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Melissa Cash is the Co-founder and CEO of Pok Pok, a montessori-inspired collection of digital toys that spark creativity and learning through open-ended play. Prior to Pok Pok, Melissa spent a decade working in marketing and design roles, helping Snowman drive 9-digits of downloads across its game portfolio and designing physical products at Disney.

Timestamps:
(00:00 ) Intro
(05:46 ) Creating a Montessori inspired game
(12:18 ) Why it's impossible to avoid screen time
(15:35 ) Designing a non-addictive product
(17:38 ) Monetizing a non-addictive game
(21:47 ) How to price a subscription game
(24:18 ) Using new features to drive retention
(26:04 ) Marketing a kids game to parents
(30:59 ) Why Pok Pok waited to launch Android
(34:12 ) How getting pickpocketed in Germany led to a job designing products at Disney
(39:23 ) How great products can define a childhood
(43:21 ) Lessons from having a great idea while working at Disney
(46:03 ) First coming up with the idea for Pok Pok
(49:00 ) Advice for starting your first company
(50:10 ) Fundraising tactics from Pre-Seed to Series A
(54:08 ) How to build your network from zero
(57:08 ) Getting the most out of Slack groups
(59:07 ) Melissa’s hack for in-person events
(01:01:33 ) Tactics for meeting people at events
(01:03:39 ) Winning multiple Apple design awards
(01:07:07 ) How to get press for your startup
(01:13:17 ) Prioritizing getting women on Pok Pok’s cap table
(01:18:38 ) Strategies for staying creative
(01:21:58 ) Melissa’s influencer marketing hacks
(01:24:24 ) Lessons from failed influencer campaigns
(01:28:19 ) Growing 5x YoY, adding STEM content
(01:30:28 ) What surprised her about starting a company
Referenced:
Try Pok Pok for 50% off an annual subscription with code POKPOK50: https://apple.co/3XAGSwT
Snowman Studios: https://www.builtbysnowman.com/
Hampton Private Founder Group: https://joinhampton.com/
VC Backed Mom’s: https://www.vcbackedmoms.com/
The Peel Podcast episode with Eric Newcomer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXH_peQWtnc
More on Pok Pok’s Series A: https://techcrunch.com/2024/06/18/now-a-series-a-startup-kids-app-and-digital-toy-pok-pok-is-coming-to-android/