Podcast appearances and mentions of Bing Gordon

Our guest Bing Gordon has had a long successful run in videogames and tech. From marketing lead to Chief Creative Officer at EA, he helped shaped NASCAR, The Sims and other huge titles. We discuss pitching, two beer strategies and Speilberg's smoke test - this week!Episode Highlights[00:04:00] How Bing Gordon Helped Launch Electronic ArtsBing shares the story of co-founding EA when it was a scrappy startup in 1983, including raising $2 million in funding and being the company's one-person marketing department. [00:07:00] Reading the Room: How Bing Predicted Game SuccessBing explains how walking into a studio could tell him whether a game would ship on time and be successful—drawing parallels to retail psychology and intuition. [00:10:00] Meeting Trip Hawkins and Dreaming of Virtual WorldsBing recounts meeting Trip Hawkins at Stanford and discussing early ideas about creating a “virtual Disneyland,” which inspired their future at EA.00:17:00] Why Bing Fell in Love with GamesHe discusses his childhood fascination with puzzles, invented games, and the dream of living multiple lives through games, likening them to the metaverse.[00:18:00] Steven Spielberg on Games vs. MoviesBing recalls Spielberg's take on video games as a “lean-in” medium compared to passive film watching, and how body language helped refine cinematic pacing. [00:23:00] Designing the NASCAR Draft Meter to Win Over CriticsBing talks about a near failure in NASCAR Racing's development and how adding a visual “draft meter” salvaged the game's perception and success.[00:51:00] What Makes a Great Founder?Bing shares his top insight into investing: founders who give you an insight you've never heard before are often the most successful.[00:55:00] The Risk of Being 'Generally Right, Specifically Wrong'He explains how being close to a great idea, but missing key details, can result in failure—coining the phrase “generally right, specifically wrong.”Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who bring them to life!Hosted by Alexander Seropian and Aaron MarroquinFind us at www.thefourthcurtain.com Join our Patreon for early, ad-free episodes plus bonus content at https://patreon.com/FourthCurtain Come join the conversation at https://discord.gg/KWeGE4xHfeVideos available at https://www.youtube.com/@thefourthcurtainFollow us on twitter: @fourthcurtainEdited and mastered at https://noise-floor.com Audio Editor: Bryen HensleyVideo Editor: Sarkis GrigorianProducer: Shanglan (May) LiArt: Paul RusselCommunity Manager: Doug ZartmanFeaturing Liberation by 505

Join us for an in-depth discussion on the Game Developers Conference 2025 with industry veterans as they share their perspectives and what was learned during GDC on the current state of the gaming industry. This candid conversation explores attendance trends, market challenges, investment landscapes, and what's next for game developers in a changing economy.Our panel discusses:⭐ GDC attendance trends and the shift to more exclusive, executive-focused events⭐ The "age of efficiency" and austerity measures affecting game studios⭐ Investment challenges and the evolving VC landscape for gaming⭐ Platform dynamics between developers and companies like Apple and Google⭐ AI's current and potential impact on game development⭐ Unity's latest developments and challenges⭐ The changing nature of GDC itself and its future prospectsFeatured Speakers:

Guest: Ben Chestnut, Former CEO and Co-Founder of MailchimpIf you find yourself selling your startup, then Mailchimp co-founder Ben Chestnut has some important advice for you: Get a dog. When Intuit bought Mailchimp in 2021 for $12 billion, the company asked Ben if he wanted to stay on as CEO, but he chose to “walk off into the sunset” and let the new owners take over. After that, he estimates it took 6 to 12 months before he stopped checking his email, social media, and calendar with the same level of stress a CEO might have. Adopting a dog, he discovered, forces you to “get OK with the voices in your head."“After the acquisition, that's all I do, I walk the dog,” Ben says. “And the dog was good therapy ... No judgments from a dog.”Chapters:(01:09) - Growing slow (03:06) - The long journey (07:48) - Is money a burden? (09:35) - Building globally in Atlanta (11:22) - Ben's upbringing (12:59) - The first 10 years (17:58) - Scaling to one billion emails (19:22) - Freemium (23:32) - No equity (26:00) - Deciding to sell (33:55) - “I'm a sunset guy” (35:29) - Stress and support (37:25) - Time with the parents (39:07) - Get a dog (42:24) - The voices in your head (46:03) - Serial and “Mailkimp” (53:00) - Hiring interviews (57:14) - Fitness routines (59:27) - Lights off (01:01:46) - AI & reinvention (01:06:30) - The worst days (01:09:15) - What “grit” means to Ben Mentioned in this episode: Intuit, Wolt, DoorDash, LinkedIn, Dan Kurzius, Salesforce, ExactTarget, Pardot, Constant Contact, Rackspace, Free by Chris Anderson, Wired Magazine, Charles Hudson, the Freemium Summit, Drew Houston, Dropbox, Evernote, Phil Libin, TechCrunch, Brian Kane, Catalyst Partners, Georgia Pacific, Scott Cook, Bing Gordon, Vinay Hiremath, Loom, Joe Thomas, Caltrain, Flickr, Saturday Night Live, Droga5, Cannes Film Festival, Strava, Twitter, LinkedIn, Nvidia, Glean, Rubrik, Amazon AWS, and Mechnical Turk.Links:Connect with BenLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner Perkins

