Shows
20Angel20Angel: Joakim Achren: Co-Founder of Next Games (Acq. Netflix) on How To Build an Angel Syndicate, What Data to Study When Investing in Gaming & The Stress & Loneliness When Building a Startup20Angel is a series profiling European angel investors with the best Founder NPS. Episode 16 features Joakim Achren, angel investor & co-founder of Next Games, acquired by Netflix in 2022. Joakim also built Elite Game Developers, an online resource that helps entrepreneurs in starting their first games company. The newsletter and podcast have a combined number of over 10,000 subscribers. He is also an angel investor with a portfolio including Audiomob, Funcraft, Resolution Games, Lightheart Entertainment, Savage Game Studios, and over thirty other games companies. More recently, Joakim launched F4 Fund with David Kaye, an $10m early-stage venture fund investing across...2023-11-2332 min
The Mobile User Acquisition ShowđTransitioning from operating to investing, the state of game investing, and more: with Joakim Achren (General Partner at F4 Fund)đĄOur guest today is Joakim AchrĂ©n, a gaming industry veteran with a remarkable journey. He's the Founder of Elite Game Developers and General Partner at F4 Fund. Earlier, Joakim co-founded Next Games, which was later acquired by Netflix.With a ton of experience as both an operator and investor in the gaming world, Joakim has unique insights to share. In this episode, we dive into the current landscape of the gaming industry, the challenges faced by gaming startups, Joakimâs own journey - and the fascinating intersection of writing and investing.**Check out...2023-10-1226 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastPitch Feedback from Joakim â Pavel Afanasiev, Northern Lights EntertainmentThis time, Pavel Afanasiev from Northern Lights Entertainment pitches his games company to me, and I share feedback. Pavel decided not to do slides, so it's a different format with pros and cons.2023-06-0147 minElite Game Developers PodcastPitch Feedback from Joakim â Melissa McBride, Sophia TechnologiesThis is a new episode series where a founder pitches their company to Joakim, and then Joakim shares feedback on the pitch.
The first one is with Melissa McBride from Sophia Technologies. They are using gaming and play to revolutionize education and build a digital campus where every child has access to game-based learning technology powered by VR and AI technologies.2023-05-2542 min
Building Better GamesE17 Should You Create a Video Game Startup? What Founders Need To Know with Joakim AchrenEvery creator of a new video game or founder of a video game startup loves gaming. No one in this industry is unique in that fact. If youâre trying to get VC funding, loving games will not differentiate you from everyone else. Â Â Investors are looking for more from founders. To be taken seriously, there has to be something more, something with clear potential to succeed. You need to figure that out before you decide to bring an investor to the table. VCs see multiple pitches a day, and each one is a grea...2022-08-3038 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastAsbjoern Malte Soendergaard â Games company builder storyIn this week's podcast episode, I'm talking with Asbjoern Malte Soendergaard, the founder and CEO of Tactile Games, who are based out of Copenhagen, Denmark, and are the makers of the hit game Lily's Garden. In this discussion, we talk about how company culture has developed at Tactile over the years, how new projects get started, and what kind of a role does celebrating success and failure play at Tactile.2022-06-0634 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastAndres Constantinidis â Building a remote-first game studioIn this podcast episode, I talk with Andres Constantinidis, the co-founder and CEO of TinyBytes, a remote-first mobile games studio. Andres has built his game studio as a remote company all the way from the founding days, which happened almost ten years ago. In this discussion, we talk about creating quality games with a remote team, but still keeping up a high velocity, how to make product decisions on continuing a game that is still unsure of its success, and what Andres would do differently if he'd go back to the early days of his company.2022-05-3040 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastDerek Lau â Building Guild of GuardiansIn the latest podcast episode, I have Derek Lau (LinkedIn, Twitter) from Immutable, talking about his journey into web3 gaming and how they are building the blockchain game Guild of Guardians at his company Immutable. Guild of Guardians is a mobile RPG where players can turn their gaming passion into assets. Once launched, the game is a multiplayer fantasy action RPG game, where