In this episode, Eden and Kevin speak with Stirling Rank, COO and co-founder of Void Interactive. Stirling had an unconventional journey from high school filmmaking to creating the indie game hit Ready or Not. In the discussion, he recounts how he and friends Ryan and Stuart transformed their passion for art and gaming into a successful game development company. The challenges they faced on their first project, Code 10, laid the groundwork for Ready or Not. Stirling highlights the team's decision to avoid traditional crowdfunding, opting instead for a supporter program and a captivating trailer to garner community support. He reflects on the balance of innovation with familiar gaming elements, the importance of community involvement, and the organic success that followed. You’ll hear about Stirling’s challenges scaling a remote team, and his views on the integration of AI in game development and the broader landscape of the gaming industry.  

Discussion points:

The Gaming Founders Podcast is brought to you by Eden Chen, CEO of Pragma, and Kevin Zhang, Partner at Upfront Ventures.

Pragma is a venture-backed backend game engine founded by the engineering leaders who built the platforms for some of the largest live service games including League of Legends, Fortnight, Destiny 2, and Plants vs. Zombies 2. Pragma powers services like accounts, matchmaking and player data for the world’s most ambitious live service games. Eden Chen is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Pragma, Fishermen Labs and Lightmark Capital, and started his career in investment banking at Citigroup and Lehman Brothers.

Founded in 1996 in Los Angeles with investing professionals based in LA and SF, Upfront Ventures has backed startup teams across all technology sectors, with about half in Southern California, and the rest across the US and Europe. Kevin Zhang is an avid gamer and former neurobiology researcher who leads gaming and healthcare investments at Upfront Ventures, including Pragma.

Resources:

Stirling Rank LinkedIn

Void Interactive

Gaming Founders Podcast

Eden Chen LinkedIn

Kevin Zhang LinkedIn

Upfront Ventures

Pragma

The Gaming Founders Podcast Episode 10: From Passion to Palia: Unraveling the Gaming Industry with Aidan Karabaich of Singularity 6

In this episode, Eden and Kevin speak with Aidan Karabaich, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Singularity 6, as he shares his journey in the gaming industry. From an early passion for video games (playing Pac-Man and never being able to beat his grandmother) and experiences at the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy to his pivotal role in Riot Games' Research & Development department, Aidan provides inspiring insights into game development and design. The conversation also delves into his collaboration with Anthony Leung on their new venture, discussing their unique hiring strategy, focus on team diversity, and the decision-making process for design.

Discussion points:

The Gaming Founders Podcast is brought to you by Eden Chen, CEO of Pragma, and Kevin Zhang, Partner at Upfront Ventures.

Pragma is a venture-backed backend game engine founded by the engineering leaders who built the platforms for some of the largest live service games including League of Legends, Fortnite, Destiny 2, and Plants vs. Zombies 2. Pragma powers services like accounts, matchmaking and player data for the world’s most ambitious live service games. Eden Chen is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Pragma, Fishermen Labs and Lightmark Capital, and started his career in investment banking at Citigroup and Lehman Brothers.

Founded in 1996 in Los Angeles with investing professionals based in LA and SF, Upfront Ventures has backed startup teams across all technology sectors, with about half in Southern California, and the rest across the US and Europe. Kevin Zhang is an avid gamer and former neurobiology researcher who leads gaming and healthcare investments at Upfront Ventures, including Pragma.

-- Aidan Karabaich LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aidankarabaich

-- Singularity 6: https://www.singularity6.com/about

-- Gaming Founders Podcast: pragma.gg/gamingfounders

-- Eden Chen LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/edechen

-- Kevin Zhang LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kevinyzhang

-- Upfront Ventures: www.upfront.com

-- Pragma: pragma.gg

The Gaming Founders Podcast Episode 9: The Art of Game Creation: Slim and Trevor of Valorant and Raid Base Live from LA Tech Week

Welcome to our first-ever episode with a live audience coming to you from LA Tech Week. Our special guests are the co-founders of Raid Base - Stephen “Slim” Lim, Product Director, and Trevor Romleski, Game Director. Slim was a product designer and VP of R&D at Riot and is known for always doing right for players. Also at Riot, Trevor was a Game Designer and worked on League of Legends. The duo were the co-founding team at Valorant, then 3 years ago started a new studio called Raid Base.

