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Emmett Shear at Startup School SV 2014
11 segments available
Emmett Shear at Startup School Silicon Valley 2014 View the annotated transcript, and add annotations of your own, on Genius: http://tech.genius.com/Emmett-shear-emmett-shear-at-startup-school-sv-2014-annotated
Segments Timeline
The Journey Begins
Emmett Shear shares the story of his early days as a startup founder, detailing the excitement and uncertainty of moving to Boston with his co-founder, Justin. He reflects on their lack of experience and knowledge about startups, emphasizing the importance of determination and support from their network.
"hello everybody does it actually work yes all right so uh this was us in 2005 uh we were just out of college uh we packed ourselves into my Civic and we drove up into Boston where we've just been acce..."
Kiko Calendar: A Lesson in Failure
Shear recounts the challenges faced while building Kiko Calendar, a project that aimed to create a calendar similar to Google Calendar. He discusses the repeated mistakes, lack of focus, and the lessons learned from their failures, highlighting the importance of perseverance in the startup journey.
"going in uh when we started here was a determination not to give up because if you look back on it we kind of knew how to program we weren't very good in retrospect we didn't really know what we were ..."
The Reality of Startup Life
In this segment, Shear reflects on the chaotic nature of startup life, describing how he and his team struggled to maintain focus and often pivoted to new ideas. He emphasizes the educational value of these experiences, despite the setbacks, and how they contributed to their growth as entrepreneurs.
"start at the time anyway so not only did we have a kind of not so great idea but we couldn't stay focused on it for more than like five weeks in a row so we had like this founder add we'd go and we'd ..."
The Next Step: Building Justin.tv
Shear discusses the transition from Kiko Calendar to launching Justin.tv, highlighting the need for a strong team and the addition of co-founders with complementary skills. He shares insights into their initial vision and the challenges they faced in executing it.
"to The Next Step so we we knew after we did that we wanted to keep doing startups um we'd sold it on eBay for about A4 million dollar which at the time was like a inconceivably large amount of money w..."
The Launch of Justin.tv
This segment covers the launch of Justin.tv and the initial excitement it generated. Shear describes the unexpected attention they received and the rapid growth in user engagement, while also acknowledging their lack of experience in producing reality television.
"we'll raise some money and we'll move to New York and that was that was all lies we never moved to New York um I think we kind of intended to but not really um and so then we uh we brought on Kyle our..."
Adapting to Change
Shear explains how the team pivoted from producing content to allowing users to broadcast their own live video. He emphasizes the importance of adaptability in the face of challenges and how they managed to secure funding despite initial setbacks.
"the uh website you may have actually visited at some point which is a platform for anyone to broadcast live video um and so uh the come on there we go okay so you can see Justin TV uh being flat for a..."
Finding Product-Market Fit
In this segment, Shear discusses the journey to finding product-market fit for Justin.tv. He reflects on the challenges of understanding user needs and the importance of persistence in refining their approach to meet market demands.
"hadn't been able to draw draw a salary which we couldn't for months in the middle uh we would have kept going um so then it's great it we got product Market fit or we sort of thought we did we didn't ..."
The Shift to Gaming
Shear shares the strategic decision to focus on gaming content as a key growth area for Justin.tv. He discusses the internal team dynamics and the importance of setting clear goals to drive the development of new projects.
"ourselves stuck in this place where what do we do now like we've got this thing we could stay here we hav able to make it profitable we could work on it for a while you know it's not really going anyw..."
The Birth of Twitch
This segment details the creation of Twitch, the gaming platform that emerged from Justin.tv. Shear reflects on the lessons learned from previous failures and how they applied their experiences to successfully launch Twitch.
"named zarth um anyone who's ever worked with me knows that I love code names um I will code name anything I will code name reorgs I will code name like moving the kitchen anything I love code name so ..."
Building for Users
Shear emphasizes the importance of understanding user needs and building products that resonate with them. He shares insights into how they engaged with users to create a platform that catered to gamers and broadcasters.
"is there and I should just like walk in this path and I'll get across the room and it was really it was really a magical experience and you put all of those things six year accumulation of six years o..."
The Long Road to Success
In the final segment, Shear reflects on the challenges of entrepreneurship, the importance of mental health, and the long journey to success. He encourages aspiring founders to persist through difficulties and emphasizes that passion is crucial for enduring the startup experience.
"because we basically did the same thing over and over and over again we went and we talked to the users we'd ask them like what do you want and we'd get to know that what what their not just what they..."