Venture Games

Podcast by Venture Games

Venture Games Episode 42: Trip Hawkins, Serial Entrepreneur & EA Founder

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.

04-25
01:16:09

Venture Games Episode 41: Uri Marchand, Overwolf

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.

02-29
43:47

Venture Games Episode 40: John Fazio, Nerd Street

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.

01-25
01:05:28

Venture Games Episode 39: Mark Otero, Azra Games

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

11-16
52:36

Venture Games Episode 38: Dean Takahashi, Venturebeat

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.

10-19
43:29

Venture Games Episode 37: Austin Woolridge, Players Lounge

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.

09-28
52:02

Venture Games Episode 36: Tim Morten, Frost Giant Studios

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.

08-31
59:58

Venture Games Episode 35: Joe Schaeppi, Solsten

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.

07-27
01:41:17

Venture Games Episode 34: Christian Facey, Audiomob

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.

06-22
43:02

Venture Games Episode 33: Shawn Foust, Fortis Games

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.

05-18
01:04:02

Venture Games Episode 32: Arseny Lebedev, Original Games

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

03-16
51:17

Venture Games Episode 31: Denis Dyack, Apocalypse Studios

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.

02-02
51:41

Venture Games Episode 30: Jeremy Born, NFT Genius

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.

12-15
46:30

Venture Games Episode 29: Troy Jones & Andrew Hawkins, StatusPro

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.

10-20
50:01

Venture Games Episode 28: Guha Bala, Velan Studios

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.

09-15
53:57

Venture Games Episode 27: Josh Neuman, Melon

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.

08-18
47:15

Venture Games Episode 26: Ed Smith, Gaming & Tech Veteran

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.

07-14
55:31

Venture Games Episode 25: Mike Pappas, Modulate

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.

06-09
49:45

Venture Games Episode 24: Aron Beierschmitt, Laguna Games

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

04-28
50:35

Venture Games Episode 23: Nick Bhardwaj, Tribe Group

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.

04-07
01:05:41

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