Slim and Trevor discuss their approach to finding target audiences, ensuring game design decisions resonate with players, and using player motivation to create games catering to various skill sets, knowledge levels, and mechanics. Additionally, they explore the importance of trust and alignment in their startups, both in terms of hiring and funding decisions, to maintain a supportive environment. The guys offer valuable lessons for aspiring game developers, founders, and gaming enthusiasts alike.

Discussion points:

The Gaming Founders Podcast is brought to you by Eden Chen, CEO of Pragma, and Kevin Zhang, Partner at Upfront Ventures.

Pragma is a venture-backed backend game engine founded by the engineering leaders who built the platforms for some of the largest live service games including League of Legends, Fortnite, Destiny 2, and Plants vs. Zombies 2. Pragma powers services like accounts, matchmaking and player data for the world’s most ambitious live service games. Eden Chen is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Pragma, Fishermen Labs and Lightmark Capital, and started his career in investment banking at Citigroup and Lehman Brothers.

Founded in 1996 in Los Angeles with investing professionals based in LA and SF, Upfront Ventures has backed startup teams across all technology sectors, with about half in Southern California, and the rest across the US and Europe. Kevin Zhang is an avid gamer and former neurobiology researcher who leads gaming and healthcare investments at Upfront Ventures, including Pragma.

Resources:

-- Stephen Lim LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/slimborama/

-- Trevor Romleski LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevorromleski/

-- Raid Base: https://www.raidbase.com/

-- Valorant: https://playvalorant.com/

-- Gaming Founders Podcast: https://pragma.gg/gamingfounders

-- Eden Chen LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edechen/

-- Kevin Zhang LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinyzhang/

-- Upfront Ventures: https://upfront.com/

-- Pragma: https://pragma.gg/

The Gaming Founders Podcast Episode 8: 2x Founder Chris Scholz of Free Range Games and Upcoming Blockbuster: Return to Moria

Today’s guest is Chris Scholz, CEO of Free Range Games. The company’s mission is to make video games that people find meaningful, memorable, and fun. Established in 2009, and headquartered in Sausalito, California, Free Range Games was founded by veteran game developers and longtime collaborators. Game projects have spanned across PC, console, mobile, web, VR, and AR platforms. Free Range will be releasing their own fully developed game The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™ in 2023.

In this episode, you’ll hear Chris’ journey from a spate of temp jobs that he hated and wasn’t very good at, the ‘youthful exuberance’ that led him to start his first company, Shaba Games, and his later successes when Shaba was acquired by Activision, and finally leaving again to start Free Range Games. Chris talks about the early days of Free Range, their culture, their dedication to games that delight people, and the upcoming release of The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™.

Discussion points:

The Gaming Founders Podcast is brought to you by Pragma, a venture-backed backend game engine founded by the engineering leaders who built the platforms for some of the largest live service games including League of Legends, Fortnite, Destiny 2, and Plants vs. Zombies 2. Pragma powers services like accounts, matchmaking, and player data for the world’s most ambitious live service games. CEO of Pragma Eden Chen was also the founder of Fishermen Labs and Lightmark Capital and was previously an investment banker at Citigroup and Lehman Brothers. Kevin Zhang leads the healthcare and gaming practices at Upfront Ventures. Upfront has backed standout teams across all technology sectors with a current focus in healthcare, fintech, consumerization of enterprise software, gaming, computer vision, and AgTech/ sustainability.

Resources:

-- Christopher Scholz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-scholz-12470b16/

-- Free Range Games Website: https://www.freerangegames.com/

-- Gaming Founders Podcast: https://pragma.gg/gamingfounders

-- Eden Chen LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edechen/

-- Kevin Zhang LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinyzhang/

-- Upfront Ventures: https://upfront.com/

-- Pragma: https://pragma.gg/

The Gaming Founders Podcast Episode 7: SuperJoost - The Entrepreneurial Journey of Professor and Author Joost van Dreunen

Today’s guest is Joost van Dreunen, the former CEO & Co-Founder of SuperData Research, a games market research firm that was acquired by Nielsen. Joost is now an academic and entrepreneur, a professor at the NYU Stern School of Business, and author of One Up: Creativity, Competition, and the Global Business of Video Games. In addition to being an investor and advisor for funds and firms active in interactive entertainment, Joost publishes a weekly newsletter on gaming, tech, and entertainment called SuperJoost Playlist. He received an MA from the University of Amsterdam and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.

