Bill Walsh, the Hall of Fame NFL coach, had a number of incredibly insightful and effective leadership philosophies as discussed in his book "The Score Takes Care of Itself." One philosophy Walsh discusses is something he calls "Make Friends, Not Enemies." We discuss this concept and as always the nuance and specific application. Check it out! HOSTS: - Joseph Kim , CEO at LILA Games - Brett Nowak , CEO at Liquid & Grit Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.c...
Dec 17, 2021•55 min
An in-depth discussion on how to technical leads at gaming companies can become great! Super far-ranging conversation from the scope of work, biggest problems, transitioning from individual contributor to manager, how to spend day to day, biggest lessons learned, and more! SPEAKERS: - Niklas Herriger, Executive Coach, Founder of 8 Bit Coaching - Tommy Krul, CTO Super Evil Megacorp - Avinash Pandey, CTO LILA Games HOST: - Joseph Kim , CEO, LILA Games. Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter !...
Dec 13, 2021•1 hr 17 min
Companies globally require new ways of managing as they grapple with new working conditions from the coronavirus pandemic. As companies adapt to greater work-from-home environments, new problems have arisen. Brett believes in a new world of remote work where those who don't adapt will not survive, JK believes that for "complex work" and for companies that are working in complex work environments especially those working on 0 to 1 products, in-office environments are best. Hear both sides includi...
Dec 12, 2021•1 hr 12 min
We talk to some really dope superstars in the games industry to discuss this issue: - Gigi Levy-Weiss, Partner NFX - Brian Peganoff, former Corp Dev at Glu, VP at Deutsche Bank - Kristian Segerstrale, CEO Super Evil Megacorp Content Overview: 0:00 Intro 2:26 Role & Time of the CEO 14:31 Product Oriented CEOs 19:22 Examples of Great CEOs 26:52 Required Qualities 32:36 Three Views of the CEO 38:24 CEO by Company Stage 44:57 Finding Weak Points 49:22 Society + CEO Role Read about it in the Game...
Dec 06, 2021•59 min
How should you make difficult decisions? What are common kinds of difficult decisions in the games industry? What are common decision-making models? What are important distinctions between types of decisions? Deep dive on this very important topic in great depth and with our typical philosophical approach! HOSTS: - Joseph Kim , CEO at LILA Games - Brett Nowak , CEO at Liquid & Grit LINKS: The Principles of Product Development Flow , by Donald Reinertsen Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs...
Dec 03, 2021•1 hr 8 min
We discuss the sustainability and economy behind the massive hit blockchain game Axie Infinity. Naavik has released a research report breaking down the economy and sustainability of the game (check out the link to the report below). Axie seems to have reached an inflection point in which the game may no longer be sustainable. Find out more about Axie, its economy, Sky Mavis and how they monetize Axie, and the potential future and sustainability of both Axie and Sky Mavis. Btw, it's easy to cast ...
Dec 02, 2021•1 hr 27 min
We brought together a number of experts from across the gaming ecosystem to have a casual but deep and informed discussion about the future of mobile gaming. In particular, what are key opportunities game developers should be aware of and what are the potential risks as we move into 2022 and beyond. SPEAKERS: - Nadav Ashkenazy, SVP Publishing Solutions, IronSource: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadav-ashkenazy-34083aba/ - Ron Rejwan, Co-founder/CEO of new gaming startup Sneaky Panda, Former Co-fou...
Nov 29, 2021•1 hr 22 min
What kinds of planning do product managers do in game development? We discuss the kinds of planning in concept/pre-production, production, and in live ops. What kinds of revenue forecasting and analysis should you do? How to plan for big innovations vs. incremental liveops beats? GUEST: - Adam Telfer, Senior Director of Product - Head of Central Product at WB Games: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamtelfer/ HOSTS: - Joseph Kim, CEO at LILA Games: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/ - Brett Nowak, C...
Nov 26, 2021•1 hr 19 min
So today there are a lot of complaints about whether a 30% Apple or Google app store fee is fair. And even further, whether there should be competition and the ability to have an open ecosystem for alternative payments or even app stores. We have on with us today some folks who will talk about both the current situation behind App Store fees and speculate on where this is all potentially heading as well. SPEAKERS: - Chris Hewish, President of Xsolla. The company has solutions against alternative...
Nov 19, 2021•45 min
Back at you with some deep thoughts on the challenges, difficulties, and potential solutions for one of the biggest problems at most companies: - How to give employee feedback and do performance reviews We deep people. Listen to this pod and let us know what you think! LINKS: - Airbnb System: The Power of Performance Reviews: Use This System to Become a Better Manager - LILA Games Values Doc : (see slides on feedback)...