In this week's episode, we delve into the formation of the Robust Open Online Safety Tools (ROOST) initiative by industry leaders Google, OpenAI, Roblox, and Discord, aiming to enhance child safety online through open-source AI tools. We also explore Nintendo's recent patent filings, revealing potential mouse-like functionality for the upcoming Switch 2's Joy-Con controllers. Additionally, we discuss former EA executive Bing Gordon's revelation that the company passed on acquiring major franchises like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. Finally, we recap the latest PlayStation State of Play announcements, including the release date for Metal Gear Solid Delta and a new game from Housemarque.0:00 Intro1:04 Update14:04 Roblox, Discord, OpenAI, and Google found new child safety group https://tinyurl.com/3ypfdsf9 25:33 Nintendo patents show the Switch 2 Joy-Con is a mouse https://tinyurl.com/3x3b64tb35:58 EA 'Passed' on Buying Major IPs, Former Exec Reveals https://tinyurl.com/yek6hnk342:33 PlayStation State of Play https://tinyurl.com/43zpvtsx  https://tinyurl.com/4774jhnp 1:33:53 OutroLeave a LIKE and a comment, thanks for watching/listening!-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------PODCAST ►► https://anchor.fm/m2podcastAMAZON Music ► https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/091902c3-b83b-487c-8fe7-4c96787434fe/M2-PodcastAPPLE ► https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1531832410BREAKER ► https://www.breaker.audio/m2-podcast-2CASTRO ► https://castro.fm/podcast/6f69d373-d879-46d9-9f1c-bcf7c4bf1741GOOGLE ► https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8zNTYwNWZiMC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==OVERCAST ► https://overcast.fm/itunes1531832410/m2-podcastPOCKETCASTS ► https://pca.st/5jghvf6eRADIOPUBLIC ► https://radiopublic.com/m2-podcast-GMZkY4SPOTIFY ► https://open.spotify.com/show/2VedhO03IRoHERJqF6Sy87STICHER ► https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/m2-podcastTUNEIN ► http://tun.in/pj3ZI #podcastJOIN THE DISCORD! ►► https://discord.gg/Kp5Gre6FOLLOW THE TWITTER! ►►https://twitter.com/m2_podcastKyleHeath Socials:TWITTER ►► https://twitter.com/mrjkheathMadMikeWillEatU Socials:TWITTER ►► https://twitter.com/madmikewilleatu

Guest: Bobby Kotick, former CEO of Activision Blizzard; and Bing Gordon, general partner at Kleiner PerkinsIn 2020, when President Trump signed the executive order that would ban TikTok in the U.S., Bobby Kotick called his old friend Steven Mnuchin. The former Secretary of the Treasury told him that, if TikTok's U.S. operations were to be sold to an American company, Microsoft would be the only bidder.A couple calls later, he reached ByteDance founder and CEO Zhang Yiming, who said he'd rather sell to Bobby than Microsoft. Concerned about his ability to get the deal done solo, Bobby called Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and offered to make a joint bid. Nadella declined, but added, “ if the deal doesn't get done, we should sit down and talk about us buying Activision.” TikTok currently remains Chinese-owned, but three years later, Microsoft paid $75 billion for Activision Blizzard.Chapters:Mentioned in this episode: Harvard-Westlake School, Alison Ressler, Vivendi, Berkshire Hathaway, Bruce Hack and Arnaud de Puyfontaine, John Riccitiello and EA, Call of Duty, Bizarre Creations, Atari, Apple II, Commodore 64, Jean-Louis Gassée, Apple Lisa, Howard Lincoln, Philips, Magnavox Odyssey, Sutter Hill Ventures, Infocom and Zork, Toys-R-Us, Howard Hughes, E. Parry Thomas, Sun Valley, Thom Weisel, William Morris Endeavor, Guitar Hero, Davidson & Associates, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham, World of Warcraft, Medal of Honor, Steven Spielberg, Michael Crichton, Chris Roberts, Overwatch, Tencent, Time Warner, Jeff Bewkes, Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In, Lina Khan, Samsung, Elon Musk, James L. Jones, UFC, E. Floyd Kvamme, Toy Story 2, Procter & Gamble, Ron Doornik, John Lasseter, Xerox PARC, Shigeru Miyamoto, Satoru Iwata, Goldeneye 007, James Bond, Barbara Broccoli, Oculus, Apple Vision Pro, Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, Sam Altman, Mustafa Suleyman, Spotify, Candy Crush Saga, Disney, Phil Spencer, Clarence Avant and Motown Records. Links:Connect with BobbyTwitterLinkedInConnect with BingTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

