What happens when a retro gaming soul meets cutting-edge Web3 tools? In this episode of Bits of Signum, host Angela Dalton and co-host Eliza Jappinen sit down with Tobi Amann—better known as Deckard—the Co-Founder & CEO of Evrloot. Together they unpack the game’s unlikely origin story, which began not as a game at all, but as an NFT project born from deep community passion. Deckard shares how Evrloot evolved into a full-fledged RPG with lore-rich storytelling, on-chain mechanics, and a player base that built alongside the dev team. From his days in World of Warcraft and Deloitte to Season Two’s tactical gameplay and marketplace economy, this is a conversation about building slowly, ethically, and with purpose in the Web3 space.

About the Guest: Tobi Amann, also known as Deckard, is the Co-Founder and CEO of Evrloot, a community-driven Web3 RPG. A lifelong gamer with a background in consulting and product management—including a stint leading a dev team at Deloitte—Tobi merged his love of gaming with blockchain technology to create one of the space’s most compelling indie titles.

The second season of Evrloot JUST DROPPED, go play it here. 

Follow Deckard: X | LinkedIn 

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Signum Growth invests and advises at the intersection of mass market culture and new economies that are bubbling up in new digital communities. We believe that emerging technologies will continue to be born in video games and that ‘gaming’ will reach an increasingly broader swath of people, until it is simply known as entertainment. The firm focuses on creators and developers who are moving to the front of the line, where they will garner a greater slice of value creation. Areas of expertise include video games, entertainment, and emerging technologies like blockchain and AI. Most recently, the firm has focused on UGC (user generated content) platforms and creators. Signum Growth is comprised of Signum Growth Capital, a FINRA-registered broker dealer, and Signum Growth Advisors, an investment advisor.

Angela Dalton, Signum Growth’s Founder/CEO, served in Tech/Media leadership roles and as a Managing Director at three firms - Guggenheim Securities, Evercore Partners, and UBS. At Evercore Partners, Angela was an initial investor and Co-Founder of Evercore Equities. Signum Growth acts as the Lead Advisor to ARK Invest, and Angela serves as the Co-Founder of the Women in Gaming Zoom (WIGZ), and recently served on the corporate board of FaZe Clan. She earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. and B.S. from the University of Kansas, Phi Beta Kappa.

In this episode, Angela is joined by Co-founder of Look North World, Patrick Moran, to discuss his game studio, the work they’ve done, and the future of the gaming industry. During their conversation Patrick gives background to how Look North World came about, before diving into how game studios can operate successfully in a UGC environment, their launch of The Glitch, how best to integrate IP and large brands into these worlds, and more.

Patrick Moran is the co-founder of Look North World, a pioneering UGC game studio and publisher. As trailblazers in the games industry, Look North World has established itself as an entertainment company focused on creating unique experiences by leveraging new and emerging creator platforms, including Fortnite UEFN and Curseforge, to build games for millions of existing players. Before founding Look North World, Patrick held product roles including Chief Product Officer at Kongregate, Franchise Lead at MobilityWare, and other companies like Amazon, Disney, and EA.

Check out all things Look North World

Follow Patrick: LinkedIn | Twitter

Chapters: 

Signum Growth invests and advises at the intersection of mass market culture and new economies that are bubbling up in new digital communities. We believe that emerging technologies will continue to be born in video games and that ‘gaming’ will reach an increasingly broader swath of people, until it is simply known as entertainment. The firm focuses on creators and developers who are moving to the front of the line, where they will garner a greater slice of value creation. Areas of expertise include video games, entertainment, and emerging technologies like blockchain and AI. Most recently, the firm has focused on UGC (user generated content) platforms and creators. Signum Growth is comprised of Signum Growth Capital, a FINRA-registered broker dealer, and Signum Growth Advisors, an investment advisor.

Angela Dalton, Signum Growth’s Founder/CEO, served in Tech/Media leadership roles and as a Managing Director at three firms - Guggenheim Securities, Evercore Partners, and UBS. At Evercore Partners, Angela was an initial investor and Co-Founder of Evercore Equities. Signum Growth acts as the Lead Advisor to ARK Invest, and Angela serves as the Co-Founder of the Women in Gaming Zoom (WIGZ), and recently served on the corporate board of FaZe Clan. She earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. and B.S. from the University of Kansas, Phi Beta Kappa.