players build their dream team of âGuardiansâ and compete in a guild to earn rewards. In this discussion, we talk about Derekâs beliefs in crypto, why blockchain makes sense for the future of...2022-05-2332 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastAlexander Bergendahl â A repeat founder storyIn this podcast episode, I'm talking with Alexander Bergendahl, who is the co-founder and CEO of LootLocker, a games backend solutions company from Stockholm, Sweden. Alexander is a repeat founder, who's been doing games companies for a while now. With Alexander, we talk about his founder journey, learnings from doing his companies, and how Alexander is still learning to be a better founder.2022-05-1642 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastNeil McFarland and Matthew Ryan â Pivoting from F2P to Web3In today's episode, I'm talking with Neil McFarland and Matthew Ryan from First Light Games, a game studio based in London, UK. The founders started the company a few years ago, to work on free-to-play games for mobile, but last year, decided to pivot to web3 gaming. In this episode, we talk about the funding models that the founders have used in web3, what the challenges our in getting the tokenomics right, and how to build a core team in web3 gaming.2022-05-0950 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastAdam Jaffe â What it takes to succeed in gamingIn this podcast episode, I have Adam Jaffe on the show. Adam is the founder and CEO of Mega Studio, a gaming outfit based out of Barcelona, Spain. Adam has a broad scope of knowledge from the gaming space, having worked at companies like Playtika, Moon Active, Jam City, and Social Point, before founding Mega Studio. In this discussion, we talk about advising startups, how to build games that make money, and what unconventional solutions should game developers apply to create success in gaming.2022-05-0242 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastNick Kneuper and Nat Eliason â Building Crypto RaidersIn this podcast episode, I talk with Nick Kneuper and Nat Eliason who are building Crypto Raiders, which I believe is one of the best web3 games out there. Both Nick and Nat haven't been in crypto for that long, but as long-time entrepreneurs, they've channeled their skills in creating products to take on blockchain gaming. In this episode, we talk about how Crypto Raiders got started, how they've grown the player base, how they manage their cryptocurrency treasury and how they see things developing for web3 gaming in the near future.2022-04-2554 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastAre Mack Growen â Helping founders buildIn this podcast episode, I'm talking with Are Mack Growen, a General Partner at London Venture Partners, a VC firm focused on investing in founders in the game sector at the seed stage. In this discussion, we talk about Are's extensive background in gaming, his journey to VC, what kind of learnings he is sharing, and how Are approaches risks, luck, and other challenges in gaming.2022-04-181h 01
Elite Game Developers PodcastMika Tammenkoski â Building Metacore In this week's episode, I'm talking with Mika Tammenkoski, who is the co-founder and CEO of Metacore Games, the company that is well known for their hit game Merge Mansion. In this discussion with Mika, we talk about his long journey in gaming, what he has picked up on leadership and startups from all the projects he's been involved with, and what Mika thinks about building teams, pivoting, and increasing the likelihood of finding a hit game2022-04-1141 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastAlex Arias and Andreas Risberg â Game Devs Going Web3In this episode, I'm talking with the co-founders of Trailblazer Games, Alex Arias, and Andreas Risberg. Trailblazer Games is a new web3 games company, founded in 2021 and recently they've announced a seed round of $8.2m raised from investors like Makers Fund and Play Ventures. In this discussion, we talk about the founder's background, how they both worked at King and brought learnings to their own startup, and what kind of games the founders are now building with blockchain technology.2022-04-041h 00
two & a half gamerstwo & a half gamers honest interviews #1 - Joakim AchrenWelcome dear listener! This is a 2.5 gamers podcast with an honest interviews segment #1. Asking tough questions, having fun and dropping some knowledge with gaming industry peeps.
Youtube:Â https://youtu.be/wkEcGZ1-3So
Matej LanÄariÄ & Joakim Achren
Questions:
Why did you start elite game developers and not a new gaming studio?
How can someone become a partner at Play Ventures? What are the requirements/skills you need to do your job?
What is your due dilligence process? How do you do your homework?