Jackson Shuttleworth is a Group PM at Duolingo, where he leads the retention team and the powerful streak feature. The streak feature, which gamifies consecutive days of learning, has been Duolingo's most important and innovative growth lever and a key driver of their growth to a $14 billion business with almost 600 million users. In our conversation, we dive deep into the history and lessons of this feature:• The evolution of the streak feature• Biggest insights from over 600 streak-related experiments• Biggest specific wins and misses along the way• Key principles for building effective streak mechanics• How to operate a high-velocity product team• Tips for building engaging notification systems• Much more—Brought to you by:• Pendo—The only all-in-one product experience platform for any type of application• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security• Coda—The all-in-one collaborative workspace—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-product-duolingo-streaks—Where to find Jackson Shuttleworth:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackson-shuttleworth/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Jackson's background and an overview of Duolingo's streak feature(06:00) The impact of streaks on Duolingo's success(09:58) The origin and evolution of streaks(14:50) Key experiments and insights(24:38) User psychology and engagement strategies(28:36) Duolingo's product review structure(33:07) Designing for clarity and adaptability(46:59) Developing the Streak Freeze feature(50:47) Balancing monetization and retention(54:08) Notification strategies(58:15) The Perfect Streak feature(01:00:40) Enhancing the user experience (01:04:47) Team operations and experimentation(01:18:57) Who can benefit from streaks(01:21:00) Lightning round—Referenced:• Duolingo streaks: https://duolingo.fandom.com/wiki/Streak• How to make learning as addictive as social media: https://www.ted.com/talks/luis_von_ahn_how_to_make_learning_as_addictive_as_social_media?subtitle=en• Luis von Ahn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luis-von-ahn-duolingo/• FarmVille: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FarmVille• Royal Match: https://www.dreamgames.com/games/royal-match• How Duolingo reignited user growth: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-duolingo-reignited-user-growth• You're on fire! Or, how we brought the streak milestone to life: https://blog.duolingo.com/streak-milestone-design-animation/• Duolingo Doubles Down on Design and Animation with Acquisition of Hobbes: https://investors.duolingo.com/news-releases/news-release-details/duolingo-doubles-down-design-and-animation-acquisition-hobbes• Hobbes: https://www.hobbes.work/• Jira: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira• Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com/• Bing Gordon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/binggordon/• Peloton: https://www.onepeloton.com/• Bluey on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/series/bluey/1xy9TAOQ0M3r• Emily in Paris on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81037371• Multi-position ladders at Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/b/Building-Materials-Ladders-Multi-Position-Ladders/N-5yc1vZasew—Recommended books:• A Guide to Midwestern Conversation: https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Midwestern-Conversation-Taylor-Phillips/dp/1984861336• Fate Is the Hunter: A Pilot's Memoir: https://www.amazon.com/Fate-Hunter-Ernest-K-Gann/dp/0671636030—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Guest: Jeff Wilke, former CEO of Amazon Worldwide Consumer and chairman of Re:Build ManufacturingJeff Wilke worked more than 20 years at Amazon, overseeing the million-person team that speedily gets packages from warehouses to doorsteps. In hindsight, he observes that Amazon Prime's exponential growth was actually an incremental daily process.“I used to say things like, ‘If God was running this plant, whoever is your God ... they can't violate physical laws. How well would they do?' And then we know where we are,” Jeff says.“If we're perfect in it, compounding over all this time, we're going to get there. But when you're in the middle of it, it can feel almost impossible.” Chapters:(01:37) - Grit and longevity (02:24) - Flow state (07:29) - Refining mental models (12:29) - The ivory tower and the shop floor (16:49) - Gnarly holidays (20:41) - Identifying grit (24:28) - Reflecting and learning (27:36) - Christmas 2000 (31:06) - The duplicate bug (34:01) - Incremental progress (38:36) - Prime Video (43:05) - Organizing the day (46:42) - Amazon's leaders (49:55) - The Whole Foods acquisition (53:33) - Amazon Fashion (59:54) - The great Kindle battle (01:02:40) - How to work with Jeff Bezos (01:05:11) - Leaving Amazon (01:09:48) - Re:Build Manufacturing (01:14:35) - What “grit” means to Jeff Mentioned in this episode: Peloton, Andy Jassy, Daniel Kahneman, Zoom, Allied Signal, Toyota and the Gemba Walk, MacKenzie Scott, Bob Thomas and Crucibles of Leadership, David Risher, Toys “R” Us, Amazon Prime, Jeff Blackburn, Louis Pasteur, Netflix, Bill Carr, Steve Kessel, Larry Bossidy, Rick Dalzell, West Point, John Mackey, Liesl Wilke, Tony Hsieh, the Met Gala, Anna Wintour, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tim Tebow, the New York Jets, Shopbob, Gucci, Zara, Cathy Beaudoin, Walmart, Dave Clark, John Doerr, Bill Baumol, and Bing Gordon.Links:Connect with JeffTwitterConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

Guest: Jason Kilar, former CEO & co-founder of Hulu and former CEO of WarnerMediaWhen Jason Kilar was a child, he was obsessed with Walt Disney — not just as a filmmaker or the creator of Disneyland, but as an entrepreneur. He started his career at the Walt Disney Company (where else?) but then got his first opportunity to help build something new when a young startup entrepreneur from Seattle visited his business school classroom. Most of Jason's classmates predicted the failure of this startup, Amazon.com, which elicited “this awesome laugh, the Jeff Bezos trademark laugh.” How a leader reacts to criticism or doubts, Jason learned, says a lot about their conviction and intelligence.Chapters:(01:08) - Bing Gordon and John Doerr (04:11) - Warner Bros. (06:12) - Walt Disney (11:10) - Working at Disney (14:32) - What makes it special (18:31) - Meeting your heroes (20:06) - “Walt's folly,” Disneyland (22:45) - Harvard and Amazon (25:09) - Meeting Jeff Bezos (29:10) - “Help people understand Amazon exists” (33:25) - Amazon's culture (38:07) - What Warner Bros. makes (40:55) - Obscurity and relevance (45:53) - Feeling the lows (50:09) - Launching Hulu (53:36) - NewCo or ClownCo? (59:13) - Over-communication (01:03:14) - The future of TV memo (01:06:46) - Innovator's dilemma (01:08:57) - No labels (01:14:04) - Unfinished business (01:16:22) - Staying present (01:20:26) - The theatrical window (01:26:19) - What's next? Mentioned in this episode: Amazon, The Matrix, Star Wars: A New Hope, Disney World, Diane Disney Miller, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Michael Eisner, Universal Studios and Harry Potter, Disney University, Jeffrey Rayport, Barnes & Noble, Joel Spiegel, David Risher, Joy Covey, Garry Trudeau and Doonesbury, Andy Jassy, Brian Birtwistle, Jim Kingsbury, Vessel and Verizon, HBO, Friends, Hogwarts Legacy, Sony, Netflix, NBCUniversal, Paramount, AT&T, Discovery, Richard Tom, Kara Swisher, Fox, YouTube and Google, Saturday Night Live, Peter Chernin, Jeff Zucker, Bob Iger, Andy Rachleff and Benchmark, CBS, Miracle on 34th Street, Marissa Mayer and Yahoo, Rony Abovitz and Magic Leap, House of the Dragon and Industry, Dune, Christopher Nolan, and the TSA.Links:Connect with JasonTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

