Justin Kan (Twitch) - Finding Fulfillment in Entrepreneurship [ETL Looks Back]

Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders (ETL)

Stanford eCorner

Journey, Startups, Education, Stanford, Culture, Strategy, Stanford University, Entrepreneurship, Business, Life Lessons, Thought Leadership, Creativity, Etl, Challenges, Leadership, Innovation, Founders

4.4 • 739 Ratings

🗓️ 5 March 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Justin Kan is an entrepreneur and investor best known as the co-founder of Twitch. In this conversation from 2021, Kan shares candid insights on the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, emphasizing the importance of resilience, self-awareness, and personal well-being. Reflecting on his journey—from founding Twitch to reassessing his motivations—he discusses the challenges of chasing external success and the shift toward finding fulfillment in daily habits, mindfulness, and meaningful work. His perspective highlights how true satisfaction comes not just from achievements, but from aligning one’s work with personal values and well-being.

The episode first aired on October 6, 2021.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Who you are defines how you build.
0:06.7	This is the Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders series.
0:10.7	Brought to you by Stanford E-Corner.
0:14.3	Welcome YouTube communities and Stanford communities to the Entrepreneurial Thought Leader
0:19.2	Seminar.
0:20.0	I am Ravi Balani, a lecturer in the
0:22.6	management science and engineering department at Stanford University and the director of alchemist
0:26.9	and accelerator for enterprise startups. This is the kickoff for the new year for ETL and ETL is
0:33.3	brought to you by STVP, the Entrepreneurship Center in Stanford's School of Engineering and Basis,
0:39.7	the Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students. I can think of no better guests
0:46.3	to kick off a new start to a new year than Justin Kahn. Justin has jumped head first into entrepreneurship without having a filter
0:57.5	like few people I know. So when it comes to starting something new, we are blessed to have
1:02.7	the master of starting bold endeavors, Justin Kahn. Justin is a serial entrepreneur.
1:07.7	A few people, frankly, have experienced peaks as high as Justin has on the
1:12.9	entrepreneurial journey and depths as low as Justin has. And few, if anybody, is as honest and unfiltered
1:21.2	about the experience. If you don't follow Justin, I highly encourage you to follow him on a
1:26.7	variety of different social media
1:28.0	outlets. You will have a better and more interesting and informed life if you do. But let me give
1:34.3	you the formal introduction for Justin. So Justin is a graduate from Yale where he studied
1:40.3	physics and philosophy as an undergrad at Yale. Then at age 23, he started with fellow
1:46.2	Yaleies Emmett Shear, Michael Seibel and Kyle Voight, Justin TV, which was famous for being
1:53.3	one of the first and anchor lifecaster platforms where a lot was centered around Justin, a lot of it was
	...

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