-How do...2022-03-311h 02
Elite Game Developers PodcastAndrew Sheppard â From operator to investorIn this podcast episode, I'm talking with Andrew Sheppard, who is the Managing Director at Transcend Fund, a venture capital firm investing in the future of games and digital entertainment. In this discussion with Andrew, we talk about his move from being an operator in gaming to becoming an investor, what has been hard about being an investor, and what Andrew thinks will changes and stay the same as new platforms emerge.2022-03-2855 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastChristian Facey and Wilfrid Obeng â Audio Ads in GamesIn the latest podcast episode, I have Christian Facey and Wilfrid Obeng from Audiomob, talking about their journey of building their company, which enables audio ads for mobile games. In this discussion, we talk about Wilfrid's and Christian's journey to team up and make audio ads happen, how they are learning to be company builders and what challenges they've faced in starting and fundraising for a company during the pandemic.2022-03-2138 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastHugo Obi â Gaming in AfricaIn this week's podcast episode, I'm talking with Hugo Obi, who is the founder and CEO of Maliyo Games, a mobile games studio based out of Lagos, Nigeria. In this discussion, we talk about the gaming ecosystem in Africa, how are things developing on the consumer side and the development side. We also talk about Hugo's founder journey in gaming and what Hugo sees as the next steps in growing the games industry in Africa.2022-03-1440 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastAlexander Krug and Andre Krug â Success in instant gamesIn this podcast episode, I'm talking with Alexander Krug and Andre Krug, the co-founders of SOFTGAMES, an instant games company from Berlin, Germany. In this episode, we talk about the founder's journey from a small startup to having 100 people in your company, what instant games look like in 2022 and where the founders see their company going next.2022-03-0735 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEitan Reisel â Future of games investingIn this podcast episode, I'm chatting with Eitan Reisel, Managing Partner of VGames, an early-stage gaming VC from Israel. Eitan and his team have been operating for a few years now with two funds raised. They've already have been investing in dozens of gaming companies worldwide. In this discussion, we talk about Eitan's approach to helping founders, how he makes investment decisions, and what the future looks like for both mobile and crypto gaming.2022-02-2839 min
Deconstructor of FunEverything You Ought to Know about Raising Capital in 2022 with Joakim AchrenCan you raise capital without touting Web3 and blockchain? What's the difference between Angel Investor, a VC, and a strategic investor? When to choose a generalist fund over a gaming fund? What do investors look for in investees? Where do VCs look for investees? How to pitch over a video connection versus on-site? This and many more are answered in this podcast by the powerful Joakim Achren.Â
Who's Joakim? Most of you likely know him as the founder of the fantastic Elite Game Developers blog, podcast, and newsletter. But what you might not know is that he i...2022-02-211h 14
Elite Game Developers PodcastPiers Kicks â Investing in blockchain gamesIn this podcast episode, I'm talking Piers Kicks, an Investor at Delphi Digital and at BITKRAFT Ventures, investing into crypto gaming. In this discussion, we talk about how the gaming community is embracing blockchain, what are the differences between gaming teams and crypto teams making these games, and how Piers evaluates investments in blockchain gaming.2022-02-2137 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastSalone Sehgal â Investing in Indian games companiesIn this podcast episode, I'm talking with Salone Sehgal, who is a General Partner at Lumikai Fund, which is a seed-stage gaming fund focusing on the Indian market. I had Salone on my show in 2020, but since so much has been happening in the games industry, I wanted to bring her back to the show. We talk about what has been happening in India during the pandemic, what has been funneling the growth of startups in the region, and what Salone has learned from helping founders build companies.2022-02-1441 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastIsmet Goksen â Investing in Turkish gaming ecosystemIn this podcast episode, I'm talking with Ismet GökĆen, who is a General Partner at Ludus Ventures, a venture firm that is investing in early-stage games companies, with many deals done in their home country of Turkey. In this discussion, we talk about the Turkish gaming ecosystem, why things are going so well for the companies there, what the future looks like and what Ismet has learned about investing in gaming.2022-02-0729 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastCarolin Krenzer â Building games with stellar executionIn this podcast episode, Iâm talking to Carolin Krenzer, who is the co-founder and CEO of TrailMix, a mobile games studio well known for their hit merge game Love & Pies. Caro has an extensive background in free-to-play and mobile, and she has been doing her startup now since 2017. We talk about so many things, like what Caro learned from working at Playfish and building the London studio for King, then on hiring, team building, and how execution on your core gameplay matters so much when you are building games in established game genres.2022-01-3144 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastAsk Me Anything #8 This is the eighth Ask Me Anything episode, where I answer peopleâs questions related to game studios, fundraising, and all other entrepreneurship-related stuff. I will be recording another episode quite soon, so please submit your questions by filling out this form. Questions that I answer include: Can you have two lead investors if two VCs are interested in you? How much is too much for Seed round? And how a hyper-casual studio should approach blockchain gaming. 