Guest: Rony Abovitz, founder & CEO of SynthBeeSynthBee CEO Rony Abovitz grew up “really believing” in Star Wars and the idea that there could be benevolent, artificially intelligent beings like R2-D2 and C-3PO.“It wasn't a dystopian vision of the future,” he says. “It wasn't HAL from 2001.  It wasn't the Terminator. It wasn't Skynet.  It was this kind of friendly, empathetic, more utopian vision.” George Lucas himself told Rony to tone it down and not “take it so literally” — but he was undeterred. The way he describes today's leading AI powers sounds like an idealistic Rebel conceptualizing the Evil Empire.“You've got companies that receive massive funding that want to take all the data in the world ... I feel that's a massive mistake,” Rony says. “We become serfs. They become the Lords. They become the Kings. I'm completely opposed to that. So I started to imagine for SynthBee what is a different form of computing intelligence, one that could help us, but have much more safety [and] human centrism.”Chapters:(01:12) - Fundraising (02:27) - Meeting John Doerr (07:05) - The Beast (10:06) - Unfinished business (11:47) - Apple and Meta (15:20) - The COVID-19 pandemic (21:12) - “Investors panicked” (25:28) - Shaquille O'Neal vs. digital Shaq (29:43) - Magic Leap alumni (32:45) - Financial outcomes (38:27) - Peggy Johnson (40:27) - “A weird version of hell” (44:08) - A strange intro to Google (50:42) - Larry Page and Sergey Brin (54:27) - Founder voting power (01:00:40) - Mako Surgical (01:03:04) - The 9/11 term sheet (01:06:40) - The worst pitch ever (01:09:55) - The 2008 IPO (01:16:15) - Selling to Stryker (01:18:30) - What is SynthBee? (01:26:44) - Humility in tech (01:31:44) - Who SynthBee is hiring Mentioned in this episode: Scott Hassan, Bing Gordon, Chewy, Mary Meeker, Suitable Technologies and Beam, NASA, Mark Zuckerberg, Matthew Ball, NTT Docomo, Blade Runner, Wired Magazine, CES, Dow Jones, Tesla, Zoom, OpenAI and Anthropic, Adam Silver and the NBA, John Monos, the Apple Vision Pro, Madden NFL, McLaren, Satya Nadella and Microsoft, the HoloLens, Godzilla and King Kong, Willow Garage and ROS, Trading Places, Z-KAT, Frederic Moll, John Freund, Christopher Dewey, John and Christine Whitman, Sycamore Ventures, Andy Bechtelstein, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, Kevin Lobo, Muhammad Ali, Star Wars and George Lucas, Yuval Noah Harari, and Infosys.Links:Connect with RonyLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

Guest: Mark Pincus, founder & chairman of Zynga, and managing member & co-founder of Reinvent CapitalBefore Zynga and Facebook made social gaming mainstream, the video game industry was “extreme on this being about art and crafting,” recalls Zynga founder Mark Pincus. He believes his winning instinct was the realization that games were “at least 50 percent science” — but it's not enough to just have the instinct. Mark says entrepreneurs like him have to quickly take multiple shots on the goal and “look for feedback loops that tell you your instinct is right ... you need to get to a minimum viable idea state and you need to find true signal around that idea state, that it's right or wrong, and move on.”Chapters:(01:40) - Rubbing sticks together (07:01) - Virtual businesses (12:10) - Pre-Zynga companies (13:51) - Setting the real intention (17:44) - Internet treasures (23:21) - Disrupting gaming (30:14) - The chip on Mark's shoulder (33:19) - The end of Tribe (37:24) - Zynga Poker (42:59) - Explosive growth (46:57) - Making the virtual real (52:02) - The downturn (58:12) - Stepping aside (sort of) (01:01:50) - Back into the fire (01:08:45) - In the abyss (01:11:46) - What “grit” means to Mark Mentioned in this episode: Dot Earth, Elon Musk and the Boring Company, Uber Eats and Dara Khosrowshahi, ChatGPT, Roblox, Madhappy, Reid Hoffman, Craigslist, Google, Napster and Sean Parker, the California Culinary Academy, Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, Yahoo, John Doerr, Words with Friends, LinkedIn, Tribe.net, Supercell and Ilkka Paananen, FarmVille and Hay Day, Parker Conrad and Rippling, Bing Gordon, Fred Wilson, Brad Feld, the Game Developer's Conference, CNET, Matt Cohler, Don Mattrick, Microsoft and the Xbox, Joe Biden, Jason Citron and Discord, Steve Jobs, Super Labs, Marcus Segal, Frank Gibeau, The Courage to Be Disliked, and Stewart Butterfield.Links:Connect with MarkTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

