Justin Kan
People like the feeling of access that is very raw, unedited, and inspirational.Collection: Inspirational
Extrinsic motivations are like, 'I wanna get rich, I wanna be famous.'... Even missionary ones like, 'I wanna change the world with this idea.'... That's an extrinsic motivation. And when things are hard, you're going to be like, oh why am I doing this?Collection: Famous
Inspirational content really resonates, like how to raise venture capital.Collection: Inspirational
Ironically, the pursuit of happiness can lead us into the eternal trap of chasing unhappiness.Collection: Happiness
I went to Yale and I was a physics and philosophy undergrad, graduated in 2005.
When you're a startup, your edge is that you don't have that many customers. So you can build a really strong relationship with them.
I feel like a lot of the technology that happens in gaming, starts in gaming and it goes broader than gaming.
Eventually my ego is going to be the size of the planet Earth.
I first started in tech when one of my friends and I decided it was a good opportunity to start a company while we were in school because we had almost no opportunity cost. Our opportunity cost was playing 'World of Warcraft' and drinking beer. We thought it was a good time to try something.
Alcohol was this crutch for me, to be able to be confident or go do those things I was scared to do. Eventually, I was like 'Oh, this isn't serving me anymore.'
I want money to replace mental energy and physical effort.
Our goal has always been to make broadcasters on TwitchTV feel like they own their channel pages, and we're continuing to make incremental improvements there.
I can't promise you will succeed if you stick with your start-up. What I can promise is that if you give up, you won't possibly succeed.
I was always so engrossed with being successful that that was my worth and my identity. And then when things weren't going well, I felt like I was worthless.
The human experience contains ups and downs no matter who you are.
There's something very satisfying about making anything with your hands.
I think when you start talking about selling a company or a company wants to buy you, then you start thinking about how much money you're going to have. That's insidious because it saps your will to continue.
I don't think the music business is a very good business to be in.
Electronic music is the first genre to realize how to use the music for marketing something else, which is playing festivals and club nights where they really make money.
Having a start-up is all about being able to see what works and change your idea.
It's nice to watch someone else perform instead of me.
If you look at our original business model with the verticalized law firm, a lot of these companies that have this kind of full stack model are not going to survive. A lot of these companies, Atrium included, did not figure out how to make a dent in operational efficiency.
I've been an entrepreneur for the past 12 years, since I graduated from Yale undergrad with a degree in Physics and Philosophy, and realized I had no actual marketable job skills.
The unifying factor in my career across investing and entrepreneurship was that the whole time I've basically been an involuntary power user of legal services.
No matter what I've wanted to accomplish, whether it was raising capital, investing in a startup, or selling a company, legal has always been a cost and a roadblock to the ultimate goal.
In fact, I've had many lawyers who I felt provided excellent advice and service during important decisions or difficult times. That being said, I always wondered why the law firms that serve the most innovative technology companies in the world rarely adopt innovative software or try to improve their business operations.
Why don't law firms use project management software to track where they are in the process of completing a deal and let customers see that?
If you think about corporate legal work that's done today, some part of it is art and then some of it is repeatable processes.
Because our site was live video, and because our backend was extremely unstable, we were always in a PTSD-inducing constant state of stress.
What I learned: if you've done something you think the public is going to react badly to, you can't delay it, hide from it, or ignore it. You have to address it head on and take your beating. Always take your beating.
You can be burned out no matter how successful you are, and you can be unhappy no matter how successful you are.
I think it's very cathartic to have someone to talk to.
As a founder, you are a very active component of your company.
If you burn out you aren't doing your customers or your investors or your employees any favors. You need to create a situation inside your company where you are going to be retained for a long time. I think that's your obligation if you're good.
Snapchat is the platform I should have built at Justin.tv, so I'm jumping on the bandwagon and going hard on Snapchat.
I want to inspire the youth to become entrepreneurs.
I'm kind of a life coach for thousands of people.
A lot of people on the business side are really serious. But I like being able to mix content that's me having fun.
Behavior is a virus. We spread our behavior to those around us, whether passively or on purpose.
For most people, startups are a risky endeavor and something to be avoided. Many are hesitant to quit their secure jobs and try to start a company from scratch.
One of the reasons I think Y Combinator is so powerful is because it creates a new social norm, especially for those who come from outside Silicon Valley.
Surround yourself with people who do what you want to do, and eventually you'll wake up to find yourself doing the same.
The idea was called Justin.tv. The idea behind it was, basically, to create our own live-video streaming show, like 'Big Brother,' about ourselves, these entrepreneurs trying to make a reality show. It was a little bit meta and we launched this show.
After selling Twitch, I worked at Y Combinator, investing as a partner there for a couple of years.
The original idea for Justin.tv was a terrible idea. So if something like that can eventually become successful, then anyone can be successful.
We do think founders should be treated like athletes, going for gold really hard.
I'm very passionate about mental health and wellness as part of the journey.
When we started, the Internet was America. If you weren't there, you weren't a company.
Smart founders are going anywhere to find talent.
The hardest part about growing has been making sure we can support the community in the same ways that we were able to when TwitchTV was just starting out.