from one to ten million in two years or less.”
Mike MaplesJul 17, 2025▶ 44:32Mike Maples: Your Startup Idea Isn’t Crazy Enough—And it's holding you back | Mike Maples, Founde... · PMF Show
Insight
Maples: Startups reaching PMF first win regardless of capital raised
“It's not first mover advantage. It's first to product market fit that wins regardless how much they raise. And if you can get to product market fit without much money, You're gonna win even if the other guy raises more.”
Mike MaplesJul 17, 2025▶ 46:58Mike Maples: Your Startup Idea Isn’t Crazy Enough—And it's holding you back | Mike Maples, Founde... · PMF Show
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