Mike Maples Jr. coined the concept of living in the future, seeking founders who are already behaving as if a different world exists and noticing inflections from that vantage point, rather than just those with good resumes. He built his investing philosophy around the idea that most returns come from pivots, so he optimizes for founder-future fit over the initial product, noting that roughly 80% of Floodgate's exit profits came from companies that significantly changed direction. Mike Maples Jr. coined the concept of living in the future, seeking founders who are already behaving as if a different world exists and noticing inflections from that vantage point, rather than just those with good resumes. He built his investing philosophy around the idea that most returns come from pivots, so he optimizes for founder-future fit over the initial product, noting that roughly 80% of Floodgate's exit profits came from companies that significantly changed direction.