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Floodgate’s Mike Maples explains how startups that most people ‘don’t like’ are the best ones to back | TechCrunch

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Over the years, he’s taken a lot of bets. Some have paid off handsomely (Twitter, Twitch, Lyft and Bazaarvoice, for example). Others have not. I interviewed him for a recent episode of Equity Podcast, and we dug into a number of topics, including some of his most memorable investments, the one that got away, what he looks for when evaluating startups that pitch him and his new book that he co-authored with Peter Ziebelman called “Pattern Breakers: Why Some Startups Change the Future.” This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity: TechCrunch: You coined the term “Thunder Lizards,” a metaphor from Godzilla for the tiny number of truly exceptional companies that are wildly disruptive capitalist mutations. How did you come up with that? Mike Maples: I was looking for a term that wasn’t too jargony sounding. Thunder Lizard — the metaphor does come from Godzilla, and Godzilla was hatched from radioactive atomic eggs and swam across the ocean and emerged with an attitude and began b

Floodgate’s Mike Maples explains how startups that most people ‘don’t like’ are the best ones to back | TechCrunch Floodgate’s Mike Maples explains how startups that most people ‘don’t like’ are the best ones to back Mary Ann Azevedo Jul 10, 2024 29 min Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Mike Maples Jr. is a prolific angel investor and co-founder of early-stage venture firm Floodgate . Over the years, he’s taken a lot of bets. Some have paid off handsomely (Twitter, Twitch, Lyft and Bazaarvoice, for example). Others have not. I interviewed him for a recent episode of Equity Podcast , a

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