Venture Games

In Episode 54 of Venture Games, my guest Gordon Bellamy discusses his 30+ year career in gaming; his experience as a game designer at Electronic Arts in the 90s, including on the Madden franchise; and the evolution of the gaming industry and innovation over the past several decades.

In Episode 53 of Venture Games, my guest Ilia Eremeev, Founder at The Games Fund discusses his fund's focus on emerging markets including Eastern Europe and MENA; some of the opportunities and challenges to consider when investing in emerging regions; his optimistic view on the growth of the games industry; and advice for founders navigating the current macroeconomic environment.

In Episode 52 of Venture Games, my guest Eden Chen, Founder & CEO at Pragma discusses the growing trend of game studios outsourcing their backend tech; why choosing the right approach to backend tech is crucial to a game studio's success; his thoughts on AA studios given recent challenges in the space; and fundraising advice for founders building infrastructure companies in the gaming space.

In Episode 51 of Venture Games, my guest Sarah Fuchs, Co-Founder & Co-CEO at Muus Collective discusses her 20+ year career in gaming; her studio's recently soft launched fashion game Bellemint; Muus' unique partnership with the next-gen fashion retailer REVOLVE; and her approach to building a healthy, supportive culture at Muus.

In Episode 50 of Venture Games, my guest Dennis Fong, Founder & CEO at GGWP discusses becoming the world's first professional gamer; his 25+ year career in gaming, tech, and entrepreneurship; and how his latest company GGWP is using AI to address gaming's moderation challenges.

In Episode 49 of Venture Games, my guest Sean Ryan, CEO at Zoot, discusses his 25+ year career in gaming, tech, and entrepreneurship; founding the early metaverse company Meez, and the evolution of the metaverse; his 10+ years working in gaming and platform partnerships at Facebook; and his latest venture Zoot, a next generation social gaming platform with sweepstakes prizing options.

In Episode 48 of Venture Games, my guest Tim Bender, CEO at Hooded Horse discusses the indie game publisher model; publishing the medieval-themed breakout hit Manor Lords; factors to consider when selecting a publishing partner; and how to appropriately gauge success for early access titles.

In Episode 47 of Venture Games, my guest Phil Sanderson, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Griffin Gaming Partners discusses his updated views on the gaming industry and the venture landscape; the continued convergence of large IPs and gaming; and AI's potential impact on the gaming industry.

In Episode 46 of Venture Games, my guest Matt Ball, CEO at Epyllion, discusses the current state of the gaming industry, with “black hole games” capturing a large share of players' time and spend; how advancements in AI could potentially help disrupt the status quo in the industry; and his current views on the metaverse, ahead of the highly-anticipated July 23rd release of the updated edition to his best-selling book on the metaverse. Find Matt's book here! https://www.ballmetaversebook.com/

In Episode 45 of Venture Games, my guest Anton Bernstein, co-founder and CEO at Pocket Worlds discusses his company's avatar-focused virtual world, Highrise; the evolution of metaverses and virtual worlds over the past decade; the roles that User-generated content, commerce, and AI play in the metaverse and on Highrise today; and some thoughts on the future of the metaverse.

In Episode 44 of Venture Games, my guest Kristian Segerstrale, CEO at Super Evil Megacorp discusses his decades-long career in gaming; co-founding Glu Mobile and Playfish; leading the seed investment round in Supercell; and the learnings from Vainglory.

In Episode 43 of Venture Games, my guest Tim Train, GM of Marvel Snap at Second Dinner discusses his decades-long career in gaming; founding multiple companies, including Big Huge Games; leveraging popular IPs as a user acquisition strategy in today's competitive mobile gaming environment; and how Marvel Snap has innovated to achieve breakthrough success in the Collectible Card Game genre.

In Episode 42 of Venture Games, my guest Trip Hawkins discusses founding Electronic Arts, 3DO, and Digital Chocolate; collaborating with legendary sports figures such as Dr. J, Larry Bird, and John Madden; stories and lessons learned throughout his decades-long career in tech and gaming; and advice for entrepreneurs building companies today.

