Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share The Gaming Founders Podcast
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
The Gaming Founders Podcast
The Gaming Founders Podcast episodes
- From Passion to Palia: Unraveling the Gaming Industry with Aidan Karabaich of Singularity 6
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:
- Background and introduction - Aidan Karabaich
- Aidan’s experiences at the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy
- Discussing project cancellations and career pivots in gaming
- Tenure at Riot Games and its impact
- Playtesting in game development
- The concept of 'hygge' (Danish for comfort and coziness) in the Community Sim space
- Karabaich and Anthony Leung's journey starting the company
- Hiring strategy and the emphasis on team diversity
- The use of critical thinking interviews to assess design talent
- Discussing the challenges and validation processes in game development
- The decision-making process for design
- The role and importance of intuition in the gaming industry
- Discussion on the challenges of founding a gaming startup
- Don’t try to do it all, or be a hero, as a founder - it’s a marathon not a sprint
- The anticipation and preparation leading up to launch
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
53 min - The Art of Game Creation: Slim and Trevor of Valorant and Raid Base Live from LA Tech Week
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:
- Background and introduction of Slim and Trevor
- Slim and Trevor's gaming origins and influences
- The importance of community engagement at Riot
- Merging teams and deciding game direction
- Developing the thesis for Raid Base's game
- Balancing game features and team resources
- Prioritizing and clarifying game design decisions
- Aligning team visions for a cohesive product
- Slim's focus on high-level vision, Trevor on execution
- Prototyping and resolving design ambiguities
- Navigating challenges in the gaming industry
- Balancing work, gaming, and personal lives
- Closing remarks on passion and creating games
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/
1 hr 6 min - 2x Founder Chris Scholz of Free Range Games and Upcoming Blockbuster: Return to Moria
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:
- Chris’ journey from ‘bad’ temp employee to focused gaming designer at Toys for Bob
- Youthful exuberance led Chris to leave to start his own company
- Sony, Activision, and Tony Hawk
- Activision and its interesting characters
- Starting Free Range Games in 2009
- Past learnings that were useful at Free Range
- The current state of things at Free Range
- The license for LOTR and its many properties
- Free Range’s organizational balance, culture
- Advice for other founders - Stay small until you’re sure of what you’re doing
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/
45 min - SuperJoost - The Entrepreneurial Journey of Professor and Author Joost van Dreunen
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:
- How Joost got into games as a kid, studying games in the early 2000s, pitched games to professors as a PhD thesis, earned money as an analyst to start a company
- Founding of SuperData in 2010 and the state of the industry at the time
- Fundraising - appealing to a network of colleagues and friends, the new landscape of large VC firms, having all your paperwork and numbers in order
- The process of selling SuperData to Nielsen and advice for others going through that process
- The book - One Up - the new business models - innovation and strategy in today’s gaming industry
- The outlook for the future of gaming - from product to service, and from fringe to mainstream - business models will change in the next 5-10 years
- Reducing barriers to entry, tech vs. creativity, monetizing, marketing, and distribution
- Advice to your younger self - focus on yourself and your own business, not everyone else’s. Your money is to buy you more time, not foosball tables
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/
50 min - The Rise of UGC: Uri Marchand, Founder of Overwolf
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:
- Overwolf’s origin story
- Solving problems in the early days - Skype, Starcraft, World of Warcraft
- Failed strategies early on, and challenges finding funding
- Pinpointing problems that plague developers
- 2015’s first app for League of Legends
- Acquisitions and integrations - at the time, creators wanted people to stay out of their creations
- Building a modding strategy, hiring more staff, and acquiring Curseforge
- The five-year gap in fundraising from Series A to B, team growth driven by P&L
- Careful, planned scaling and growth - avoiding toxic pressure to grow too quickly
- The Tel Aviv tech space
- Communication, core values, and target numbers changing over time
- Lessons learned? You can’t plan one year ahead in startups. Detailed vision for 90 days is now the standard for Overwolf.