Guest: John Doerr, chairman of Kleiner PerkinsAfter Kleiner Perkins chairman John Doerr first invested in Google — $12.8 million for 13 percent of the company — he told co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin that they needed to hire a CEO to help them build the business. After they took meetings with a variety of successful tech execs, they came back to Doerr and told him “We've got some good news and some bad news.” The good news was that they agreed on the need for a CEO; the bad news, Doerr recalls, is that they believed there was only one person qualified for the role: The then-CEO of Pixar and interim CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs. In this encore presentation of the 100th episode of Grit, John and Joubin discuss the urgent need to act on the climate crisis, getting turned down by Kleiner Perkins, CEOs as sales leaders, the microprocessor revolution, balancing between work and family, the opportunity of AI and sustainability, what makes Jeff Bezos special, Bing Gordon and the invention of Amazon Prime, the Google CEO search, how the iPhone nearly killed Apple, Steve Jobs' greatest gift, Bill Gates' philanthropy, and how Doerr divides his time.In this episode, we cover: John's two books — Measure What Matters and Speed & Scale — and applying OKRs to the climate crisis (02:39) How John got to Silicon Valley and what he learned from his entrepreneurial father, Lou (08:55) “I didn't want to be in venture capital” (16:27) Joining Kleiner Perkins at the dawn of personal computing (20:03) The internet, cloud computing, smartphones, and the next big tech wave: AI (24:41) How John met Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (29:46) Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and teaming up with Mike Moritz from Sequoia (38:26) John's friendship with Steve Jobs and the creation of the $100 million iFund for iPhone apps (45:12) “Family first” and setting personal OKRs (50:10) Working with Bill Gates outside of Kleiner Perkins (52:51) Brian Roberts, Comcast, and hustling to make at-home broadband nationwide (59:28) Links: Connect with John Twitter LinkedIn Connect with Joubin Twitter LinkedIn Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com  Learn more about Kleiner Perkins This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

After Kleiner Perkins chairman John Doerr first invested in Google — $12.8 million for 13 percent of the company — he told co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin that they needed to hire a CEO to help them build the business. After they took meetings with a variety of successful tech execs, they came back to Doerr and told him “We've got some good news and some bad news.” The good news was that they agreed on the need for a CEO; the bad news, Doerr recalls, is that they believed there was only one person qualified for the role: The then-CEO of Pixar and interim CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs. In this, the 100th episode of Grit, John and Joubin discuss the urgent need to act on the climate crisis, getting turned down by Kleiner Perkins, CEOs as sales leaders, the microprocessor revolution, choosing between work and family, the opportunity of AI and sustainability, what makes Jeff Bezos special, Bing Gordon and the invention of Amazon Prime, the Google CEO search, how the iPhone nearly killed Apple, Steve Jobs' greatest gift, Bill Gates' philanthropy, and how Doerr divides his time.In this episode, we cover: John's two books — Measure What Matters and Speed & Scale — and applying OKRs to the climate crisis (02:45) How John got to Silicon Valley and what he learned from his entrepreneurial father, Lou (09:00) “I didn't want to be in venture capital” (16:28) Joining Kleiner Perkins at the dawn of personal computing (20:05) The internet, cloud computing, smartphones, and the next big tech wave: AI (24:53) How John met Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (29:48) Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and teaming up with Mike Moritz from Sequoia (38:29) John's friendship with Steve Jobs and the creation of the $100 million iFund for iPhone apps (45:20) “Family first” and setting personal OKRs (50:14) Working with Bill Gates outside of Kleiner Perkins (52:53) Brian Roberts, Comcast, and hustling to make at-home broadband nationwide (59:30) Links: Connect with John Twitter LinkedIn Email: johnd@kpcb.com Connect with Joubin Twitter LinkedIn Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com  Learn more about Kleiner Perkins