In Episode 41 of Venture Games, my guest Uri Marchand, CEO & Co-Founder at Overwolf discusses the evolution of modding and User-Generated Content (UGC) in games; how large IP owners could benefit from embracing creator platforms; how GenAI might impact UGC; and advice for founders building in the UGC space today.

In Episode 40 of Venture Games, my guest John Fazio, CEO & Founder at Nerd Street, discusses why in-person esports venues and events are still necessary in the post-COVID world; his vision for the future of the esports industry; and his candid advice for founders navigating the ups and downs of building a venture-backed business.

In Episode 39 of Venture Games, my guest Mark Otero, CEO & Founder at Azra Games, discusses his 15-year career building and leading RPG games, including Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes; the process he uses to bring deep, captivating RPG universes to life; and some advice for founders building and fundraising in today's more challenging environment

In Episode 38 of Venture Games, my guest Dean Takahashi, Lead Writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat, discusses his 25+ year career as a gaming journalist; his infamous Cuphead video; and some of the many trends he has covered throughout his career.

In Episode 37 of Venture Games, my guest Austin Woolridge, CEO at Players' Lounge, discusses raising capital from leading institutional investors and individual investors like Strauss Zelnick, Drake, & Marissa Mayer; why skill-based gaming is a massive opportunity today; and why Players' Lounge's new product, which allows players to bet against the house, is a game changer in skill-based gaming.

In Episode 36 of Venture Games, my guest Tim Morten, Production Director & CEO at Frost Giant Studios, discusses Stormgate, the company's upcoming RTS game; building a new IP universe; why the RTS genre is ripe for innovation; and some thoughts on the fundraising environment for startups building PC and console games today.

In Episode 35 of Venture Games, my guest Joe Schaeppi, CEO and Co-Founder at Solsten, discusses the battle for player attention, the power of player psychology in game development, and the future of personalization.

In Episode 34 of Venture Games, my guest Christian Facey, CEO & Co-Founder at Audiomob, discusses the current and future audio advertising landscape in gaming; the benefits of audio ads compared to alternatives; and why audio advertising is particularly attractive in emerging markets like Africa and India.

In Episode 33 of Venture Games, my guest Shawn Foust, COO & Co-Founder at Fortis Games, discusses his career as a serial entrepreneur; his company's focus on design advancement; why he's still optimistic about innovation in the gaming industry; and his thoughts on major tech trends impacting the gaming landscape.

In Episode 32 of Venture Games, my guest Arseny Lebedev, CEO at Original Games, discusses his company's flagship merge game, Merge Inn; navigating the challenges he and his team faced due to the war in Eastern Europe; maintaining good mental health as a startup founder; and raising VC funding in a challenging macroeconomic environment

In Episode 31 of Venture Games, my guest Denis Dyack, CEO at Apocalypse Studios, discusses his 30-year career in gaming, including founding Silicon Knights in the 90s; working with gaming industry legends including Hideo Kojima and Shigeru Miyamoto; and Apocalypse's upcoming narrative-driven Action RPG game, Deadhaus Sonata.

In Episode 30 of Venture Games, my guest Jeremy Born, CEO at NFT Genius, discusses his company's recent fundraise; his optimism around the future of the Flow blockchain; building the Gaia NFT marketplace; the future of the Ballerz NFT collection; and why NFTs aren't dead.

In Episode 29 of Venture Games, my guests Troy Jones, CEO at StatusPro, and Andrew Hawkins (“Hawk”), President at StatusPro, discuss transitioning from playing football (D1 / NFL) to building the first officially licensed NFL Virtual Reality game, NFL PRO ERA; their thoughts on the potential and development of the VR market; and the future of sports games in VR.

