Stanford Entrepreneurship Videos

John Hennessy, Stanford University's 10th president, describes how his experience as an entrepreneur in the fast-paced tech industry taught him skills that served him well as an academic leader, such as dealing with difficult issues quickly. "The faster you can move through it, the better and quicker the organization heals and moves forward," he says.

Stanford University President John Hennessy lists the most essential qualities he looks for in those who advise him on high-level decisions. He also explains how the best leaders must learn to trust others and delegate, acknowledging that one gradually develops better instincts about who to hire. Stanford Professor of the Practice Tina Seelig interviews.

Mike Maples Jr., co-founder of Floodgate, describes the dynamic between a company's product and its intended market: If demand is high, the market essentially pulls product out of the company. However, a great product and team will inevitably fail if the market isn't there. Maples says success also depends on a product or service delighting customers beyond belief, not just satisfying them.

Floodgate Co-Founder Mike Maples Jr. explains how a venture's business model is rooted in the uniqueness of its product and a clear understanding of how much customers want it. Establishing those will guide pricing and profit, according to Maples, who adds, "Customers often will pay more money when the price is clear. And they will often resist paying less money when the price is unclear."

Floodgate's Mike Maples Jr. sums up the story of how NASA's first moon landing was the result of many teams who overcame resistance all along the way through sheer will to achieve the mission. Maples says entrepreneurs must work with just as much intensity: "The goal is super-important and you can make it happen. And in fact, if you don't make it happen, it won't happen."

Companies that top their category don't just sell more product than their competitors, they likely created the category and made people see the world in a new way, according Mike Maples Jr. of Floodgate, which has invested in groundbreaking startups such as lyft, TaskRabbit and Twitter. He points to how Apple essentially created the categories of digital-music players, smartphones and tablets.

Mike Maples Jr., co-founder of the venture capital firm Floodgate, explains what entrepreneurs can learn from the very few technology startups that achieve hyper-exceptional success and market disruption. The Silicon Valley veteran urges tomorrow's innovators to "only do things that have a chance to be legendary" – because it takes just as much work to do something mediocre.

Silicon Valley veteran Mike Maples Jr. shares heartfelt advice urging aspiring entrepreneurs to "only do things that you think have a chance to be legendary." By committing to always doing exceptional work and being around inspiring people, Maples says you will reap the cumulative benefits of a lifetime of excellence, and be able to enjoy it again whenever you look back.

Mike Maples Jr., co-founder of venture capital firm Floodgate, explains how three laws of exponential growth favor tech entrepreneurs: Moore's law ensures products will possess unprecedented computing power; Metcalfe's law of network effects compounds the number of users; and the "power law" shows that top performers can achieve runaway success if they get everything right.

Floodgate Co-Founder Mike Maples Jr. describes two types of conceptual debt that founders should avoid. One is technical debt, where a startup resolves a problem with a short-term fix that ultimately creates costlier issues in the future. The other is when a firm's management system is weak or non-existent at the start, and then fails the business when it scales up.

Floodgate's Mike Maples Jr. discusses how startups in the bustling tech sector do best when they have a "structural competitive advantage," rather than just proving they are better than others. A unique advantage at the core of a business will scale as it grows and ensure it retains a dominant position, according to Maples, an early investor in Twitter, Lyft, TwitchTV and other successful startups.

Venture capitalist Mike Maples Jr. talks about how businesses seeking to exploit network effects must deeply understand the network itself, its nodes and the role of the operator. He points to railroads, record companies and TV stations as historical examples of network-effects businesses and urges present-day founders to have an ongoing hypothesis of their network that evolves over time.

Sequoia Capital's Michael Moritz explains how well a business performs and shows decisiveness do more to make a good impression than savvy social-media marketing. Even though venture capitalists promote the social-media startups they invest in, Mortiz says VC firms would do well to heed this basic truth, or risk humiliation.

Renowned investor and author Michael Moritz describes how expansive and transformative it can be to put one's self in an environment where a lot can be learned from the organization or people around you. Such experiences can redefine your idea of excellence and influence your professional path, according to Mortiz, chairman at Sequoia Capital and co-author of the 2015 book "Leading."

Sequoia Capital Chairman Michael Moritz and Lisa Sugar, founder and president of Popsugar, describe the investor-entrepreneur dynamic based on their personal experiences. In conversation with Stanford University lecturer Emily Ma, they discuss how success starts with staying to true to yourself, following your instincts and interests, and doing what makes you happy.