- Overwolf is strictly tools and services for third-party creators - and will remain so
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:
- Uri Marchand LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/urimarchand/?…inalSubdomain=il
- Overwolf Website: www.overwolf.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/
45 min - From Animation to Zynga to Baobab Studios - Maureen Fan on Building Interactive IP Across Platforms
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:
- Maureen’s origin story - racism, animation as escape, computer science classes
- Immigrant parents forbade her dream jobs, so she started at Ebay
- Looking for a start in Hollywood
- Zynga & Harvard Business School taught Maureen a lot of what she needed to know about business
- Petville, Farmville, and her various roles at Zynga
- Motivation to start her own company - nights and weekends working with Pixar friends, and the advent of VR
- Structuring an entertainment media company and fundraising
- Early networking connections were fruitful later in Maureen’s career
- Selecting strategic investors - aligned long-term for the industry
- Maureen’s view of the VR industry, and gaming vs. film
- Details on some upcoming properties and NOT being a web3 company
- Founder’s challenges - having co-founders and entrepreneur friends is the best way to build a business
- Advice for founders - it’s a marathon, not a sprint, and you are the energy source for the company, keep your light bright and strong
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:
- Maureen Fan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maureen-fan/
- Baobab Studios: https://www.baobabstudios.com/
- HBO Movie: 38 at the Garden: https://www.hbo.com/movies/38-at-the-garden
- 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/
53 min - The Storied History of Gaming Veteran Louis Castle, Co-Founder of Westwood
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:
- Louis bought his first PC with his busboy job, met Brett at a Vegas computer store
- Early business development (pre-internet) for “Westwood Associates”
- Hiring the team - ambition, personality, and values
- The Virgin acquisition of Westwood
- Acquisition by Hasbro, Spelling Entertainment/Viacom, EA
- 92- 98 Lion King, Blade Runner, Monopoly, Red Alert, Lands of Lore
- Command & Conquer 1995 and RTS
- Blizzard and a bit of tension
- EA’s acquisition and Westwood layoffs
- Louis’ positions at EA and other unexpected career directions
- Deviation Games
- Advice to yourself - live in the moment, appreciate where you are
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/
48 min - From a Double Exit to Double Loop Games, Serial Gaming Entrepreneur Emily Greer
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:
- Emily credits her brother for catching the gaming bug
- The co-founding of Kongregate with her brother Jim
- The gaming distribution landscape in the mid-2000s
- Changing sibling dynamics as co-founders
- User acquisition, leveraging Emily’s background in marketing and data analytics
- From bootstrapping to raising VC dollars
- Kongregate’s acquisition by Gamestop
- Jeff Bezos money in the nick of time during market crash of 2008
- Being a 40-something woman in the gaming industry
- Advice to founders - exercise, take time for yourself, you don’t need to give up things you love
- Retention, recruiting and building cultureThe Gaming Founders Podcast is brought to you by Eden Chen, CEO of Pragma, and Kevin Zhang, Partner at Upfront Ventures.
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
1 hr 1 min - The Halo Effect, 3x Gaming Entrepreneur Alex Seropian
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:
- Alex’s dad bought him the Sears-branded version of The Atari 2600 in the 80s
- Playing arcade games in downtown Ardsley NY, and high school computer class on a Commodore Pet
- Reverse engineering Mac games
- Origins of the name Bungie - shrouded in mystery
- Funding Bungie - raising money with a VHS video appeal
- Early game designs in the 90s
- Halo made many designers want to get into the industry
- The Microsoft deal
- Halo and its sequels, deadlines, and the Microsoft relationship
- Evolving roles for founders Alex and Jason
- The Disney days - surrounded by excellence in entertainment
- Shifts and challenges in the mobile industry
- EA - a very different experience than Disney
- Advice for the younger Alex - go fast, and hire a COO sooner
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 cofounder 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:
Alex Seropian
Alex Seropian LinkedIn
Gaming Founders Podcast
Eden Chen LinkedIn
Kevin Zhang LinkedIn
Upfront Ventures
Pragma
58 min - From Game Designer to Player Advocate: Trent Oster of Beamdog and BioWare
The Gaming Founders Podcast Episode 1: From Game Designer to Player Advocate: Trent Oster of Beamdog and BioWare
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 Platform and Kevin Zhang, Partner at Upfront Ventures.
Today’s guest is Trent Oster, CEO of Beamdog. Trent started in the game industry in the early 90s and is one of the six original founders of BioWare. You may recognize some of BioWare’s best-loved franchises - Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Baldur’s Gate, and Neverwinter Nights. Trent left BioWare in 2009 to co-found digital distribution portal/studio Beamdog with Cameron Tofer.
In this episode, you’ll hear about the origins of iconic D&D classics Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Night, challenges balancing team dynamics including family, the development of Beamdog’s tentpole property MythForce, and the rollercoaster days before game launch (and maybe why it’s not the best idea to personally guarantee a $1M loan).
Discussion points:
- Trent’s path leading to computer science and games in the 90s
- BioWare and the early game design days
- Advice on founders sharing responsibility
- Finding the best use of your time- does it have an impact, and when?
- Becoming a game-player advocate
- Balancing crunch and team building as the industry has shifted
- RPG’s - the interesting intersection of story and game playing
- Favorite early games
- Inspiration for starting Beamdog
- The rollercoaster - financial stress, bootstrapping, and triumph
- Mythforce - visual standout vs. longstanding devotion
- The Electronic Arts acquisition
- Advice for founders - can you sustain your commitment 24/7?
The Gaming Founders Podcast is brought to you by Eden Chen, CEO of Pragma Platform, and Kevin Zhang, Partner at Upfront Ventures.
Pragma Platform 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 Platform 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 Platform, 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 Plaform.
Resources:
Trent Oster LinkedIn
Beamdog
Eden Chen LinkedIn
Kevin Zhang LinkedIn
Upfront Ventures
Pragma Platform
1 hr 3 min
About The Gaming Founders Podcast
From the publisher's feed
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 Platform and Kevin Zhang, Partner at Upfront Ventures.