2022-01-2435 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastJere Partanen and Erik Gloersen â Investing in early-stage gamingIn this episode, I talk with Jere Partanen and Erik Gloersen from Sisu Game Ventures, an early-stage gaming venture fund. Both Jere and Erik are newcomers to venture capital investing, although both have a background from working with gaming startups. In this discussion, we talk about the competitiveness of early-stage games investing, how a fund like Sisu can win deals and how the partners at Sisu are helping the founders they've invested in.2022-01-1759 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastCorentin Selz â 10,000 game experimentsIn this episode, I'm talking with Corentin Selz, Publishing Manager at Voodoo. Corentin has overseen the publishing activities at Voodoo for the last few years and has worked with over a hundred external studios to develop hyper-casual games. In this discussion, we talk about the optimal way to test hyper-casual games, about the characteristics of teams that can repeat their success, and how the rapid development and testing procedures could be brought outside of hyper-casual games.2022-01-1039 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastAlon Grinshpoon â Building for the metaverseI'm talking with Alon Grinshpoon, who is the founder and CEO of Echo, a cloud platform for 3D, AR, and VR assets. After realizing that the metaverse and other platforms were going to become huge, Alon and his brother started the company a few years ago, and now they've just raised a VC round for the top gaming investors. In this discussion with Alon, we talk about his founder journey, how they validated the 3D platform as a business idea, how Alon approaches founder/investor fit and how first-time founders should approach problems with their companies.2022-01-0343 min
Elite Game Developers Podcast2021 podcast highlights2021 was a big year for the Elite Game Developers podcast, with 53 new episodes going live. I wanted to share my own highlights from the show from the past year and created this highlights episode. Enjoy!2021-12-2741 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastAsk Me Anything #7In this weekâs podcast, Iâm doing my seventh Ask Me Anything episode, where I answer listener questions. If you have any questions youâd like me to answer, please submit them by filling out this form. These are the questions that I cover in this episode: How can an inexperienced shooter team raise funding? I want to build a web3 game. What should I do first? Are there angel investors dedicated to gaming? How should I create late-game coin sinks? Have you thought about doing another games company ever again? 2021-12-2041 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastOskar Burman â Doing your own thingIn this podcast episode, I talking with Oskar Burman, who is the co-founder and CEO of Fast Travel Games, a VR game studio based out of Stockholm, Sweden. Oskar has a long career in gaming, all the way from the 90s, and recently he as the managing director of Rovioâs Stockholm studio, makers of Angry Birds 2. In this discussion, we talk about Oskarâs learnings from building studios, what he would do differently, and how people in gaming can manage expectations to improve their work.2021-12-1342 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastTatiana Kondratyeva â Building a game studio from scratchIn this podcast episode, I'm talking with Tatiana Kondratyeva, the co-founder and CEO of Play Pack, a mobile game studio based out of Berlin. Tatiana has an interesting career in gaming, recently being Executive Producer at Etermax, and before that having product and producer roles at Wooga and Game Insight. In this discussion with Tatiana, we talk about how to get past the fears of starting a company, how to succeed in the competitive mobile games industry, and what have been takeaways from being a founder for almost a year now.2021-12-0643 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastVille Heijari â Opportunities In MobileIn this week's podcast episode, I'm talking with Ville Heijari, the founder of Original Games, a new mobile games studio with people in St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and San Francisco. Ville has been in mobile games ever since his early days at Rovio when Angry Birds had just been launched. During the last dozen years, he's accumulated learnings from all sorts of places and has now teamed up with a great team of game developers. In this discussion, we talk about all the learnings from the places Ville has been at and how Original Games is approaching the merge genre...2021-11-2946 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastAsk Me Anything #6In today's episode on doing yet another Ask Me Anything session, this is the sixth one I've done this year. And in this one, we're going to be talking about questions that the listeners have been sending to this questionnaire that I posted, if you want to send out your own questions by going to elitegamedevelopers.com/askmeanything that's