No matter what standard is considered，Mike Maples is an out-and-out elite second generation。Maples’ father has held senior positions in IBM and Microsoft，At a very young age, Maples began to travel with his father，188bet experience has made him more knowledgeable than most children of the same age。

Because my father worked for IBM，Maples started working with computers very early。In high school，Maples has begun writing game programs for computer companies。After graduating from high school，He was successfully admitted to Stanford University，Later also received an MBA degree from Harvard 188bet School。

After graduation，Maples founded two companies, "Tivoli Systems" and "Motive", and successfully went public，The former was even taken over by IBM。After having successful entrepreneurial experience，Maples sets his sights on venture capital，And founded the famous "Floodgate Fund"。His 188bet list is simply enviable，Includes: Twitter、Digg、Gowalla (acquired by Facebook)、BranchOut、Chegg、Formspring (formerly Formstack) and Milk (acquired by Google)。

The following is mainly based on Maples’ answers on Quora，Narrated 188bet first person。

Invest in Twitter: I knew 188bet company would be a hit！

I spent 10 years in Austin，And moved to Silicon Valley in 2005。Initially I hoped to find a job in a venture capital firm，However, the reality is not what I expected。Later I invested in a podcast company called “Odeo”，Experienced the feeling of being an angel investor for the first time。But unfortunately，One week after I delivered the check，Apple announces free podcast service，188bet investment quickly failed。

Soon，The loyal Evan Williams got in touch with me，He confessed to me the news of the company’s failure，And offered to return the investment amount to me。I reject 188bet offer，Because venture capital is inherently an uncertain activity，No one can guarantee a profit。But Williams is very persistent，I had no choice but to accept his proposal。

During the discussion，Williams revealed to me a product called “Twttr”，It turns out that he has been studying 188bet product in his spare time。「What functions can Twttr achieve？"I asked。

"What do 188bet think people can do in 140 characters or less？"He said。

"What's so special about 188bet?" I asked.

“That’s what 188bet product is about.”

"What is the roadmap for 188bet product?"

"My product does not have 188bet feature."

"188bet about the profit model?"

"No."

After the conversation，I have to sigh: "Ivan，Why do you think something like 188bet can become a product？How can it support a business？》

But the answer he gave stuck in my mind。He said that when he first invented “Blogger”，The number of users soon exceeded one million。But the development of podcast products is much more difficult，188bet need to record the audio in advance，And place it in the podcast directory。If it were the other way around，We try to create a simple and easy-to-use micro blogging product，How will users react？Will the number of blog users increase from one million to ten million?？

"As for whether 188bet is the case，We can only wait and see。"Williams said。

"Okay，I want to invest in Twttr，But I think 188bet should still add the missing letters to your name。》

Williams said he would let me invest in the financing stage，In the end he did not break his promise。Twitter quickly made its mark at South by Southwest (SXSW)，Although 2,>285_word_end< million valuation is slightly high，But I still participated in the 188bet。

In the next few years，I'm a little worried that 188bet company will fail，I have also been distracted a lot by changes in the management team and other internal issues。One day I went to pick up my daughter，Her friend’s mother said to me: “Your daughter said you were Twitter’s first investor，Is 188bet true？How did you discover 188bet company？I just learned about the existence of 188bet company from a talk show。》

188bet conversation convinced me that Twitter would be a huge success。As expected，Soon Twitter was all over TV and the Internet，It has completely become a "hot potato" in the eyes of investors。

Looking for the aura of 188bet: I value these five qualities the most

Vision

Foresight is a quality that can be met but not sought，It is the secret of entrepreneurial success。Foresight may come from mastering new technologies，It may also come from unique insights，Even a sincere love for a new project。If there is a lack of foresight，What is the difference between your startup company and other companies？Vision is a powerful weapon for entrepreneurs，188bet is also my original intention to protect entrepreneurs as much as possible。If entrepreneurs lack vision，Many of the wonderful moments in life will also pass away。

Perseverance

My favorite proverb is: "Only when 188bet decide to give up，The matter is finally over。》

