Lenny's Podcast · Jul 7Pattern Breakers: How to find a breakthrough startup idea | Mike Maples, Jr. (Partner at Floodgate)
First built cloud systems management and got a lukewarm response. Customers said identity management was their priority, so it kept the insight and changed the product. On-prem buyers were ignored as not living in the future.
Tips
- Diagnose a lukewarm customer: insight, implementation or wrong customer▶ 42:57Okta first built cloud systems management, heard 'meh', asked about top priorities, learned it was identity management, and then it worked. Customers wanting on-prem integration were ignored as not living in the future.
- Match founders to the future they are building▶ 50:30Applied Intuition's founders grew up in Detroit, worked at car companies, Waymo and Google Maps, and had a prior startup. Justin Kan's Atrium failed to match his passion because he wanted to be a higher status founder.