all written together. And then once you submit the questions, I'm going to be going through them in a future episode, I promise.2021-11-2237 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastHenri Lindgren â Building a hyper casual studioIn this week's podcast episode, I'm talking with Henri Lindgren, who is the CEO of Lightneer, a Helsinki based hyper casual developer. The company Lightneer has gone through lots of changes. The company was founded in 2015 to build and publish educational games, raised a bunch of VC money, but then had to pivot away from educational games. Now the company has done a turnaround and is a thriving hyper casual studio. In this discussion with Henri, we talk about pivots, how the company culture changed through the years of change, and what does hyper casual look like in 2021.2021-11-1543 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastMatej Lancaric â User acquisition for mobile gamesToday I'm talking with Matej Lancaric, who is a user acquisition specialist and he runs his own UA consultancy which you can find by going to lancaric.me. In this discussion, we talk about Matej's perspective on user acquisition for mobile games, how developers are becoming better at building games for UA in mind and what the future holds for game studios embracing user acquisition.2021-11-0848 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastArnd Benninghoff â Better M&A in gamingI'm talking with Arnd Benninghoff, who is the Executive Vice President of eSports and Games at MTG. MTG is a Swedish-founded strategic acquirer and operator, who've built a portfolio of games businesses which have been acquired through this Swedish family model-approach. In this episode, we talk with Arnd about the way that you can effectively bring world class game studios together and build something big as a group.2021-11-0135 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastElad Levy â Custom analytics for games - Part 2This is the second episode with Elad Levy, who is the founder and CEO of Dive, who are a new kind of game analytics provider. In the first episode that came out earlier this week, we talked with Elad about embracing data in gaming. Now we'll focus on being data informed and how game studios should get started with analytics.2021-10-2529 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastJoe Schaeppi and Bastian Bergmann â Understanding your playersIn this episode, I'm talking with Joe Schaeppi and Bastian Bergmann, the founders of 12traits, a company that helps you discover and analyze your audience. I've been following the development of 12traits since my Next Games days, and the service is incredibly valuable for service-based games. In this discussion, we discuss identifying your actual audience, excluding groups that won't stick to your game, and how games can grow when you better understand your players.2021-10-1854 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastGuillaume Verlinden â Growing games and teamsGuillaume Verlinden is the Managing Director of Kolibri Games, a game studio well known for its tycoon games like Idle Miner Tycoon. Guillaume started his career in management consulting and moved to game some eight years ago when he joined Social Point. He quickly grasped what gaming was about and started improving older live games, growing many plateaued games like Monster Legends and Dragon City. In this episode, we talk about Guillaume's experiences of leading game teams, how a greenlight process should work, and why growing teams and games can be challenging.2021-10-1142 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastAsk Me Anything #5This is my fifth Ask Me Anything podcast episode, where I answer peopleâs questions related to game studios, fundraising, and all other entrepreneurship-related stuff. I will be recording another episode quite soon, so please submit your questions by filling out this form.2021-10-0442 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastIlya Eremeev â From 3D Artist to Gaming VCToday I'm talking with Ilya Eremeev, who is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at The Games Fund. Ilya has a really interesting story about how he started as a 3D artist in gaming and has gone through a career path in gaming that has lead him to now run an early-stage VC fund. In this episode, we also talk about VC funding for the gaming ecosystem in Eastern Europe, how the region is developing, and what Ilya has seen as drivers for success.2021-09-2744 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastAlli Ottarsson â From operator to VCIn this episode, I'm talking with Alli Ottarsson, who is a Principal at gaming investments firm Makers Fund. Alli has had a long career in gaming, working at CCP on EVE Online, then at Riot Games on League of Legends. Recently he started doing angel investing and then eventually joined Makers Fund to become a VC. In the discussion, we talk about the game development lessons that Alli has learned and how he is now applying those lessons to investing.2021-09-2041 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastElad Levy â Custom analytics for gamesIn this episode I'm talking with Elad Levy, who is the founder and CEO of Dive, who are a new kind of game analytics provider. As many of you know, I've previously worked at Supercell as Director of Analytics in 2011 and 2012, before I went on to found Next Games in 2013. I've worked with data in gaming for over ten years, and I was thrilled to have this discussion with Elad. His company Dive is operating in free-to-play gaming, especially with mobile developers, and they are now also providing analytics for Roblox games. In this first episode with Elad, we...2021-09-1336 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastLogan Dwight â Tabletop RPGs Go OnlineIn this episode, I have Logan Dwight on the podcast. Logan is the co-founder and CEO of Role, a tabletop role-playing company that is taking tabletop RPGs online. In this discussion with Logan, we talk about his founding journey to build Role, how tabletop RPGs are transitioning online, through the rise of online platforms, and his experiences from building Role as a startup, building the team, fundraising, and many other topics.2021-09-061h 03