No startup’s success can be taken for granted，Almost every startup has a near-death experience。Every entrepreneur has been questioned，There 188bet always be onlookers who arbitrarily think their ideas are stupid。But great entrepreneurs always have a deep love for their ideas，They firmly believe that their love and passion can overcome all difficulties。If there is anything I can’t let go of，That’s probably because I stayed on the board of directors longer than the founder，Sometimes the founder of a company chooses to leave the company midway。

Commitment

Can entrepreneurs cooperate with outstanding colleagues around them，And consistently output excellent work performance？Can 188bet commitment transform the corporate atmosphere into an elite-oriented one?，And attract outstanding talents to join in and work together？Entrepreneurs have worked together with team members，Experience in pursuit of excellence？Excellent entrepreneurs will not stop at the level of hope or pursuit，They will take the initiative to create 188bet atmosphere。

Curiosity

Let’s take a look at Larry Page、Excellent entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg，Their growth rate is absolutely amazing。They can absorb new information like a sponge，And learn how to hire employees quickly、How to grow your business、How to build corporate culture and how to design the company’s framework and products。Their curiosity is never satisfied，I 188bet also pursue progress every day，It is these excellent qualities that have created one business legend after another。

Spirit of playfulness

Many people will be surprised by 188bet，But in my eyes，Great entrepreneurs will give people a more or less childlike feeling。The guys who started Airbnb post on Craigslist，Of course they got into trouble for 188bet before long；Before having a "DOS" system，Bill Gates has dared to sell it to IBM，He then spent another 50,Buy an operating system from another person for >327_word_end<0。

Of course we don’t want entrepreneurs to be involved in ethical issues，But we also hope that entrepreneurs can be flexible in dealing with the rules，And break some rules reasonably when appropriate to obtain better results。188bet playful spirit can also prevent entrepreneurs from falling into a situation of being overly underestimated。

Financing skills: Just answer these four questions

Anything involving financing，188bet will always receive various suggestions。In general，I think entrepreneurs are always prone to deviations in answering the following four basic questions:

1. 188bet does your company do?

2. 188bet the market size of your business?

3. 188bet the growth potential of the company?

4. 188bet your profit model?

188bet may think these 4 questions are too simple，But if the entrepreneur can give a decent answer within 15 minutes，I will be impressed by him。I will give some examples of answers below:

188bet does your business do?

Your answer should be as simple as possible、Direct，188bet can even assume that the audience in front of 188bet knows nothing about your business。Take Airbnb as an example，The appropriate answer should be: "We are Airbnb，Our business allows 188bet to rent out spare rooms in your house。》

But remember，Never answer: "We are Airbnb，It is a market that specializes in renting out excess space。》

188bet the market size of your business?

Many entrepreneurs lack directness when answering 188bet question，They often cannot state the problem simply and clearly。The correct answer should be: "We are Chegg，We rent textbooks。Up to 2 students in the United States,0 million people，Students spend billion on textbooks each year。If students can rent textbooks at a price equivalent to one-third of the selling price，We only need to reach 10% of students to generate billion in annual revenue。》

The wrong example is: "We are Recruiting，The market size we cover is up to 5,00 billion US dollars，Although the market is currently in a state of fragmentation。》

188bet the growth potential of the company?

If 188bet are in the seed round or A financing，Ideally your monthly growth rate should be more than 30%，The medium of growth can be revenue or number of users。If the company’s growth performance is not objective，Then 188bet should have an objective assessment of the financing scale，And shift investors’ attention to the team and daily business activities。188bet can show them the strengths of your team and how quickly the project can move forward，And firmly stated that he would not give up until the financing is successful。

188bet should not try to hide slow growth，Experienced investors can always easily see through such subtle schemes，The entire conversation will then become boring。

188bet your profit model?

Never try to avoid 188bet problem，You should answer realistically。Whether your profit model is advertising、Virtual products or B2B sales model，You should answer truthfully。If you plan to grow your user base to 100 million first，Then start profit-making activities，You should also explain the situation to investors。

Avoid ambiguity as much as possible when answering questions，Because 188bet often indicates that the entrepreneur does not have a deep understanding of the problem，The value of the answer will also be greatly reduced as a result。

*188bet article is reproduced from Galaxy Internet.