Shishir Mehrotra is the co-founder and CEO of Coda, and formerly head of product and engineering at YouTube. In this episode, he shares his insights on growth strategy, how he evaluates talent, a peek at his upcoming book The Rituals of Great Teams, why reference checks are the most important step in the interview process, and so much more. Join us.Listen now on Apple, Spotify, Google, Overcast, Pocket Casts, and YouTube.— Where to find Shishir Mehrotra: • Twitter: https://twitter.com/shishirmehrotra• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shishirmehrotra/— Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ —Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible: • Coda: http://coda.io/lenny• Flatfile: https://www.flatfile.com/lenny• Eppo: https://www.geteppo.com/— Referenced:• The Rituals Of Great Teams Brain Trust: https://coda.io/@shishir/join-the-rituals-of-great-teams-braintrust• Bing Gordon: https://www.kleinerperkins.com/people/bing-gordon/• Switch by Chip Heath and Dan Heath: https://www.amazon.com/Switch-Change-Things-When-Hard/dp/0385528752• PSHE Diagram: https://coda.io/@shishir/pshe• Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud: https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Comics-Invisible-Scott-McCloud/dp/1627652736• Only Murders In The Building: https://www.hulu.com/series/only-murders-in-the-building-ef31c7e1-cd0f-4e07-848d-1cbfedb50ddf• Wanda Vision: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WandaVision• Fidji Simo: https://twitter.com/fidjissimo• Daniel Elk: https://twitter.com/eldsjal/• Reid Hoffman: https://twitter.com/reidhoffman?• Marmoon Hamind: https://twitter.com/mamoonha• Quentin Clark: https://twitter.com/quentinclark• Sarah Guo: https://twitter.com/saranormous—In this episode, we cover:[0:00] Teaser[4:13] Shishir’s background at Google and current role at Coda[7:53] How Shishir got on the Board of Spotify[8:58] Black loop and blue loops and how Coda uses this internal diagram [9:52] The black loop is how a product is naturally shared[12:15] The blue loop is the emotional loop on why products are shared[14:55] Why you should think in loops instead of funnels[18:20] Mining for your business’s loops by looking at what you tell job candidates[24:37] Shishir’s upcoming book The Rituals of Great Teams [26:30] The 3 Golden Rituals Of Teams[27:10] Coda’s Golden Ritual: Dory and Pulse[31:29] Shishir’s most impactful rituals: Arianna Huffington’s Reset, Gusto’s incredible hiring call, and Coinbase’s RAPIDs.[40:38] How do you find your own team’s rituals[42:50] How to change things when change is hard[45:01] AirBnb’s unique rituals[46:45] A back story on YouTube and valuing consistency over comprehensiveness[53:00] Eigenquestions: What it is, how to use it, and examples of it[59:05] One of Shishir’s favorite *retired* interview questions [1:03:11] How to evaluate talent, a story about YouTube and breaking down PSHE[1:15:20] How to approach reference checks and what questions to ask[1:24:33] Favorite books[1:25:50] Favorite shows/movies[1:26:50] Favorite interview questions[1:28:44] Who in the industry Shishir respects as a thought leader[1:30:10] Go-to karaoke song[1:30:40] Where you can find Shishir— Production & marketing: https://penname.co/ Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

In today's episode, Trey Lockerbie sits down with Bing Gordon. Bing is a legend in the silicon valley world, having first been a co-founder of Electronic Arts (EA), then went on to be a director at Zynga, Audible, Zume, Duolingo, and others. For the last 18 years, he's also sat on the board at Amazon. He's now sitting on the other side of the table, as a partner at the prestigious VC firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL LEARN:(04:01) The gaming industry and how it's evolved since his time at EA(19:21) What it's been like to sit on the board of Amazon and how that opportunity materialized(49:52) What makes a great investment and how founders should be protected at all costs*Disclaimer: Slight timestamp discrepancies may occur due to podcast platform differences.BOOKS AND RESOURCES:Trey Lockerbie TwitterPreston, Trey & Stig's tool for picking stock winners and managing our portfolios: TIP Finance Tool Check out our Investing Starter Packs about business and financeBrowse through all our episodes (complete with transcripts) hereSupport our free podcast by supporting our sponsorsHave high-quality, sustainably sourced Wild-Caught Seafood delivered right to your door with Wild Alaskan Company. Order today and get $15 off your 1st box of premium seafoodGet help writing your emails, reports, presentations, resumes, blogs today with WordTuneBring your WiFi up to speed with Orbi WiFi 6 from NETGEAR. Save 10% with promo code BILLION10Communicate your ideas in the best way possible with CanvaStart feeling better with a single message. Match with a licensed therapist with Talkspace and get $100 off your first month with the promo code WSBJoin OurCrowd and get to invest in medical technology, breakthroughs in ag tech and food production, solutions in the multi-billion dollar robotic industry, and so much moreUncover thousands of business ideas and discover the steps you need to execute with My First Million. Search My First Million on your podcast appAccess conference calls, investor presentations, transcripts and earnings reports as frictionless as possible with Quartr. Available now on Google PlayCheck out Kraken's industry-leading exchange where you can buy BitcoinHELP US OUT!Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts! It takes less than 30 seconds, and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Bing Gordon joined Kleiner Perkins in 2008 and serves as Chief Product Officer for the firm.Bing also leads Kleiner Perkins' sFund, the investment initiative to fund and build applications and services that deliver on the promise of the social web. The sFund, launched in 2010 with strategic partners Amazon.com, Facebook, Zynga, Comcast, Liberty Media and Allen & Co., has made 16 investments to date, including four seeds.Bing serves on the board of directors of Amazon, N3twork, Zazzle and Zynga. He was also a founding director at Katango (acquired by Google 2011), ngmoco (acquired by DeNA 2010) and Audible (acquired by Amazon in 2008).Before joining Kleiner Perkins, Bing had been a long-time executive at Electronic Arts, beginning with EA's founding in 1982 with initial funding from Kleiner Perkins. He was chief creative officer at EA from 1998 to 2008 and previously headed EA marketing and product development.Bing drove EA's branding strategy with EA Sports, developed EA's pricing strategy for package goods and online games, created EA's studio organization, and contributed to the design and marketing of many EA franchises, including John Madden Football, The Sims, Sim City, Need for Speed, Tiger Woods Golf, Club Pogo and Command and Conquer.Bing earned an M.B.A. from Stanford University and his B.A. degree from Yale University.(This episode was originally a live fireside chat.)Yale Entrepreneurial Society website: yesatyale.org Chris Hladczuk's Twitter: twitter.com/chrishlad