Follow Angela: LinkedIn | Twitter

In this episode, Angela and Eliza are joined by Pocket Worlds Founder & CEO, Anton Bernstein, for a conversation about the evolution of Highrise from an immersive social experience to a full blown UGC gaming platform. They discuss the steps along that evolution, how to assist creators in building communities, how the unique demographics of Highrise users gives it an advantage, new and future creator tools on the platform, and much more!

Anton Bernstein is the CEO and Founder of Pocket Worlds, a technology company that empowers shared experiences to connect the world. The company is a fast-growing YCombinator-backed company with over 50 million users and 10,000 creators. Currently, the company has two platforms: Highrise, the leading virtual world where people make avatars, express themselves, engage in shared experiences, and create deep friendships along the way, and Everskies, the leading pixel doll community where users dress up avatars and chat with friends.

Learn more about Highrise

Download Highrise from the App Store

Follow Anton: LinkedIn | X

Chapters:

Introduction (00:00)

Highrise Background (01:36)

Social App Makers Not Game Designers (06:23)

Everskies Acquisition (09:19)

Helping Creators Build Communities (11:27)

What’s Being Built in Highrise (17:34)

Demographics on Highrise (21:40)

Creator Economics on Highrise (25:24)

Creator Tools of the Future (27:54)

Discovery on the Platform (32:28)

Privacy and Community Standards (36:04)

Being Profitable and the Future of the Company (38:22)

Signum Growth invests and advises at the intersection of mass market culture and new economies that are bubbling up in new digital communities. We believe that emerging technologies will continue to be born in video games and that ‘gaming’ will reach an increasingly broader swath of people, until it is simply known as entertainment. The firm focuses on creators and developers who are moving to the front of the line, where they will garner a greater slice of value creation. Areas of expertise include video games, entertainment, and emerging technologies like blockchain and AI. Most recently, the firm has focused on UGC (user generated content) platforms and creators. Signum Growth is comprised of Signum Growth Capital, a FINRA-registered broker dealer, and Signum Growth Advisors, an investment advisor.

Angela Dalton, Signum Growth’s Founder/CEO, served in Tech/Media leadership roles and as a Managing Director at three firms - Guggenheim Securities, Evercore Partners, and UBS. At Evercore Partners, Angela was an initial investor and Co-Founder of Evercore Equities. Signum Growth acts as the Lead Advisor to ARK Invest, and Angela serves as the Co-Founder of the Women in Gaming Zoom (WIGZ), and recently served on the corporate board of FaZe Clan. She earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. and B.S. from the University of Kansas, Phi Beta Kappa.

Follow Angela: LinkedIn | Twitter

Follow Eliza: LinkedIn | Twitter

In this episode, Angela is joined by Mythical President and COO, Arron Goolsbey, to discuss the vision for the future of gaming that Mythical is bringing to life. They discuss why gaming is the hero use case to take Web3 technologies mainstream, building universal secondary marketplaces, the Mythical x NFL deal, and much more.

Arron is a seasoned executive with over 25 years of experience in the digital gaming, consumer products, and big tech industries. As the President and COO at Mythical Games, Arron leads the strategy, vision, and execution of their games-first studio and marketplace platform that leverage Web3 technologies to create immersive and engaging AAA game experiences across all devices.

Check out everything Mythical Games has going on right now.