In this episode, you’ll hear how Joost became fascinated with games at a young age, how he pitched and hounded his professors to allow him to write his Ph.D. thesis on the business of games, his experience prepping and selling his company SuperData to Nielsen, and how he sees the future of the gaming industry changing in the next five to ten years.

Discussion points:

The Gaming Founders Podcast is brought to you by Eden Chen, CEO of Pragma, and Kevin Zhang, Partner at Upfront Ventures.

Pragma is a venture-backed backend game engine founded by the engineering leaders who built the platforms for some of the largest live service games including League of Legends, Fortnite, Destiny 2, and Plants vs. Zombies 2. Pragma powers services like accounts, matchmaking and player data for the world’s most ambitious live service games. Eden Chen is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Pragma, Fishermen Labs and Lightmark Capital, and started his career in investment banking at Citigroup and Lehman Brothers.

Founded in 1996 in Los Angeles with investing professionals based in LA and SF, Upfront Ventures has backed startup teams across all technology sectors, with about half in Southern California, and the rest across the US and Europe. Kevin Zhang is an avid gamer and former neurobiology researcher who leads gaming and healthcare investments at Upfront Ventures, including Pragma.

Resources:

-- SuperJoost Video Game Playlist: https://superjoost.substack.com/about

-- Joost van Dreunen NYU Faculty: https://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/joost-vandreunen

-- Joost van Dreunen LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joostvandreunen/

-- The Book: One Up: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/one-up/9780231197526

-- Gaming Founders Podcast: https://pragma.gg/gamingfounders

-- Eden Chen LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edechen/

-- Kevin Zhang LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinyzhang/

-- Upfront Ventures: https://upfront.com/

-- Pragma: https://pragma.gg/

The Gaming Founders Podcast Episode 6: The Rise of UGC: Uri Marchand, Founder of Overwolf

Today’s guest is Uri Marchand, Co-Founder and CEO of Overwolf, one of the biggest platforms for creators to build, share and monetize mods, user-generated content, and companion apps for their favorite games. After 13 years, 98,000 creators, and 33 million players a month, Overwolf now functions across more than 1000 supported games.

In this episode, you’ll hear Uri discuss the early days solving problems like Skype freezing when a text came in, Overwolf’s many ups and downs raising and running out of money, the many necessary pivots until finding their lane as a platform for third-party creators, and the continual scaling challenges and pressure to grow the business.

Discussion points:

The Gaming Founders Podcast is brought to you by Pragma, a venture-backed backend game engine founded by the engineering leaders who built the platforms for some of the largest live service games including League of Legends, Fortnite, Destiny 2, and Plants vs. Zombies 2. Pragma powers services like accounts, matchmaking, and player data for the world’s most ambitious live service games. CEO of Pragma Eden Chen was also the founder of Fisherman Labs and Lightmark Capital and was previously an investment banker at Citigroup and Lehman Brothers. Kevin Zhang leads the healthcare and gaming practices at Upfront Ventures. Upfront has backed standout teams across all technology sectors with a current focus in healthcare, fintech, consumerization of enterprise software, gaming, computer vision, and AgTech/ sustainability.

Resources:

The Gaming Founders Podcast Episode 5: From Animation to Zynga to Baobab Studios - Maureen Fan on Building Interactive IP Across Platforms

Today’s guest is Maureen Fan, CEO and co-founder of Baobab Studios, the 9x Emmy Award-winning Disney of the metaverse with a track record of creating franchisable IP and virtual worlds. Currently the leaders of IP development in VR, their universes are being turned into films (Disney), series on premium streamers (Disney+, HBO Max), books (Penguin Random House, MacMillan), and games (Oculus, Roblox, Web3). Their projects have attracted talent such as Oprah, John Legend, Ali Wong, and more. Named Fast Company's 2018 Most Innovative Company, Baobab's investors and board include Ed Catmull (Pixar co-founder and former President of Disney), Kevin Lin (Twitch co-founder), Disney, Comcast, and Shari Redstone (chairwoman of Viacom).

