Three Breakthrough Stages

Mike Maples outlines a specific sequence that breakthrough companies must follow to achieve success, emphasizing the importance of proper timing and approach at each stage.

Core Philosophy

• A startup isn't a company - it's the combination of founders' capabilities and their insight about the future
• Success depends on two key factors:
  • Having the right insight
  • Having founders capable of navigating that insight to a great product

The Breakthrough Sequence

1. Insight Breakthrough

• Must discover something about the future that's not obvious
• Focus on following inflections rather than existing markets
• Example: Lyft recognized smartphones + GPS would enable rider-driver matching
• Don't be "market first" because there is no market yet

2. Product Breakthrough

• Achieve product-market fit in "0 to 1" phase
• Initial product often evolves significantly
  • Twitter started as "voicemail 2.0"
  • Twitch began as Justin.tv
  • Okta started as Sasher

3. Growth Breakthrough

• Focus on achieving escape velocity
• Only pursued after product-market fit is achieved
• Final stage before potentially joining the "pantheon of companies"

Key Principles

• Different stages require different approaches
  • Growth advice is wrong for insight stage
  • Each stage needs unique strategies
• Team structure should be like a jazz band, not a marching band
  • Ability to improvise and adapt
  • Team members who can "go with the riff"
  • Not rigid or requiring detailed instructions

Investment Philosophy

• Focus on "rocket fuel" investments
• Only invest in founders aiming for escape velocity
• Look for massive inflections that enable asymmetric warfare against incumbents
• Precision should be on founder capability and insight strength, not predicting exact outcomes