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Back to Interview with Justin Kan, co-founder of Twitch and a former partner at Y Combinator., with Justin Kan.

Should Justin Kan Measure a Company by How Many Employees It Has?

No. On Below the Line, James Beshara puts it to Twitch cofounder Justin Kan: measuring a company by its headcount is like measuring an airplane by its weight. Kan agrees. He says the useful part of growing very fast was learning what not to do. Adding people in a hurry forced a lot of alignment work, keeping the team pointed the same direction. He does not treat the employee total as a score. Beshara brings up a company of Kan's with about 150 people that raised about $150 million, and Kan still describes headcount as the wrong gauge.

Transcript

Interview with Justin Kan, co-founder of Twitch and a former partner at Y Combinator. ·

Below the Line with James Beshara

More from this episode

  1. How Much Did James Beshara Say Twitch Was Worth?On Below the Line, James Beshara says Justin Kan helped turn Justin.tv into Twitch, which Amazon bought for about $1 billion.
  2. What Are Justin Kan's Favorite Things About Being a FounderBy now he's spent 14 years starting companies and being an investor.
  3. What Are Some of the Things Justin Kan Learned as a Startup Founder and InvestorInfinite learning. A lot of self-awareness, the things he is good and bad at.
  4. Why Is It Important to Get Company Alignment RightYou have a bunch of people who have never worked together before.
  5. How Many Companies Have Started With Justin Kan's InvolvementTwitch spun out of Justin.tv and that obviously was a great success. Socialcam was a spin off from Justin.tv. Exec sold to Handy, which was a decent outcome.
  6. What Is the Emotional Toll of Constantly Trying New Projects, Creating Things for 14 YearsEverybody in any situation can feel anxiety and fear and pain, no matter where you are at.
  7. What Are Some Examples of Emotional Stress That Entrepreneurs Go ThroughOnce you start a company it is easy to get attached to that company, having an idea of what exactly is going to happen to it.
  8. What Is Something Justin Kan Thinks a Lot About but Does Not Get a Chance to Talk AboutYou can be successful and have a lot of self-improvement work to do.
  9. What Is a Gratitude JournalIt's a tool that helps you to contextualize what goes on in your life.
  10. What Is Negative VisualizationIt's a way to visualize and imagine your life if something bad happens. What if your company failed, or you got cancer, or your family member passed away?
  11. What Would Happen If Atrium FailedEasy.
  12. What Is a Good Way to Fight Phone AddictionRecently Justin did an experiment where he tried to replace his phone with an Apple Watch.
  13. How Do You Keep in Shape If You Have a Very Low Will PowerIf you have a very low will power it means you have to take decision making out of your control by making a rule about it.
  14. How Do You Consistently Eat HealthyInstead of deciding to eat healthy, figure out what healthy is to you, and agree to do exactly that.
  15. Should a Founder See a TherapistTherapy has an unnecessary stigma to it, and seeing a therapist might be really helpful to some people.
  16. Is Justin Kan Imperfect in Any WayYou would be surprised to hear this, but Justin Kan has always felt uncomfortable connecting with other people on a deep level.
  17. Does Justin Kan Think Success at Your Job Will Make You Happy?No. Twitch cofounder Justin Kan tells James Beshara on Below the Line that a future outcome will not change your baseline happiness in a lasting way.
  18. How Much Does a Billion Dollars Change Your LifeYour life is what you make out of it. Making a lot of money does not change your life in a way that you might think it would. It does not give you joy.
  19. What Were a Few Things That Shaped Just Kan's Life(1) Getting into Y Combinator. (2) Selling Twitch to Amazon.
  20. What Is the Story About Justin Kan Drowning in the Pacific OceanJustin and his wife were spearfishing and diving in the Sonoma County as strong choppy water started to come in.

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