Previously, Maureen held leadership roles in gaming, film, and the consumer web. She rose to VP of games at Zynga, directly reporting to the CEO, where she built and oversaw three game studios including the "FarmVille's" (40% of the company's revenues,120 million MAU), birthing the casual social games revolution. Previous roles include production on Pixar's "Toy Story 3" film, the Oscar-nominated "The Dam Keeper," and at eBay in product management and UI design.

In this episode, you’ll hear Maureen’s story- starting as a child of Asian immigrant parents in New Jersey, how animation was an escape from some of the racism she experienced, paying her dues starting out in Hollywood, and her journey from eBay to Zynga to founding Baobab Studios, navigating fundraising, and Baobab’s dual focus on the gaming world as well as the film world.

Discussion points:

The Gaming Founders Podcast is brought to you by Pragma, a venture-backed backend game engine founded by the engineering leaders who built the platforms for some of the largest live service games including League of Legends, Fortnite, Destiny 2, and Plants vs. Zombies 2. Pragma powers services like accounts, matchmaking, and player data for the world’s most ambitious live service games. CEO of Pragma Eden Chen was also the founder of Fisherman Labs and Lightmark Capital and was previously an investment banker at Citigroup and Lehman Brothers. Kevin Zhang leads the healthcare and gaming practices at Upfront Ventures. Upfront has backed standout teams across all technology sectors with a current focus in healthcare, fintech, consumerization of enterprise software, gaming, computer vision, and AgTech/ sustainability.

Resources:

The Gaming Founders Podcast Episode 4: The Storied History of Gaming Veteran Louis Castle, Co-Founder of Westwood

Welcome to The Gaming Founders Podcast, where we interview founders that have shaped the gaming industry. You’ll hear origin stories, tactics that helped founders and companies survive and thrive, and key lessons for anyone building the next generation of gaming companies. Your hosts are Eden Chen, CEO of Pragma and Kevin Zhang, Partner at Upfront Ventures.

Today’s guest is Louis Castle, SVP of Product Development at Deviation Games. Best known as co-founder of Westwood Studios, Louis has over 40 years of experience pioneering, building and accelerating digital entertainment companies as both a founder and a C-Suite exec.

In this episode, you’ll hear how he built his early “Westwood Associates” team in his early 20s, how Westwood changed and Louis’ career morphed going through four acquisitions, and lots of stories centered on the technical, financial and business details around the business of games.

Louis Castle’s companies and teams have been responsible for successful game franchises including Command & Conquer, Blade Runner, The Lion King, Monopoly, Boom Blox, War Commander: Rogue Assault, and many more. Louis is a 20-year member of the GDC Advisory Board, has two video game industry lifetime achievement awards, and numerous best-in-class product awards for over 150 video games including a BAFTA. Castle is a sought-after public speaker at trade shows, universities, and development conferences.

Discussion points:

The Gaming Founders Podcast is brought to you by Eden Chen, CEO of Pragma, and Kevin Zhang, Partner at Upfront Ventures.

Pragma is a venture-backed backend game engine founded by the engineering leaders who built the platforms for some of the largest live service games including League of Legends, Fortnite, Destiny 2, and Plants vs. Zombies 2. Pragma powers services like accounts, matchmaking and player data for the world’s most ambitious live service games. Eden Chen is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Pragma, Fishermen Labs and Lightmark Capital, and started his career in investment banking at Citigroup and Lehman Brothers.

Founded in 1996 in Los Angeles with investing professionals based in LA and SF, Upfront Ventures has backed startup teams across all technology sectors, with about half in Southern California, and the rest across the US and Europe. Kevin Zhang is an avid gamer and former neurobiology researcher who leads gaming and healthcare investments at Upfront Ventures, including Pragma.