Nov 02, 2021•1 hr 6 min
Lol. We discuss the nuance in definitions and scope of work-life balance, differences between work-life balance and work-life integration, compensation issues for people working a lot at start-ups, and other touchy subjects. I generally don't edit, but went way too far on this so we edited a bunch of stuff out. About Us: - Joseph Kim , CEO, LILA Games - Brett Nowak , CEO, Liquid & Grit Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/...
Oct 24, 2021•1 hr 14 min
We discuss mobile ad revenue and monetization going into 2022 and beyond. We initially talked about mobile ad revenue back in January and got a lot of great feedback. Check out the original video we did back in January: - Mobile Ad Revenue in 2021 So, what happened in 2021? Why didn't CPMs collapse and what are we seeing now? How did the market play out from our expectations back then going into IDFA to what actually happened? Content Overview: 0:00 Intro 1:06 CPMs & Ad Rev 12:54 Contextual ...
Oct 18, 2021•1 hr 16 min
We discuss the Peter Thiel concept of 0 to 1 vs. 1 to N in the context of product management. We believe there is a pretty big distinction between new game development which is oriented around this 0 to 1 concept and the 1 to N or live-ops PM. Links: - Zero to One by Peter Thiel About Us: - Joseph Kim , CEO, LILA Games - Brett Nowak , CEO, Liquid & Grit Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/...
Oct 18, 2021•56 min
Today we discuss Data Usage & Ethics in Gaming. It’s not just about what are acceptable practices when it comes to market intelligence, there’s a bigger picture around data that impacts privacy at the device level with Apple and Google impacting IDFA, and even further with the data by companies that may be in competitive situations to their customers. Note that it was just announced that Applovin has just acquired MoPub for example. Regular Hosts: - Joseph Kim, CEO of LILA Games: https://www...
Oct 16, 2021•1 hr 2 min
We discuss the future outlook and potential emerging opportunities for blockchain gaming. Who better to discuss than: 1. Chong Ahn , VP of Product at Mythical Games (Blankos Block Party) 2. Brian Peganoff , Ex-Senior Dir of Corporate Development & Strategy at Glu Mobile 3. Mitch Zamara , Lead Designer, Million on Mars Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/...
Oct 04, 2021•53 min
With long histories in product management specifically in the games industry, we have a REAL discussion on what it takes to be a great PM. Hardcore and real talk from guys who have worked on very successful products. I led the #1 top-grossing game King of Avalon plus a lot of other shit. Brett was a lead PM on Zynga Poker which was contributing 22% of Zynga's revenue at the time. Real talk you won't get anywhere else. This talk is for hardcore PMs only! Follow this channel if you want to hear mo...
Oct 03, 2021•1 hr 18 min
Moonton's Chief Game Designer Skyhook talks about MOBAs and the keys to success for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. Questions asked: 0:00 Intro 0:25 Classification of MOBAs? 2:14 Difference in design between MOBA and RTS? 4:07 How did Mobile Legends succeed when other MOBAs failed? 5:57 What was the hardest challenge in Mobile Legends' success? Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/...
Oct 02, 2021•9 min
In this deep conversation with Lars, we were able to speak to the key challenges that remain behind blockchain and crypto in gaming. Key problems discussed: 1. Degraded Blockchain Problem, 2. Some Problems with Play to Earn, and 3. The Problem with Land Sales. Links: - Lars Blog- The Fortress of Doors - Degraded Blockchain Article (Lars post from Fortress of Doors) - Land Speculators Will Kill Your Game's Growth (Game Developer) Also check out the original, full interview with Lars that has a wi...
Sep 30, 2021•28 min
LILA Games CTO Avinash Pandey discusses key tech challenges in scaling mobile F2P games with Epic Games' Technology Evangelist Arvind Neelakantan. Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ Watch it on the GameMakers YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio
Sep 29, 2021•40 min
Deep discussion on what global strategic game publishers like Stillfront, SEGA, and Scopely look for when expanding into India from a development or market perspective. Moderator: - Justin Keeling, General Partner, Lumikai Fund Speakers: - Alexis Bonte, Group COO, Stillfront Group - Saito Go, Executive Officer & Head of Japan Asia Publishing, SEGA Corporation - Justin Scarpone, SVP & GM Asia, Scopely Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/...