Follow Arron: LinkedIn | X

Chapters: 

(01:36) Introduction

(04:05) Arron’s Background

(07:00) First Party Games

(09:16) Third Party Games

(12:31) Web3 Foundations

(16:07) Universal Marketplace

(22:21) Mythical X NFL

(27:46) Pudgy Penguins

(30:26) Apple & Google Barriers Broken

(32:06) Vision for the Future of Mythical

Signum Growth invests and advises at the intersection of mass market culture and new economies that are bubbling up in new digital communities. We believe that emerging technologies will continue to be born in video games and that ‘gaming’ will reach an increasingly broader swath of people, until it is simply known as entertainment. The firm focuses on creators and developers who are moving to the front of the line, where they will garner a greater slice of value creation. Areas of expertise include video games, entertainment, and emerging technologies like blockchain and AI. Most recently, the firm has focused on UGC (user generated content) platforms and creators. Signum Growth is comprised of Signum Growth Capital, a FINRA-registered broker dealer, and Signum Growth Advisors, an investment advisor.

Angela Dalton, Signum Growth’s Founder/CEO, served in Tech/Media leadership roles and as a Managing Director at three firms - Guggenheim Securities, Evercore Partners, and UBS. At Evercore Partners, Angela was an initial investor and Co-Founder of Evercore Equities. Signum Growth acts as the Lead Advisor to ARK Invest, and Angela serves as the Co-Founder of the Women in Gaming Zoom (WIGZ), and recently served on the corporate board of FaZe Clan. She earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. and B.S. from the University of Kansas, Phi Beta Kappa.

Follow Angela: LinkedIn | Twitter

How are gaming platforms like Roblox redefining consumer-brand interactions? In this episode of Bits of Signum Creator Stories, Michelle Goad joins hosts Angela and Eliza to delve into the intersection of consumer attention, UGC gaming, social media, and brand commercialization. The conversation covers Michelle’s career journey, insights into current brand engagement strategies, the potential of transmedia storytelling in brand development, takeaways from the Walmart x Roblox partnership, AI’s impact on these spaces, and much more.

Michelle Goad is the founder of Greatest Of All Digital, a Social Commerce Studio helping IP owners build their brands into a household name and consumer brands grow their commerce and connection to the next generation through creators, influencers, social and gaming strategy, partnerships and consumer experience transformation. Previously, Michelle was an Operating Partner at The Chernin Group, Head of Global Branded Services and GM of Gen Z Innovation at Nike, Co-Founder and CEO of the pioneering social shopping app PS Dept. (named a “Breakthrough Brand” by Fast Company) and a merchant marketer for Marc Jacobs and Barneys New York. She has been featured as an authority on next-gen commerce in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Vogue and more.

Follow Michelle: LinkedIn | X | Instagram

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Chapters:

00:00 Michelle’s Career Journey

06:03 Being an Early Mover in Digital Fashion & Commerce

09:20 Head of Digital Became a Role for Brands

10:42 Michelle’s Introduction to Roblox

14:59 Walmart x Roblox Partnership Takeaways

22:54 The Marketing/Branding Playbook on Roblox is Interactive

26:31 Pharrell, Lego, and the Need to Adopt a Transmedia Mindset

31:26 Explaining the Roblox Opportunity to Brands

37:41 How AI will Impact Gaming, IP, and Brands

Signum Growth invests and advises at the intersection of mass market culture and new economies that are bubbling up in new digital communities. We believe that emerging technologies will continue to be born in video games and that ‘gaming’ will reach an increasingly broader swath of people, until it is simply known as entertainment. The firm focuses on creators and developers who are moving to the front of the line, where they will garner a greater slice of value creation. Areas of expertise include video games, entertainment, and emerging technologies like blockchain and AI. Most recently, the firm has focused on UGC (user generated content) platforms and creators. Signum Growth is comprised of Signum Growth Capital, a FINRA-registered broker dealer, and Signum Growth Advisors, an investment advisor.

Angela Dalton, Signum Growth’s Founder/CEO, served in Tech/Media leadership roles and as a Managing Director at three firms - Guggenheim Securities, Evercore Partners, and UBS. At Evercore Partners, Angela was an initial investor and Co-Founder of Evercore Equities. Signum Growth acts as the Lead Advisor to ARK Invest, and Angela serves as the Co-Founder of the Women in Gaming Zoom (WIGZ), and recently served on the corporate board of FaZe Clan. She earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. and B.S. from the University of Kansas, Phi Beta Kappa.

