Top 55 Justin Kan Quotes

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.

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.

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.

You can be burned out no matter how successful you are, and you can be unhappy no matter how successful you are.

I’ve always been someone who’s, like, more of an exhibitionist.

If you look at things that are popular apps, it doesn’t mean it’s going to stick around.

Today, I have an understanding of the world, and of the entertainment and media industries, of how people consume content.

I like to have meetings in the early afternoon.

Ironically, the pursuit of happiness can lead us into the eternal trap of chasing unhappiness.

I joined YC to recover from the brain damage of starting companies.

I’m looking for a girl who’s an exhibitionist.

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 feel like a lot of the technology that happens in gaming, starts in gaming and it goes broader than gaming.

I don’t feel productive if I’m not working a lot.

There’s something very satisfying about making anything with your hands.

There was no real plan B. It was like, I’m gonna move back to Seattle and move in with my parents.

Because our site was live video, and because our backend was extremely unstable, we were always in a PTSD-inducing constant state of stress.

Smart founders are going anywhere to find talent.

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.

Imagine what you could do if you had the ability to broadcast live video from anywhere, anytime. It changes the way news is gathered.

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.

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.

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.

Having a start-up is all about being able to see what works and change your idea.

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.

The Internet is a place that fosters creativity.

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.

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.

If justin.tv can succeed, then nobody has an excuse. It was a terrible idea.

I actually want to go out and try to date girls. I mean, ones who want to be on camera.

The big thing was realizing for myself that I had tied my ego to the outcomes and to startups.

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.

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.

Early-stage startups are all about the founders and team.

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.

The best way to sell your company for a lot of money is to have a good company.

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.

People want to use products where they feel like the people who deliver those products are invested in making it better for them.

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.

I think streaming works a lot better from an app.

One of the ideas for Justin.tv was that it would force me to go out and be sociable and talk to people.

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.’

It’s nice to watch someone else perform instead of me.

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.

I don’t think the music business is a very good business to be in.

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.

Nothing is better received by a founder than reading about someone being passionate for his or her project.

Behavior is a virus. We spread our behavior to those around us, whether passively or on purpose.

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 went to Yale and I was a physics and philosophy undergrad, graduated in 2005.

When we started, the Internet was America. If you weren’t there, you weren’t a company.

Most people aren’t good at creating generally interesting video.

I think it’s very cathartic to have someone to talk to.

I want to inspire the youth to become entrepreneurs.

I grew up in Seattle.