“The month in VC” is a regular deep-dive into the African investment space. Produced in partnership with Novastar Ventures, each episode wraps up the latest news in African VC, profiles a leading investor, and digs into a key theme or trend in conversation with partner VCs.

The latest episode sees us speak to Aaron Fu from DCG about his career and his company's plans to scale crypto-focused investing in Africa, while we also dig into the findings of our recently-released funding report.

DP #76: The month in VC - episode 21

Today we sit down with Kai Huang, co-founder of RedOctane and the iconic game Guitar Hero. Kai shares his journey, from growing up in Silicon Valley as the child of Taiwanese immigrants to creating one of the most legendary music game franchises of all time. He reflects on key lessons from building RedOctane, including an early pivot from renting video games (like Blockbuster) to selling high-margin dance pads — a move that helped them bootstrap growth despite early struggles raising venture capital.
 
Kai reveals the inspiration behind Guitar Hero, their immediate and explosive growth, and the challenges of forecasting demand. He also shares clever strategies for managing retailer demand that fueled their rapid rise, ultimately leading to a $100m exit to Activision (all in stock) just eight months after launch. Activision’s stock went on to 10x (not a bad return!), while Guitar Hero generated billions more for the company.
 
Kai also reflects on the role of luck, the importance of survival, and other key lessons learned along the way. Finally, he shares what he’s spending time on today, including with 886 Studios, a venture studio helping founders in Taiwan build for the global market.
 
Show Notes

(00:02:54) — Growing up in Silicon Valley and early influences
(00:09:20) — Jumping into start-ups during the internet boom, Adux Software, early lessons 
(00:13:15) — Launching RedOctane: from video game rentals to dance pads. The importance of pricing
(00:37:10) — Transitioning into music games and seeing the Guitar Hero opportunity
(00:41:38) — Launching Guitar Hero, early success, managing retailers, and scaling up
(00:59:41) — $100M acquisition by Activision and navigating post-acquisition growth
(01:09:35) — Reflections on luck, survival, and entrepreneurship
(01:17:55) — Building 886 Studios and supporting start-ups in Taiwan

-----------------------------------------------

Subscribe on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0wTzRhxv1K7UogRzXxllhz?si=OK3QErmaSjmp2zj1E3uYtg

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kai-huang-from-selling-dance-pads-to-rock-stardom-bootstrapping/id1271715066?i=1000702678710

Visit our Website:
https://harbingerpodcast.substack.com/

Visit 886 Studios:
https://886studios.com/

Kai Huang – From selling dance pads to rock stardom: bootstrapping Guitar Hero to $1B

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In this conversation, Daniel Faloppa and Dan Gray discuss the current state of the startup fundraising market, focusing on early-stage funding trends, the impact of AI on startups, and the disconnect between valuation and price. They analyze the challenges faced by European startups and explore future strategies for growth in a changing economic landscape. This conversation delves into the evolving landscape of deep tech investment, the impact of macroeconomic shifts on innovation, and the current state of AI funding in venture capital. The discussion highlights the challenges and opportunities presented by the changing dynamics of IPOs and secondary markets, emphasizing the need for transparency and regulatory frameworks to foster a healthier investment environment.

The State of VC in Q1 2025

In this conversation, Daniel Faloppa and Dan Gray explore the current state of the fundraising environment for startups in 2025, discussing trends, challenges, and strategies for founders. They analyze the impact of global economic factors on valuations, the importance of cash flow, and the evolving dynamics between venture capital and private equity. The discussion also delves into the implications of AI on startup valuations and the necessity for founders to align with investors who share a long-term vision.

Startup Valuation Trends, AI and Mega-Funds

In this episode of Platform Builders, Christine Spang and Isaac Nassimi chat with Ben Rubin about the evolution of software development, from the early days of the internet to the current age of AI. They discuss the impact of AI on B2B SaaS, the challenges of building platforms in a rapidly changing landscape, and the future of user experience. Ben shares his experiences and insights on how developers and businesses can adapt to thrive in this new era.

Subscribe

Platform Builders - Ep. #3, Building Platforms in the AI Era with Ben Rubin of Verify

Is there more VC flowing into Portland? A new president for TiE Oregon, $1M in funding for a Bluesky effort, and Portland startup events galore. Let's get into Portland, Oregon, startup news for this week…

PORTLAND STARTUP LINKS
- TiE Oregon https://oregon.tie.org
- Bluesky raises $1M https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/31/custom-feed-builder-graze-is-building-a-business-on-bluesky-and-investors-are-paying-attention/
- Uptick in Portland Venture Capital in 2025 Q1  https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/inno/stories/inno-insights/2025/04/15/venture-monitor-q1-oregon-metro.html 
- Portland Digital Corps https://siliconflorist.com/2025/04/17/portland-digital-corps-ramps-up/ 
- Portland AI Engineers https://www.meetup.com/portland-ai-engineers/
- PIE + Portland startup community events https://www.meetup.com/pie-portland-startup-community/
- Portland Startup Week 2025 https://lu.ma/pdxstartupweek
- Startup Success podcast https://open.spotify.com/episode/1uW9DLlNVTDtEqg243fuwh?si=Cwb0V3bBRvmq4ljC1dHAlA
- 5 Min Startup https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbbAT6TcH-8

PORTLAND STARTUP NEWS
00:00 Portland startup news intro
00:35 Matt Dittrich named new president of TiE Oregon
03:11 Graze raises $1 million for Bluesky tooling
06:01 Significantly more VC in Q1 2025
08:30 Portland Digital Corps is up and running
12:00 Portland AI Engineers meets April 30, 2025
12:42 PIE + Portland startup community events 
19:15 Me on other podcasts

FIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…
- https://patreon.com/turoczy
- https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy
- https://bsky.app/profile/turoczy.bsky.social
- https://siliconflorist.substack.com/
- https://pdxslack.com

ABOUT SILICON FLORIST ----------
For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog, newsletter, and podcast that covers entrepreneurs, founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet.

ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ----------
Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). 

All because of a blog. Weird.

https://siliconflorist.com

#pdx #portland #oregon #startup #entrepreneur

Week ending Apr 18, 2025 - Portland startup news

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i made like half of this 3 months ago and it was shit.
then i came back to it this morning and finished it and it wasn't shit
so have this lmao

Lifeblood(COVER)

In episode 35 of Generationship, Rachel is joined by Brooke Hopkins to explore what it takes to make voice AI agents reliable, robust, and ready for real-world deployment. Drawing from her experience at Waymo and her current work at Coval, Brooke reveals how testing and evaluation are the key to staying ahead in a fast-moving AI landscape.

Generationship - Ep. #35, Wisdom with Brooke Hopkins of Coval

In episode 13 of Open Source Ready, Thorsten Ball of Sourcegraph joins Brian and John to unpack the real-world engineering decisions behind language choices, like Microsoft using Go for the recent TypeScript compiler rewrite. Explore the importance of continuous learning in tech, the benefits of knowing multiple programming languages, and how AI agents are poised to reshape developer workflows.

Open Source Ready - Ep. #13, Why Microsoft Chose Go: A Deep Dive with Thorsten Ball

TOMA JACK TOMA KKK - DJ TCHOUZEN ( DJ PR )

POV: You fall down the stairs carrying a piano

Produced by Foundersuite (for startups: www.foundersuite.com) and Fundingstack (for VCs: www.fundingstack.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital.

This episode is with with Stacy Havener of Haver Capital, a a firm that helps asset managers launch and raise funds. 

In this episode we discuss the “old way vs. the new way” of raising capital, the art and science of fundraising, how to build your "personal brand"… one that both attracts and repels investors (and we talk about why each is important). We also get into how to tell your story, tips for running that first pitch meeting, and much more


How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $21 Billion since 2016.

If you are a startup, create a free account at www.foundersuite.com.

If you are a VC, fundraising consultant, venture studio or investment banker, check out our new platform, www.fundingstack.com

Ep. 300 How I Raised It with Stacy Havener of Havener Capital

Our new episode features Van Hamilton Barbeau, AVP at Ochsner Ventures, the venture capital arm of Ochsner Health, which invests in healthcare companies from seed-stage to growth-stage. He has spent his career building, advising and investing in healthcare companies. 

Barbeau earned his undergrad degree from Cornell in 2011, where he studied political economy in the College of Arts & Sciences. He also has an MBA from Cornell’s Johnson School and a master’s in healthcare policy and research from Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences.

Episode 44: Van Hamilton Barbeau boosts healthcare startups

Host Gary J. Ross discusses the potential benefits of incorporating in Nevada (and the correct pronunciation of the Silver State) with Rew Goodenow, a shareholder at Parsons Behle & Latimer in Reno, Nevada. Gary and Rew explore why more businesses are choosing to incorporate in Nevada. Rew highlights Nevada’s long-standing pro-business legal framework, tracing its evolution from 19th-century mining to gaming powerhouse to modern corporate law. Nevada’s beneficial business judgement rule, strong privacy practices, and simple filing process, all of which have made Nevada desirable, are also discussed. 

VC Law: Episode 36: What To Know About Incorporating in Nevada with Rew Goodenow

In episode 36 of Generationship, Rachel Chalmers speaks with Christine Spang about the past, present, and future of enterprise software, with a particular focus on AI. Spang shares her experiences building Nylas and discusses the practical applications of AI in business, as well as the ethical considerations surrounding its use. Lastly, they explore the social and cultural impact of AI, pondering its effects on human connection and the perception of reality.

Generationship - Ep. #36, Solarpunk with Christine Spang

The Equidam podcast is co-hosted by Daniel Faloppa (Equidam's CEO) and Dan Gray (Equidam's Head of Marketing), and focuses on startup fundraising trends around the world, with a particular focus on valuation for early stage companies.

Heavybit is the leading investor in developer-first startups that turn visions into movements, products into platforms, and contributors into communities. Since 2013, Heavybit companies have redefined how teams build, deploy, secure, and scale mission-critical technology. From JAMstack, to DevSecOps, to feature flagging, Heavybit founders build the future of software from the bottom up.

Your gateway to Asia's innovation economy. We interview Asia's top founders and investors to translate their stories for the world.

Originally created in 2017 by Adam Bao at Shunwei Capital (founded by Lei Jun).

Produced by Foundersuite.com, makers of the leading software stack for raising capital: Investor CRM + VC/Angel database + Pitch Deck Hosting + Investor Update tools. Used by startups to raise > $2.5 Billion.

More than mildly obsessed with Portland, Oregon, startups

(@2003CLAYMOREGANG)
(@1romanceteam)
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Podcast on all the happenings in Africa's tech startup ecosystem put together by the team at Disrupt Africa.

aspiring game developer and music person 

Startup Cornell is a podcast hosted by Entrepreneurship at Cornell that explores the bold entrepreneurial ideas coming from our students, faculty, staff and young alumni.

New tracks tagged #VC