Follow Angela: LinkedIn | Twitter

Follow Eliza: LinkedIn | Twitter

How can games become spaces for safe exploration of failure, problem solving, and learning? In this episode of Bits of Signum Creator Stories, hosts Angela and Eliza welcome Sylvia Aguiñaga to discuss her journey into the gaming world and the development of Star Stuff. She shares how her childhood impacted the games she wanted to create, emphasizing the significance of creating environments where failure is part of the learning process. The conversation also touches on the influence of becoming a parent, potential future projects for Animo Games, and makes the case for integrating play, curiosity, and creativity into learning experiences.

Sylvia grew up playing NES games in the backroom of her family’s bodega. She remembers telling her brothers she’d make them lunch for a week if they would beat levels in Mario for her. As a kid, she lacked the confidence to beat those games by herself, but later discovered a world of games that encouraged her to keep trying and made her feel safe to fail. Throughout her career as Director of Curriculum & Creative Director at nonprofits committed to empowering youth in computer science and engineering, she recognized that the world needed more safe spaces to fail, learn, and grow. When Sylvia founded Ánimo Games, she knew she wanted to create lovable adventures that did just that. She is currently pursuing her love for games, coding, science, writing, and teaching with the development of Ánimo Games’ first title, Starstuff, a programming puzzler.

Play Star Stuff: Steam | Learn More

Follow Sylvia: LinkedIn

Chapters:

(00:00) How Sylvia Found Her Way to Game Design

(10:29) Star Stuff and Giving People the Agency to Solve Hard Problems

(19:58) The Game Launch and Future Game Plans

(25:10) Final Thoughts and Where to Find Sylvia

Signum Growth invests and advises at the intersection of mass market culture and new economies that are bubbling up in new digital communities. We believe that emerging technologies will continue to be born in video games and that ‘gaming’ will reach an increasingly broader swath of people, until it is simply known as entertainment. The firm focuses on creators and developers who are moving to the front of the line, where they will garner a greater slice of value creation. Areas of expertise include video games, entertainment, and emerging technologies like blockchain and AI. Most recently, the firm has focused on UGC (user generated content) platforms and creators. Signum Growth is comprised of Signum Growth Capital, a FINRA-registered broker dealer, and Signum Growth Advisors, an investment advisor.

Angela Dalton, Signum Growth’s Founder/CEO, served in Tech/Media leadership roles and as a Managing Director at three firms - Guggenheim Securities, Evercore Partners, and UBS. At Evercore Partners, Angela was an initial investor and Co-Founder of Evercore Equities. Signum Growth acts as the Lead Advisor to ARK Invest, and Angela serves as the Co-Founder of the Women in Gaming Zoom (WIGZ), and recently served on the corporate board of FaZe Clan. She earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. and B.S. from the University of Kansas, Phi Beta Kappa.

Follow Angela: LinkedIn | Twitter

Follow Eliza: LinkedIn | Twitter

In this episode of Bits of Signum Creator Stories, hosts Angela and Keshav delve into the fascinating realm of Web3 gaming with guest Sam Peurifoy. They discuss the unique investment and development strategies of Hivemind, the innovative pirate MMO game 'Captain & Company,' and the future of Web3 Gaming including the continued integration of NFTs, in-game economies, and the evolving infrastructure. Sam shares insights on community building, the shift towards abstracted blockchain mechanics, and the future potential of these games in the broader gaming ecosystem.

Sam Peurifoy, PhD, is a founding partner at Hivemind Capital, a multi-strategy firm which raised $1bn+ in 2022 to deploy across blockchain-related ventures and markets. Sam is additionally a founding core contributor of KAP Games, a web3 gaming studio & publisher behind the leading game on Blast L2, Captain & Company. Sam received his PhD in Organic Chemistry from Columbia University, his B.S. in Mathematics & Chemistry from the University of Miami, and is a Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient in the venture capital category.

