Live video platforms have not succeeded because they fail to address the struggle for interestingness, unlike video games, which succeed by providing clear, engaging content.

The difference in community engagement between Twitch and YouTube is significant; Twitch fosters a more interactive and meme-driven culture.

Gaming requires significant upfront investment, similar to film and television, and we need to build a strong creative foundation to compete with pure gaming companies.

Artists who come from scrappier backgrounds, like those on Twitch or Instagram, often excel as entrepreneurs compared to those from established studios like Riot or Blizzard.

At Twitch, we made a clear decision to prioritize the needs of streamers over viewers, focusing on streamers because they were the key to our platform's success, especially in the early days when there were only about 200 gaming streamers who mattered.

Twitch began as Justin TV, where my co-founder Justin streamed 24/7 with just one camera. The initial version had no video games and was very basic, but it was a starting point for the platform.

Startups today face a much higher bar for consumer products, needing to be more compelling than platforms like TikTok and YouTube, which dominate user attention.

Gaming the system may work in big companies, but in startups, it doesn't; you can't trick users, only provide what they want.

When I was at Twitch, we often copied features from competitors, but sometimes we realized that those features had no real value, highlighting the pitfalls of blindly following competitors. The company only started working when Emmett and Kevin began talking to users to understand their needs, rather than just copying competitors' features.