Early Twitch Skepticism

Shaan tells a story about how he dismissed the concept of watching others play video games in college, which later became the foundation of Twitch.

"I remember freshman year of college, I walked into my buddy Tofique's dorm room. I see him playing video games with his back to me, playing Starcraft. I say 'Yo Tof,' and he turns around. I noticed the game is still going but he's not touching the mouse anymore.

I asked, 'Wait, what are you doing? Are you in demo mode?' He goes, 'Oh no, I'm not playing, I'm watching.' This was 2007 or 2008. I'm like, 'You're watching somebody play video games?' He says, 'Yeah, I always do this.' I was shocked - 'You woke up at 8:30 in the morning and started watching somebody play Starcraft? Why don't you just play?'

He explained, 'No, this is one of the best players, I just want to watch him.' I thought he was such a nerd that I went and grabbed my roommate to make fun of him together.

Fast forward 10 years, I'm announcing that we sold our company Bebo to Twitch. Tofique calls me - he usually calls twice a year. I pick up expecting congratulations, but instead he goes 'You little bitch!' He says, 'You used to make fun of me for this and now you're mister Twitch.' I realized he was way ahead of the curve - I could have created Twitch if I had leaned into that insight that people want to watch others play video games."