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.

Venture Games Episode 7: Chris Fralic, First Round Capital

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.

Venture Games Episode 8: Molly Fowler, Dorm Room Fund

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.

Venture Games Episode 9: Jamil Moledina, Hexagram

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.

Venture Games Episode 10: Peter Rojas, Betaworks Ventures

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.

Venture Games Episode 11: Lo Toney, Plexo Capital

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.

Venture Games Episode 14: Cordel Robbin-Coker, Carry1st

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.

Venture Games Episode 16: Kai Bond, Courtside Ventures

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.

Venture Games Episode 20: Marlon Nichols, MaC Venture Capital

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.

Venture Games Episode 21: Charles Hudson, Precursor Ventures

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.

Venture Games Episode 22: Timmu Tõke, Ready Player Me

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.

Venture Games Episode 23: Nick Bhardwaj, Tribe Group

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

Venture Games Episode 32: Arseny Lebedev, Original 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.

Venture Games Episode 33: Shawn Foust, Fortis Games

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.

Venture Games Episode 37: Austin Woolridge, Players Lounge

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.

Venture Games Episode 38: Dean Takahashi, Venturebeat

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.

Venture Games Episode 40: John Fazio, Nerd Street

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.

Venture Games Episode 41: Uri Marchand, Overwolf

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.

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

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.

Venture Games Episode 43: Tim Train, Second Dinner

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.

Venture Games Episode 44: Kristian Segerstrale, Super Evil Megacorp

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.

Venture Games Episode 45: Anton Bernstein, Pocket Worlds

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/

Venture Games Episode 46: Matt Ball, Epyllion

In Episode 47 of Venture Games, my guest Phil Sanderson, Co-Founder and Senior Partner 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.

Venture Games Episode 47: Phil Sanderson, Griffin Gaming Partners

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.

Venture Games Episode 48: Tim Bender, Hooded Horse

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.

Venture Games Episode 49: Sean Ryan, Zoot

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.

Venture Games Episode 50: Dennis Fong, GGWP

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.

Venture Games Episode 51: Sarah Fuchs, Muus Collective

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.

Venture Games Episode 52: Eden Chen, Pragma

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.

Venture Games Episode 53: Ilia Eremeev, The Games Fund

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.

Venture Games Episode 54: Gordon Bellamy, Gaming Industry Veteran

In Episode 55 of Venture Games, my guest Adam Arrigo, CEO and Co-Founder at Wave, discusses his 15+ year career at the intersection of gaming and music; his experience working with major artists like Justin Bieber and emerging artists; and the future of virtual concerts and VR.

Venture Games

Popular tracks