Play or learn more about Captain & Company

Follow Sam: LinkedIn | X 

Chapters:

00:00 Sam’s Background and Captain & Company

06:27 Building a Distribution Platform

10:01 Is Web3 Its Own Genre of Game

14:55 Relationship of Web3 Gaming to Real World Financial Literacy

18:26 Building a Community in Web3 Gaming

23:43 Most Excited For Rest of Year

Signum Growth invests and advises at the intersection of mass market culture and new economies that are bubbling up in new digital communities. We believe that emerging technologies will continue to be born in video games and that ‘gaming’ will reach an increasingly broader swath of people, until it is simply known as entertainment. The firm focuses on creators and developers who are moving to the front of the line, where they will garner a greater slice of value creation. Areas of expertise include video games, entertainment, and emerging technologies like blockchain and AI. Most recently, the firm has focused on UGC (user generated content) platforms and creators. Signum Growth is comprised of Signum Growth Capital, a FINRA-registered broker dealer, and Signum Growth Advisors, an investment advisor.

Angela Dalton, Signum Growth’s Founder/CEO, served in Tech/Media leadership roles and as a Managing Director at three firms - Guggenheim Securities, Evercore Partners, and UBS. At Evercore Partners, Angela was an initial investor and Co-Founder of Evercore Equities. Signum Growth acts as the Lead Advisor to ARK Invest, and Angela serves as the Co-Founder of the Women in Gaming Zoom (WIGZ), and recently served on the corporate board of FaZe Clan. She earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. and B.S. from the University of Kansas, Phi Beta Kappa.

Follow Angela: LinkedIn | Twitter 
Follow Keshav: LinkedIn | Twitter

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital innovation, the worlds of gaming and artificial intelligence are not just fields of technological advancement but also arenas for societal reflection. The community structures within gaming provide intriguing blueprints for collaboration and leadership in professional environments, showcasing how virtual spaces can influence real-world workplace dynamics. As these technologies develop, the imperative to embed ethics and principles of equity from the start becomes clear.

In this week’s episode of Bits of Signum: Creator Stories, Angela talks with Founder, Investor, and Author, Dr. Songyee Yoon, about her career navigating the intersection of technology, ethics, and play, while discussing the immense value gaming has as a model for other areas of society and why building equity and ethics into new technologies like AI is so paramount to get right from the start. 

Songyee Yoon is a visionary leader, investor and author in the AI and gaming industry, with over 20 years of experience in developing and executing innovative strategies for global online game companies. After graduating from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Songyee went on to earn her Ph.D. from MIT in Computational Neuroscience. Her strong belief in the concept of “play” as a crucible for innovation eventually led her to NCSOFT, a leading global video game developer and publisher, where she served as president and chief strategy officer. In this role, she led the AI transformation of the company, applying AI for game development and various aspects of business operations. She also oversaw the company's growth from a 350-person company to a global organization across seven countries in Asia, Europe, and North America, driving strategic initiatives in monetization, marketing, branding, business development, licensing, ESG, and education. Songyee brings a unique lens to bridging countries’ approaches to technology and ethics and is an involved figure in the international business community. Songyee’s latest book, Push Play, explores the significance of play on innovation, drawing lessons from games, medicine, human resources and other industries.

During their conversation, Angela and Dr. Yoon discuss why gaming is so valuable, the misguided aversion some parents have to gaming, building a third space for learning, asking for a seat at the table, why equity in AI matters, and much more.

Follow Dr. Songyee Yoon: Website | LinkedIn | Twitter

Chapters:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:25) Where Songyee Sees Value in Gaming

(06:55) Parents Aversion to Gaming

(10:49) Projectory and the Third Space for Learning

(16:14) Gaming Communities as a Model for the Workplace

(20:21) Women in Gaming Asking for a Seat at the Table

(24:48) Representation and Equity in Gaming

(35:39) Parting Thoughts

Signum Growth invests and advises at the intersection of mass market culture and new economies that are bubbling up in new digital communities. We believe that emerging technologies will continue to be born in video games and that ‘gaming’ will reach an increasingly broader swath of people, until it is simply known as entertainment. The firm focuses on creators and developers who are moving to the front of the line, where they will garner a greater slice of value creation. Areas of expertise include video games, entertainment, and emerging technologies like blockchain and AI. Most recently, the firm has focused on UGC (user generated content) platforms and creators. Signum Growth is comprised of Signum Growth Capital, a FINRA-registered broker dealer, and Signum Growth Advisors, an investment advisor.

