Congrats and thanks, Emmett

I first met Emmett Shear (Twitch CEO) in early 2012. I was pretty nervous. Here I was basically a nobody and just starting off my entrepreneurial career. And Emmett’s a seasoned entrepreneur, YC part-time partner, and CEO of a successful startup.

I was meeting with Emmett primarily for one reason: to show him Kamcord for the first time. For quick background, Kamcord allows users to record and share a video of their mobile gameplay. I really had no idea how Emmett would react… Would he tell us our UI sucked? Would he think mobile games are lame? Would he take our idea? I had never met him, so I had no idea!

Two minutes in, however, the negativity and nervousness left my mind. We had an incredibly awesome meeting and he said, “This needs to exist!” As we talked more, it became clear that Emmett totally understood and believed in what we were trying to accomplish. When I left, I felt validated.

We had met with so many other entrepreneurs and investors. But few understood why people would watch video games — let alone videos from mobile games. At that time, Emmett really understood something that no one else did. Hardcore communities can be built around any interest — pinball machines, 19th century literature, anime, you name it, and there’s a diehard community for it.

I’ve had the privilege to meet with Emmett a few more times over the past two years. He’s always been tremendously supportive and positive. Here was another person that wholeheartedly believed you could build a community around people watching games. We later found out that Emmett put in a good word to YC, which helped us get into the program.

Emmett validated us.

The acquisition this week validates the incredible community Emmett and the team at Twitch have built.

Congrats, Emmett. You built a world-renowned community despite all the naysayers. Your success is entirely well-deserved and I wish you and your team the best of luck in the next phase.