In Episode 28 of Venture Games, my guest Guha Bala, President at Velan Studios, discusses starting Vicarious Visions with his brother Karthik while in high school, which they later sold to Activision; his thoughts on innovation in the gaming industry today; the creative process behind the breakout hit Knockout City; and the future of Velan Studios.

In Episode 27 of Venture Games, my guest Josh Neuman, President at Melon, discusses transitioning from the music industry to the gaming industry; Melon's recent $5M fundraise; his thoughts on virtual concerts and the metaverse; and bringing some of the world's largest brands including the NFL and Chipotle to Roblox.

In Episode 26 of Venture Games, I'm joined by Ed Smith. Ed Smith is one of two African-American engineers to work in the gaming industry in the early 70s, and the only African-American engineer to work on a hybrid gaming and personal computer. Ed discusses how he was able to overcome the challenges he faced to lead a four-decade career in tech, and shares some of the knowledge he learned along the way.

In Episode 25 of Venture Games, my guest Mike Pappas, CEO & Co-Founder at Modulate, discusses his company's novel approach to voice moderation in gaming; how improved moderation might impact gaming culture for the better; and striking the right balance between player protection and player expression.

In Episode 24 of Venture Games, my guest Aron Beierschmitt, CEO & Co-Founder at Laguna Games, discusses pivoting from web2 to web3 games to build Crypto Unicorns; why Laguna Games picked unicorns as its theme; some technical considerations around web3 gaming and the associated fees; and community engagement in web3 games

In Episode 23 of Venture Games, my guest Nick Bhardwaj, Partner at The Tribe Group, discusses his past experience at NaturalMotion, which was later acquired by Zynga; parallels between the gaming industry's shift to mobile/freemium and the emergence of web3 gaming; some considerations when building for crypto-native vs. traditional gamer audiences; and some ways to help bridge the gap between web 3 games and traditional gamers.

In Episode 22 of Venture Games, my guest Timmu Tõke, CEO and Co-Founder at Ready Player Me, discusses the importance of avatars and digital identities in the metaverse; his thoughts on interoperability; NFTs and PFPs; and his opinion on whether the future of the metaverse will look like Ready Player One.

In Episode 21 of Venture Games, my guest Charles Hudson, Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures, discusses investing in early stage companies as a solo GP; co-founding Bionic Panda Games, an early, Android-focused mobile gaming startup; his thoughts on the Metaverse and blockchain gaming; and his reflections on diversity in the VC/tech ecosystem.

In Episode 20 of Venture Games, my guest Marlon Nichols, Managing General Partner at MaC Venture Capital, discusses his firm's thesis of investing in culture and companies impacting culture; his investment in PlayVs; his investment in Faze Clan; and some of his thoughts on diversity in the VC/startup ecosystem.

In Episode 19 of Venture Games, my guest Manuel Bronstein, Chief Product Officer at Roblox, discusses the evolution of social gaming to become truly immersive shared experiences; his past work experience in social gaming at Xbox Live and Zynga to now leading product at a global UGC platform; and thoughts on the Metaverse, NFTs, and blockchain.

In Episode 18 of Venture Games, my guest Dan Porter, CEO at Overtime, discusses how his work at Teach for America influenced his thinking on culture/diversity, his time building OMGPop/Draw Something and whether the game would have the same impact today, and how Overtime has succeeded despite the ongoing challenges many sports media brands are facing today.

In Episode 17 of Venture Games, my guest Ian Proulx, CEO at 1047 Games, the studio behind Splitgate, discusses what inspired him to build Splitgate, how he remained optimistic despite a slow, challenging start for his company, advice for founders facing similar initial challenges, his plans to maintain Splitgate's momentum, and the future of 1047 Games and the Splitgate universe.

In Episode 16 of Venture Games, my guest Kai Bond, Partner at Courtside Ventures, discusses founding multiple startups, the continued convergence of sports/culture with gaming and the investment implications of these trends, some of his thoughts on NFTs/blockchain in gaming, and the diversity challenges in tech/VC.