Angela Dalton, Signum Growth’s Founder/CEO, served in Tech/Media leadership roles and as a Managing Director at three firms - Guggenheim Securities, Evercore Partners, and UBS.
Follow Angela: LinkedIn | Twitter

The value of beloved Intellectual Property has never been greater, but how to legislate, track, and benefit from its use has never been more complex. As User Generated Content continues to prosper, and platforms like Roblox and UEFN continue to break down barriers to entry for aspiring creators, the need (and opportunity) for modern Intellectual Property infrastructure grows.

In this episode of Bits of Signum, Angela is joined by guest co-host Nick Grous, Portfolio Manager at ARK Invest responsible for the gaming sector, as they welcome Founder and CEO of Spaceport, Le Zhang, to the show to discuss how Spaceport is tackling IP rights and usage across digital platforms, utilizing web3 technologies to build the infrastructure of the future. The vision of Spaceport is to become the IP licensing layer of the metaverse, not just for UGC platforms but for all gaming applications, all digital applications and even real world applications! 

Le Zhang is a serial tech entrepreneur and angel investor. He is currently Founder and CEO of Spaceport, a web3 company building scalable IP licensing infrastructure for gaming and user-generated content (UGC) economies. Previously, Le was Founder & CEO of Squadle (acquired), the AI automation platform used by major brands like McDonald’s, 7-Eleven, and Hyatt Hotels.

During their discussion, Angela, Nick, and Le go into Spaceport’s founding and how their licensing products work, before diving into how brands, creators, and consumers can all benefit from IP equally and legally, who the first adopters have and will continue to be, how digital products may soon outpace physical products, and much more.

Signum Growth Thesis: IP rights will eventually matter. Currently, we are in a period of early experimentation, and we are seeing a lot of cool AI creations! We are also in a sea of IP rights infringements. The industries of video games and entertainment depend heavily on rights, which generate a lot of value - $350 billion referenced by Le Zhang in the podcast. We believe that IP rights protection will be baked into the technology at some point in the future. Blockchain technology is uniquely suited to solve this problem facing the $350 billion IP rights market. We are deep in the Polkadot ecosystem so please ask us about this too. Bottom line: if we thought that Cambridge Analytica was scary, AI will take the level of fake news and inauthenticity to a national security threat level. Why wouldn’t we seek a cryptographic backing of truly authentic digital IP?

Learn more about Spaceport

Follow Le: LinkedIn | Twitter

Signum Growth invests and advises at the intersection of mass market culture and new economies that are bubbling up in new digital communities. We believe that emerging technologies will continue to be born in video games and that ‘gaming’ will reach an increasingly broader swath of people, until it is simply known as entertainment. The firm focuses on creators and developers who are moving to the front of the line, where they will garner a greater slice of value creation. Areas of expertise include video games, entertainment, and emerging technologies like blockchain and AI. Most recently, the firm has focused on UGC (user generated content) platforms and creators. Signum Growth is comprised of Signum Growth Capital, a FINRA-registered broker dealer, and Signum Growth Advisors, an investment advisor.

Angela Dalton, Signum Growth’s Founder/CEO, served in Tech/Media leadership roles and as a Managing Director at three firms - Guggenheim Securities, Evercore Partners, and UBS. At Evercore Partners, Angela was an initial investor and Co-Founder of Evercore Equities. Signum Growth acts as the Lead Advisor to ARK Invest, and Angela serves as the Co-Founder of the Women in Gaming Zoom (WIGZ), and recently served on the corporate board of FaZe Clan.

Follow Angela: LinkedIn | Twitter 
Follow Nick: LinkedIn | Twitter

Welcome to Bits of Signum, Creator Stories: a podcast that spotlights pioneers at the intersection of user generated content, AI, blockchain, and gaming. Each week, we speak to global founders, CEOs and iconic thinkers about new economies that are bubbling up online, and new business models for independent creators who are democratizing game development and content creation generally. We believe that creators and developers are moving to the front of the line.