In Episode 13 of Venture Games, my guest Maria Salamanca, Partner at Unshackled Ventures, discusses her transition from politics to venture capital, how Unshackled Ventures invests in immigrant founders and helps them navigate the immigration process, her role as a founding board member of LatinxVC, and her thoughts on the diversity challenges in the VC industry.

In Episode 12 of Venture Games, my guest Jonathan Pan, Strategic Planning & Operations Lead at Facebook Gaming, discusses his time at Amazon Games as Head of Community of Esports, his role as an esports instructor, working at Riot Games in the (relatively) earlier days of the company, and his thoughts on big tech companies’ ambitions in the gaming industry.

In Episode 11 of Venture Games, my guest Lo Toney, Founding Managing Partner at Plexo Capital, discusses his firm’s strategy of investing in LPs and startups with a focus on underrepresented founders, leading the migration of Zynga Poker to mobile, how he thinks about investing in emerging markets such as Africa and Latin America, his thoughts on how diversity in VC has improved since he has been in the industry, and his hopes for further changes going forward.

In Episode 10 of Venture Games, my guest Peter Rojas, partner at Betaworks Ventures, talks about co-founding Gizmodo and Weblogs Inc. (Engadget, Joystiq, acquired by AOL), his views on social gaming, which he sees as one of the most promising areas in gaming right now, and his candid thoughts on the diversity challenges in the venture capital industry, as one of the few Latinx VC investors.

In Episode 9 of Venture Games, my guest Jamil Moledina, gaming industry veteran and CEO at Hexagram, talks in detail about his career in the gaming industry, including working at a number of gaming startups and Google Play, and how immersing himself into the world of video games since he was a child has helped him succeed despite the hardships of being a minority.

In Episode 8 of Venture Games, my guest Molly Fowler, CEO at Dorm Room Fund, talks about transitioning from a career in politics to enter the world of venture capital, the benefits of investing in student entrepreneurship, and Dorm Room Fund’s initiatives to combat the diversity challenges in the industry, through masterclasses and mentorship programs for different groups of people who are underrepresented in venture, and building the strongest pipeline for students to enter the industry.

In Episode 7 of Venture Games, my guest Chris Fralic, Board Partner at First Round Capital, who was recently named to the 2021 Forbes Midas List of Best VC Investors talks about his early investment in Roblox, being an early employee at Half.com, some big wins and big misses throughout his 15+ year VC career, mentorship, and helping launch Ted Talks.

In Episode 6 of Venture Games, my guest Blake Robbins, Partner at Ludlow Ventures, talks about cold emailing startups at age 17, becoming a partner at Ludlow at a young age, breaking into gaming Twitter through brute force, and introducing Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, to pro gamer "Nadeshot", to help create 100 Thieves, one of the leading gaming orgs/brands.

In Episode 5 of Venture Games, my guest Phil Sanderson, Founder and Managing Partner at Griffin Gaming Partners, talks about his 20+ year career in gaming VC, his early investments in Discord and Pandora, his (initial) thoughts on NFTs/blockchain in gaming, the metaverse, the value of intellectual property in gaming, running ultramarathons, and much more!

In Episode 4 of Venture Games, my guest Nnamdi Iregbulem, Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, talks about being a lifelong gamer and self-proclaimed tech nerd, investing in Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite, his blog, whoisnnamdi.com, and being selected as one of Forbes 30 Under 30 in Venture.