Resources:

⁠-- Louis Castle LinkedIn⁠: www.linkedin.com/in/louis-castle-892342/⁠

⁠-- Deviation Games⁠: www.deviationgames.com/

-- Gaming Founders Podcast: pragma.gg/gamingfounders

-- Eden Chen LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/edechen/

-- Kevin Zhang LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kevinyzhang/

-- Upfront Ventures: upfront.com/

-- Pragma: pragma.gg/

The Gaming Founders Podcast Episode 3: From a Double Exit to Double Loop Games, Serial Gaming Entrepreneur Emily Greer

Welcome to The Gaming Founders Podcast, where we interview founders that have shaped the gaming industry. You’ll hear origin stories, tactics that helped founders and companies survive and thrive, and key lessons for anyone building the next generation of gaming companies. Your hosts are Eden Chen, CEO of Pragma and Kevin Zhang, Partner at Upfront Ventures.

Today’s guest is Emily Greer, Co-founder and CEO of Double Loop Games, building meaningful and charming experiences for anyone that likes to play games, regardless of whether they self-identify as gamers. Previously Emily cut her teeth over 13 years as COO then CEO of Kongregate, a leading browser then mobile publisher behind hundreds of indie games played by tens of millions of players. In this episode, you’ll hear how Emily credits her brother for her getting the gaming bug, the evolving sibling dynamics during the growth of Kongregate, their acquisition by retailer GameStop, the lucky Jeff Bezos money that helped them survive the crash of 2008, and her decision to start over again, founding Double Loop Games.

Discussion points:

The Gaming Founders Podcast is brought to you by Eden Chen, CEO of Pragma, and Kevin Zhang, Partner at Upfront Ventures.

Pragma is a venture-backed backend game engine founded by the engineering leaders who built the platforms for some of the largest live service games including League of Legends, Fortnite, Destiny 2, and Plants vs. Zombies 2. Pragma powers services like accounts, matchmaking and player data for the world’s most ambitious live service games. Eden Chen is a serial entrepreneur and cofounder of Pragma, Fisherman Labs and Lightmark Capital, and started his career in investment banking at Citigroup and Lehman Brothers.

Founded in 1996 in Los Angeles with investing professionals based in LA and SF, Upfront Ventures has backed startup teams across all technology sectors, with about half in Southern California, and the rest across the US and Europe. Kevin Zhang is an avid gamer and former neurobiology researcher who leads gaming and healthcare investments at Upfront Ventures, including Pragma.

Resources:

Emily Greer Bio

Emily Greer LinkedIn

Double Loop Games

Gaming Founders Podcast

Eden Chen LinkedIn

Kevin Zhang LinkedIn

Upfront Ventures

Pragma

The Gaming Founders Podcast Episode 2: The Halo Effect, 3x Gaming Entrepreneur Alex Seropian

Welcome to The Gaming Founders Podcast, where we interview founders that have shaped the gaming industry. You’ll hear origin stories, tactics that helped founders and companies survive and thrive, and key lessons for anyone building the next generation of gaming companies. Your hosts are Eden Chen, CEO of Pragma and Kevin Zhang, Partner at Upfront Ventures.

Today’s guest is Alex Seropian, the mind behind Bungie (1991-2004), Wideload Games (2004-2012), and Industrial Toys (2012-2023). Alex put Xbox on the map with Halo, was one of the first to focus on mobile shooters, and successfully exited all three of the startups he founded - to Microsoft, Disney, and EA Studio.

In this episode, you’ll hear how Alex began playing and coding games in high school computer class on a Commodore PET, the process of creating Mac games and starting Bungie, the Halo deal with Microsoft, Alex’s time at Disney, and the eventual founding of Industrial Toys.

Discussion points:

The Gaming Founders Podcast is brought to you by Eden Chen, CEO of Pragma, and Kevin Zhang, Partner at Upfront Ventures.

Resources:

Alex Seropian

Alex Seropian LinkedIn

Gaming Founders Podcast

Eden Chen LinkedIn

Kevin Zhang LinkedIn

Upfront Ventures

Pragma