Top 110 Quotes & Sayings by Justin Kan

I first started in tech when one of my friends and I decided it was a good opportunity to start a company while we were in school because we had almost no opportunity cost. Our opportunity cost was playing 'World of Warcraft' and drinking beer. We thought it was a good time to try something.

As a founder, you are a very active component of your company.

I've been an entrepreneur for the past 12 years, since I graduated from Yale undergrad with a degree in Physics and Philosophy, and realized I had no actual marketable job skills.

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

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

People like the feeling of access that is very raw, unedited, and inspirational.

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.

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.

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.

Our goal has always been to make broadcasters on TwitchTV feel like they own their channel pages, and we're continuing to make incremental improvements there.

After selling Twitch, I worked at Y Combinator, investing as a partner there for a couple of years.

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

I'm very passionate about mental health and wellness as part of the journey.

The human experience contains ups and downs no matter who you are.

I think when you start talking about selling a company or a company wants to buy you, then you start thinking about how much money you're going to have. That's insidious because it saps your will to continue.

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

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

We see ourselves as part of a larger gaming ecosystem: You've got broadcasters, game developers, sponsors, and of course the video platforms like TwitchTV.

That constant need to do better and better is what drove me to start more and more companies - but it wasn't enough.

No matter what I've wanted to accomplish, whether it was raising capital, investing in a startup, or selling a company, legal has always been a cost and a roadblock to the ultimate goal.

Surround yourself with people who do what you want to do, and eventually you'll wake up to find yourself doing the same.

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

Eventually my ego is going to be the size of the planet Earth.

Electronic music is the first genre to realize how to use the music for marketing something else, which is playing festivals and club nights where they really make money.

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

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

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

If you think about corporate legal work that's done today, some part of it is art and then some of it is repeatable processes.

Why don't law firms use project management software to track where they are in the process of completing a deal and let customers see that?

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.'

What I learned: if you've done something you think the public is going to react badly to, you can't delay it, hide from it, or ignore it. You have to address it head on and take your beating. Always take your beating.

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.

Smart founders are going anywhere to find talent.

I'm kind of a life coach for thousands of people.

Snapchat is the platform I should have built at Justin.tv, so I'm jumping on the bandwagon and going hard on Snapchat.

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.

The idea was called Justin.tv. The idea behind it was, basically, to create our own live-video streaming show, like 'Big Brother,' about ourselves, these entrepreneurs trying to make a reality show. It was a little bit meta and we launched this show.

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

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

The original idea for Justin.tv was a terrible idea. So if something like that can eventually become successful, then anyone can be successful.

I deleted all the apps. You can actually turn off the App Store. And I gave the passcode to my wife so I didn't have the passcode to reinstall the App Store. And I deleted all social media apps and e-commerce apps.

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

I can't promise you will succeed if you stick with your start-up. What I can promise is that if you give up, you won't possibly succeed.

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.

Inspirational content really resonates, like how to raise venture capital.

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

A lot of people on the business side are really serious. But I like being able to mix content that's me having fun.

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 grew up in Seattle.

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.

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

We do think founders should be treated like athletes, going for gold really hard.

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.

I want to inspire the youth to become entrepreneurs.

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

I think people have called Twitch a niche for a long time but it's not, gaming is bigger than Hollywood.

The unifying factor in my career across investing and entrepreneurship was that the whole time I've basically been an involuntary power user of legal services.

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.'

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

Broadcasting something live from a remote site has always been the sole domain of large media corporations with access to satellite trucks.