Justin Kan
At TwitchTV, we think of ourselves as a technology product company, so when we set out to innovate, most often we're trying to improve or build better features for the platform that will improve things for the ecosystem.
As a young founder in high-stress situations, I often used alcohol to escape facing things. I've struggled with this for a long time, and while I think I've gotten better over time, I believe that this is the last thing preventing me from actualizing my 100 percent conscious self.
The best way to sell your company for a lot of money is to have a good company.
Broadcasting something live from a remote site has always been the sole domain of large media corporations with access to satellite trucks.
Imagine what you could do if you had the ability to broadcast live video from anywhere, anytime. It changes the way news is gathered.
I grew up in Seattle.
I'm looking for a girl who's an exhibitionist.
Nothing is better received by a founder than reading about someone being passionate for his or her project.
I deleted all the apps. You can actually turn off the App Store. And I gave the passcode to my wife so I didn't have the passcode to reinstall the App Store. And I deleted all social media apps and e-commerce apps.
When I was 31, we sold Twitch for a billion dollars. I achieved everything I ever dreamed of. When I was 35, I realized I was just as unhappy as I'd ever been.
That constant need to do better and better is what drove me to start more and more companies - but it wasn't enough.
Even though I had accomplished something astronomical, I looked to my friends who had founded Dropbox and Airbnb, and thought, 'I could've done better.'
I've always been someone who's, like, more of an exhibitionist.
Today, I have an understanding of the world, and of the entertainment and media industries, of how people consume content.
The Internet is a place that fosters creativity.
To me, e-sports is like poker. Twenty years ago, if someone told you that poker was going to be a massive spectator sport, you'd be like, 'What are you talking about,' right?
If justin.tv can succeed, then nobody has an excuse. It was a terrible idea.
Twitter is a competition to write the most retweeted witticisms.
Most people aren't good at creating generally interesting video.
One of the things big law partners say when they talk about Atrium is that we get people who wouldn't make partner. And I say, they're the people who are doing the work for you anyway, but they transition out because they hate the lifestyle.
I try to work the hardest I can without burning myself out. It's not that I think working all the time is the key to success. It's just the way I was raised.
I don't feel productive if I'm not working a lot.
I usually float between the tech and the business sides of the office.
I like to have meetings in the early afternoon.
I joined YC to recover from the brain damage of starting companies.
Early-stage startups are all about the founders and team.
With Whale, I'm like the first user. My feedback is around my experience as a content creator.
It helps tremendously to have operating startup experience when advising startups. It is much easier to tell people how to talk to customers, build product, manage an engineering team, raise money from investors, and talk to press when you've done it before yourself.
The original concept for JTV was that we would give people a window into other people's lives. The problem is that if that window is 24/7, when you look in at any random moment, odds are you are going to be bored.
Snapchat built an elegant, incredibly well-thought-out tool to make it fun, simple, and frictionless for normal people to share snippets of their lives in an interesting way.
When we started Twitch I didn't start off as a huge eSports fan, but I am now.
I think streaming works a lot better from an app.
For gamers, I think it's very easy for people to produce content that's pretty engaging.
I think people have called Twitch a niche for a long time but it's not, gaming is bigger than Hollywood.
If you look at things that are popular apps, it doesn't mean it's going to stick around.
There was no real plan B. It was like, I'm gonna move back to Seattle and move in with my parents.
The big thing was realizing for myself that I had tied my ego to the outcomes and to startups.
I've always had the theory that people like watching people.
One of the ideas for Justin.tv was that it would force me to go out and be sociable and talk to people.
I actually want to go out and try to date girls. I mean, ones who want to be on camera.
With Justin.TV, infinite people told us that it wouldn't work, and to some extent they were right. But it was still a good investment.
I like the idea that I can make a big difference to a startup in a short period of time.
After learning about Snapchat Stories, I've become obsessed with Snapchat.
Companies are bought not sold, an investment banker told me that once and it is very true. Basically what it means is you can't control selling your company, you can only sell it if somebody wants to buy it, and you need someone to want to buy it.
It used to be that games were more like movies where a game would come out and then people play it for two months and then it's over.
During the pandemic, obviously gaming has become almost like a primary activity. People are at home all the time, they need to entertain themselves, gaming has seen huge growth in all the gaming companies and so Twitch is no exception.
I'm biased, but I see people who have great ideas and are working on things that could be successful, but they give up.
A lot of tech people are afraid to get on the phone and talk to their customers, or get on Zoom, or whatever. But I think a great place to start is just be calling your customers all the time.
People want to use products where they feel like the people who deliver those products are invested in making it better for them.