Electronic Arts, Activision, Sierra, Sega, GT Interactive, Konami... few resumes include so many illustrious names, but Chris Garske's does. Find out how this industry veteran helped bring some of the biggest games to market in this in depth interview. Links: https://chrisgarske.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-garske-2625624/ https://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,25751/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Arts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bing_Gordon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Cranford https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trip_Hawkins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_3DO_Company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Kotick https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infocom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega https://www.mobygames.com/browse/games/sega-master-system/activision-publishing-inc/ Correction: Die Hard did get released by Activision on the NES. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Entertainment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_(character) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/32X https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_Pico The system Chris couldn't remember was the Pico. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari,_Inc._(Atari_SA_subsidiary)#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id_Software https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konami

Bing Gordon - General Partner and Chief Product Officer of Kleiner Perkins and Sebastian Thrun. Topic: The Future of Education & Human Potential.Support the show (http://www.udacity.com/advisor)

“Clearly, the killer use case, the most valuable thing 6DoF can do is allow two or more humans to interact—just be with each other from wherever they are.” The internet has succeeded in connecting people to machines and information. So, what's missing? Anjney Midha argues that the element of human interaction is what the web lacks, and he is on a mission to develop the tools creators can use to design shared experiences online through XR. Anjney Midha is the cofounder and CEO of Ubiquity6, a startup using computer vision to create multiplayer experiences for augmented and virtual reality. Founded by alums from Metamind, Facebook, Tesla, Twitter and Stanford, the Ubiquity team is leveraging spatial computing to bring people together in valuable new ways. Anjney began his career in venture as Founding Partner of KPCB Edge, a Kleiner Perkins fund formed to support founders in AR, VR and computer vision. Today, Anjney joins us to share his background in frontier tech and explain how his experience in VC led to the creation of Ubiquity6. He offers insight on the problems in venture capital, describing how good and bad investors can impact a startup. Anjney also discusses the particular challenges of the deep tech space and the futility of the AR versus VR debate. Listen in to understand the tech advancements that have facilitated networked capabilities and learn how Ubiquity6 is solving for shared experiences—at six degrees of freedom. Topics Covered Anjney's background in frontier tech Formed fund within Kleiner (AR, VR + computer vision) Influenced by Bing Gordon, Mike Abbott Time spent investing AND building software Founded Ubiquity6 to solve for shared experiences Anjney's take on good vs. bad investors Great investors = 100X or more Bad investors destroy value More pretenders than ever Look at track record of success, failure How Anjney communicates with investors Text message, reply within 10 minutes Best investors view as service industry The role of Ubiquity6 in solving for shared experiences Serve creators with tools Launch own experiences ‘Shared AR in persistent way' Anjney's insight around the challenges of deep tech Timing (invest in real tech that doesn't exist) Bring research to market in compelling way How Anjney built a tribe of support Early-stage founders vocal about problems Obvious from listening to early adopters Why Anjney is excited about audio As powerful, immersive as visual AR Shared audio channels for consumers Why Anjney believes AR vs. VR is a false debate Different viewing modes of same experience High level of abstraction = unproductive debate The positive mass market signals for Anjney and his company ARKit, ARCore (networked AR) On-device capabilities to shared capabilities Connect with Anjney Ubiquity6 https://ubiquity6.com/ Ubiquity6 on Medium https://medium.com/ubiquity6 Ubiquity6 on Twitter https://twitter.com/ubiquity_6 Ubiquity6 on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/ubiquity6/ Anjney on Medium https://medium.com/@anjneymidha Anjney on Twitter https://twitter.com/anjneymidha Anjney on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/anjney/ Resources Kleiner Perkins https://www.kleinerperkins.com/ Bing Gordon https://www.kleinerperkins.com/people/bing-gordon/ Mike Abbott https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelabbott/ Virtual Human Interaction Lab https://vhil.stanford.edu/ Jeremy Bailenson https://vhil.stanford.edu/faculty-and-staff/ Adam Arrigo https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-arrigo-b4637620/ TheWaveVR http://thewavevr.com/ LYNX Capital https://www.lynxtrading.com/ Benchmark Capital http://www.benchmark.com/ Index Ventures https://www.indexventures.com/ Vinod Khosla Interview https://blog.ycombinator.com/vinod-khosla-on-how-to-build-the-future/ John Doerr https://www.kleinerperkins.com/people/john-doerr Marc Andreessen on a16z Podcast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O91S1NL-B0Q&t=14m34s ARKit https://developer.apple.com/arkit/ ARCore https://developers.google.com/ar/ Connect with Boost VC Boost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/ Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/ Boost VC on Twitter https://twitter.com/BoostVC