Sep 28, 2021•1 hr 9 min
Panelists discuss: 1. How did you break into this industry? 2. Gaming career choice versus traditional options? 3. Different Roles? 4. Sustained interest? Moderator: - Vik Agarwal, Lead PM, Zynga Speakers: - Poornima Seetharaman, Dir of Design, Zynga - Karan Gaikwad, Lead PM, Nukebox - Shilpa Gaur, Lead Marketing & Strategy, Cympl Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/...
Sep 28, 2021•47 min
Paul Leydon LILA Games Chief Creative Officer and former lead game designer on multiple #1 top grossing titles like King of Avalon (FunPlus) and Game of War (MZ), discusses his design and research methodology. He discusses the importance of doing the work and depth in making a hit game. Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ Watch it on the GameMakers YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersStudio...
Sep 24, 2021•51 min
In this conversation, we have some of India’s top game industry leaders. Speakers: #1. Manish Agarwal , CEO of Nazara #2. Amit Hardi , CEO of Nukebox #3. Salone Sehgal , Genera. Partner at Lumikai #4. Anuj Tandon , Head of Corp Dev India & MENA at Krafton The focus of the conversation is oriented around India as a game development ecosystem. We talk about What’s keeping India from becoming the next China or Turkey, what are the strengths of the Indian game dev scene, and how do we accelerate...
Sep 09, 2021•48 min
We talk about the history and future opportunities for Instant Games. Joining us is Lars Doucet who wrote about this in his blog post (linked below) and Emily Greer, who as the former founder and CEO of Kongregate, has a strong perspective on this. LINKS: - Jon Lai, a16z partner, tweet on Instant Games: https://twitter.com/Tocelot/status/1404914355670437889 - Lars Blog Post "The Future of Games is an Instant Flash to the past": https://www.fortressofdoors.com/the-future-of-games-is-an-instant-fl...
Sep 01, 2021•1 hr 22 min
We talk about real-world data and the implications of IDFA deprecation. Now there has been a lot of VERY BAD information being published on this topic. So today we have with us 3 real-world practitioners and some real data about what’s actually happening. More specifically we will discuss: #1. Real world data and impact of IDFA Deprecation #2. Specific changes to how we do UA and Marketing based on the effects of IDFA Deprecation #3. Implications to product and monetization design #4. Who are li...
Aug 15, 2021•1 hr 3 min
Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter ! Conversation with Joe Byrne Director of Business Development and Strategy at SciPlay one of the world’s biggest and most successful social casino game companies. Topics: #1. How do the most sophisticated game companies use market intelligence data to inform their product strategy? #2. How given new changes because of IDFA deprecation for example would create new requirements for the kinds of insights from the data that we look for? #3. Strategic insig...
Aug 12, 2021•12 min
Read about it in the GameMakers newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ How do competitive PVP games manage and scale up their tech infrastructure? What did Riot do for Valorant? We spoke to arguably the best two people in the entire world to address this question Riot's Head of Infra & Live Ops Zach Blitz and Network Next CEO Glenn Fiedler. SPEAKERS: - Zach Blitz , Head of Infra and Live Ops, Riot Games - Glenn Fiedler , Founder & CEO, Network Next...
Jul 28, 2021•56 min
Tobi Lutke and Brian Armstrong re-popularized the notion of companies as described as "families" or "high performance sports teams." This impacts 1. employee performance expectations, 2. how to deal with discussions of social issues at the workplace, and 3. dissociating personal vs. professional lives. Let's have a nuanced discussion with a strong cross-section of key people from the games industry. Speakers: - Eden Chen , CEO Pragma.gg: - Drew Levin , Lead PM Zynga - Chong Ahn , Head of PM EA -...
Jul 20, 2021•1 hr 23 min
Today we will be talking about the current state of Game Company Growth and the various growth strategies being deployed by different game companies. SPEAKERS: - Joseph Kim , CEO, LILA Games - Eric Kress , Principal, Gossamer Consulting - Chris Petrovic , Chief Business Officer, FunPlus LINKS: - Four Growth Paradigms on GameMakers Newsletter Part 1 - Four Growth Paradigms on GameMakers Newsletter Part 2...
Jul 13, 2021•49 min
Today we are going to be talking about game publishing, the strategy behind consolidated studio organizations, and the future of the industry. Our speakers include: - Alexis Bonte , Group COO, Stillfront - Nadir Khan , COO, Candywriter - Tobias Kringe , Founder and Managing Director, Bytro Labs Our hosts include - Joseph Kim , CEO, LILA Games - Eric Kress , Principal, Gossamer Consulting - Chris Petrovic , Chief Business Officer, FunPlus...
Jul 08, 2021•58 min
