The Difference Between Startups and Normal Corporations

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Successful startups often pivot significantly, challenging the notion that ideas do not matter and emphasizing the importance of a startup capitalist's approach. Unlike traditional corporations that leverage competitive advantages and seek to compound value, startups possess only the potential of their ideas and the capabilities of their founders. Startup capitalists thrive by radically altering the landscape of business rather than compounding existing advantages. Their success hinges on introducing groundbreaking ideas and exhibiting unique behaviors that fundamentally disrupt established patterns. When the future diverges from the present, startup capitalists create opportunities through innovation and action, effectively reshaping the trajectory of business and society.

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What mistakes do investors make when trying to predict which startups will succeed? Which matters more: a startup's team or its central idea? How do startup founders differ from other capitalists? What makes something a "pattern-breaking" idea or behavior? Are startup founders less sensitive to negative feedback than the average person? Is it possible to achieve startup success without challenging the status quo? Is it true that 90% of startups fail? What is founder-future match? At their core, what are movements? Can startup founders be too good at storytelling? Has the US become less innovative? What are Singapore and Israel doing right that enables them to have the highest number of "unicorn" startups per million people? What's the right amount of "shaking things up"?

Mike Maples, Jr. is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, podcaster, and the co-founder of FLOODGATE, a leading seed stage fund in Silicon Valley that invested in companies like Twitter, Twitch, Okta, and Outreach at the very beginning of their startup journeys. An eight-time member of the Forbes Midas List of Top Venture Capital investors, he was one of the pioneers of the seed investing movement, which started in the mid-2000s, and now is a mainstream part of startup funding. Follow him on Twitter at @m2jr.

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