Bing Gordon is a Partner and Chief Product Officer @ Kleiner Perkins, one of the world’s most prestigious venture funds with prior investments in the likes of Google, Amazon, Twitter, Square and Airbnb just to name a few. At Kleiner Bing has either worked with or invested in the likes of Spotify, Zynga, Amazon, Twitter and Magic Leap, just to name a few. Bing also serves on the boards of Zynga, Zazzle, N3twork and until March this year, Amazon. Prior to Kleiner, Bing had been a long-time executive at Electronic Arts, beginning with EA’s founding in 1982 with initial funding from Kleiner Perkins. He was chief creative officer at EA from 1998 to 2008 and previously headed EA marketing and product development. In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Bing made the move from Chief Creative Officer at EA to Partner @ Kleiner Perkins? 2.) What were Bing's biggest lessons from sitting on the boards of Amazon and Zynga and working with Jeff Bezos and Mark Pincus? What is the most important value-add that a VC should bring? What question must all new board members ask themselves? 3.) Why does Bing believe there are two types of investors in VC? How does Bing determine whether it is right to fix losers or ride winners? How does Bing look to balance between being the cheerleader or critical analyst to the CEO? 4.) What are the signs of truly great and productive board meetings? From Bing's vast experience, which VCs does Bing most like to sit on a board with and why? Which board meeting sticks out in Bing's memory as being of particular significance and why? 5.) What mentality do all great investors have when entering deals? What are the two commonalities of people that are largely right in their choices? How important a role does valuation play for Bing when evaluation potential opportunities? Items Mentioned In Today’s Show: Bing’s Fave Book: Dataclysm: Who We Are (When We Think No One’s Looking) Bing’s Most Recent Investment: N3twork As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Bing on Twitter here! Likewise, you can follow Harry on Snapchat here for mojito madness and all things 20VC. Available in carry-on and check-in sizes, Raden is the case for better, smarter travel. By pairing the lightest and most durable materials with technology, travelers can charge their devices on the go, weigh, and track their cases. Visit Raden.com to use code 20VC at checkout. After purchase, you will receive $25 credit to Uber this Holiday season. If a UK listener, head over to Selfridges.com and/or Selfridges on Oxford St. and farfetch.com to shop Raden today. The Simba Hybrid. The most advanced mattress in the world. With a unique combination of two thousand five hundred conical pocket springs and responsive memory foam, it offers the perfect support for two people. A mattress that responds to you and your partner’s sleeping patterns. Delivered free, with a one hundred night sleep trial, free returns and a ten year guarantee. Start your free trial at simbasleep.com

Gaming: from educational kids games, to games on live TV, to gamification in the military: Bing Gordon once said that game techniques and skills are going to be the foundation upon which all interactions will be based, someday very soon.  … The post Gaming and Gamification: when do games make good business sense? appeared first on Analytical Engine.

Gaming: from educational kids games, to games on live TV, to gamification in the military: Bing Gordon once said that game techniques and skills are going to be the foundation upon which all interactions will be based, someday very soon.  … The post Gaming and Gamification: when do games make good business sense? appeared first on Analytical Engine.

This week, we talk about UNSW, magicians, clowns, Saints Row 2, Donald Duck in Maui Mallard, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans. Then the news: Zynga are up to no good again, OUYA partners with OnLive, Google readies its whip-fast Fiber service, Apple has games on the brain, Final Fantasy Versus XIII isn't dead, Bing Gordon thinks Nintendo will pull a SEGA, the Humble Bundle crew turn their gaze towards music, EA removes iOS Rock Band, and Sandsky still doesn't care about PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. Also, we talk about how civilisation and culture as we know it is crumbling around us. We then bring back Ask Something Something Joystick because who ever wants this podcast to end? We talk about what fictional world we'd like to live in, 'dick juice', marijuana, repressed memories, weird sensations, Polish public transport, Bubsy, Tom's Contrarian Corner, and the twist ending at the end of the dictionary.Stick around after the show for us talking about the Olympics - ooh! How topical!MUSIC USED:SSJ Theme 2: Xavier Rubetzki NoonanSo Long, Tadpole: Born RuffiansRobot Rock (Kid Sample's Dubstep Bootleg): Kid SampleCLICK HERE to download!THERE'S YOUR ANSWER, FISHBULB.Check out Legacy Music Hour! It's an incredible podcast, especially if you like video game music!Check out my Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter review! If you want to. That'd be nice. Yeah.Add Sandsky on XBL: colourfastAdd Xavier on PSN: xavierrnDon't bite your friends!

Bing Gordon shares lessons learned from his exposure to world class CEOs. (November 12, 2010)

Bing Gordon shares lessons learned from his exposure to world class CEOs. (November 12, 2010)

Mark Pincus, Serial entrepreneur and founder of Zynga, and Bing Gordon, longtime Electronic Arts creative mind and investor on behalf of KPCB, discuss successful CEOs, building sustainable companies, mentorship, and the consumer. (October 28, 2009)

Serial entrepreneur and Zynga founder Mark Pincus and Bing Gordon, longtime Electronic Arts creative mind and investor on behalf of KPCB, provide a very laid-back and desultory conversation. Topics touched upon include successful CEOs, building sustainable companies, mentorship, and the consumer pay-driven Web 3.0.

Serial entrepreneur and Zynga founder Mark Pincus and Bing Gordon, longtime Electronic Arts creative mind and investor on behalf of KPCB, provide a very laid-back and desultory conversation. Topics touched upon include successful CEOs, building sustainable companies, mentorship, and the consumer pay-driven Web 3.0.

Serial entrepreneur and Zynga founder Mark Pincus and Bing Gordon, longtime Electronic Arts creative mind and investor on behalf of KPCB, provide a very laid-back and desultory conversation. Topics touched upon include successful CEOs, building sustainable companies, mentorship, and the consumer pay-driven Web 3.0.