In Episode 15 of Venture Games, my guest Jen Richard, Principal at Bonfire Ventures, talks about transitioning from entertainment to VC, working as an early employee at multiple startups, why LA is a great city for venture capital, Bonfire's recent investment in Topia, and her thoughts on diversity in the VC industry.

In Episode 14 of Venture Games, my guest Cordel Robbin-Coker, Co-Founder & CEO at Carry1st, discusses building an African games publisher, the regional nuances in the African gaming industry, the journey of raising venture funding from US investors for African startups, and the future of the African gaming landscape.

In Episode 13 of Venture Games, my guest Maria Salamanca, Partner at Unshackled Ventures, discusses her transition from politics to venture capital, how Unshackled Ventures invests in immigrant founders and helps them navigate the immigration process, her role as a founding board member of LatinxVC, and her thoughts on the diversity challenges in the VC industry.

In Episode 12 of Venture Games, my guest Jonathan Pan, Strategic Planning & Operations Lead at Facebook Gaming, discusses his time at Amazon Games as Head of Community of Esports, his role as an esports instructor, working at Riot Games in the (relatively) earlier days of the company, and his thoughts on big tech companies' ambitions in the gaming industry.

In Episode 11 of Venture Games, my guest Lo Toney, Founding Managing Partner at Plexo Capital, discusses his firm's strategy of investing in LPs and startups with a focus on underrepresented founders, leading the migration of Zynga Poker to mobile, how he thinks about investing in emerging markets such as Africa and Latin America, his thoughts on how diversity in VC has improved since he has been in the industry, and his hopes for further changes going forward.

In Episode 10 of Venture Games, my guest Peter Rojas, partner at Betaworks Ventures, talks about co-founding Gizmodo and Weblogs Inc. (Engadget, Joystiq, acquired by AOL), his views on social gaming, which he sees as one of the most promising areas in gaming right now, and his candid thoughts on the diversity challenges in the venture capital industry, as one of the few Latinx VC investors.

In Episode 9 of Venture Games, my guest Jamil Moledina, gaming industry veteran and CEO at Hexagram, talks in detail about his career in the gaming industry, including working at a number of gaming startups and Google Play, and how immersing himself into the world of video games since he was a child has helped him succeed despite the hardships of being a minority.

In Episode 8 of Venture Games, my guest Molly Fowler, CEO at Dorm Room Fund, talks about transitioning from a career in politics to enter the world of venture capital, the benefits of investing in student entrepreneurship, and Dorm Room Fund's initiatives to combat the diversity challenges in the industry, through masterclasses and mentorship programs for different groups of people who are underrepresented in venture, and building the strongest pipeline for students to enter the industry.

In Episode 7 of Venture Games, my guest Chris Fralic, Board Partner at First Round Capital, who was recently named to the 2021 Forbes Midas List of Best VC Investors talks about his early investment in Roblox, being an early employee at Half.com, some big wins and big misses throughout his 15+ year VC career, mentorship, and helping launch Ted Talks.

In Episode 6 of Venture Games, my guest Blake Robbins, Partner at Ludlow Ventures, talks about cold emailing startups at age 17, becoming a partner at Ludlow at a young age, breaking into gaming Twitter through brute force, and introducing Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, to pro gamer "Nadeshot", to help create 100 Thieves, one of the leading gaming orgs/brands.

In Episode 5 of Venture Games, my guest Phil Sanderson, Founder and Managing Partner at Griffin Gaming Partners, talks about his 20+ year career in gaming VC, his early investments in Discord and Pandora, his (initial) thoughts on NFTs/blockchain in gaming, the metaverse, the value of intellectual property in gaming, running ultramarathons, and much more!

In Episode 4 of Venture Games, my guest Nnamdi Iregbulem, Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, talks about being a lifelong gamer and self-proclaimed tech nerd, investing in Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite, his blog, whoisnnamdi.com, and being selected as one of Forbes 30 Under 30 in Venture.