Elite Game Developers PodcastAsk Me Anything #4Welcome back everybody for another set of Ask Me Anything questions. This is the fourth AMA episode, where I answer people's questions related to game studios, fundraising, and all other entrepreneurship-related stuff. Before we go to the first question, I'd like to share the URL where you can submit your questions. To do that, you can go to this URL and I'll get your question answered in one of my upcoming episodes.2021-08-3046 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastGames industry numbers for H1 of 2021I recently did a webinar with Anton Gorodetsky from InvestGame and Micha Katz from Aream & Co and we talked about the numbers from H1 of 2021 for the games industry. The industry saw explosive growth in terms of volume and size of M&As, private investments, and IPOs.2021-08-231h 03
Playmakers - The Game Industry PodcastHow to Win as a Mobile Game Entrepreneur, With Joakim AchrénIn this episode:Jordan interviews Joakim Achrén, a gaming entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience. Joakim shares his journey from co-founding two venture-backed gaming startups, including Next Games (which IPOed in 2017), to his current role at Elite Game Developers. Joakim helps aspiring game entrepreneurs launch their own studios and is also an angel investor in companies like Skunkworks Games, Lightheart Entertainment, and Savage Game Studios. He also provides deep insights into how mobile game entrepreneurs can navigate the challenges of game development, from early validation to scaling successful games.Topics covered:How Joakim c...2021-08-1744 min
Playmakers - The Game Industry PodcastHow to Win as a Mobile Game Entrepreneur, With Joakim AchrĂ©nJoakim AchrĂ©n is a gaming entrepreneur, with fifteen years of experience from two venture-backed gaming startups, including Next Games, which IPOed in 2107. Joakim is now running Elite Game Developers, a company that helps entrepreneurs start their first game company. He's also an angel investor in Skunkworks Games, Lightheart Entertainment, Savage Game Studios, and more. Joakim recently took on the role of Venture Partner at Play Ventures and hosts his own podcast, Elite Game Developers Podcast. Join us in this fascinating discussion with topics like:   How Joakim caught âthe bugâ for helping other foundersWhat comes between the early validatio...2021-08-1744 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 099: Martin Macmillan, Pollen VCMartin Macmillan is the founder and CEO of Pollen VC, a financing company that provides flexible credit facilities for mobile game developers who are doing user acquisition. With Martin, we talk about the evolution of UA funding in mobile games, how debt financing is becoming the norm for marketing and we hear Martin's views on the boom of the games industry and how that is affecting everything.2021-08-1641 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 098: Klaas Kersting, Phoenix GamesI'm talking with Klaas Kersting, who is the Founder and CEO of Phoenix Games, a new kind of European gaming conglomerate, with six games studios under its belt. In this discussion with Klaas, we talk about luck and taking advantage of lucky moments, how the mobile games industry has evolved, what characterizes teams that can go from broke to hugely profitable, and what well-done mergers and acquisitions look like in gaming.2021-08-0951 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 097: KooPee Hiltunen, NeogamesI've known KooPee Hiltunen for close to twenty years now, ever since I started building games companies. KooPee is The Guy in the Finnish games industry, he knows everybody and has knowledge of everything when it comes to the Finnish games industry. He represents Neogames, which is a non-profit association, whose mission is to coordinate and support the growth and development of the Finnish game industry and its ecosystem. In this discussion with KooPee, we talk about a recent 2020 report on the Finnish games industry, how we got to this impressive size, and what things look like for the...2021-08-0245 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 096: Ask Me Anything #3This week I published my third Ask Me Anything podcast episode, where I answer people's questions related to game studios, fundraising, and all other entrepreneurship-related stuff. I will be recording another episode quite soon, so please submit your questions by filling out this form.2021-07-2641 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 095: Cordel Robbin-Coker, Carry1stCordel Robbin-Coker is the co-founder and CEO of Carry1st, a mobile games publisher that is focusing on the content of Africa. Africa is the last frontier for basically anything. Mobile gaming is no exception. For a continent that is home to more than 1 billion millennials and Gen Zers, mobile gaming has never really picked up, despite the continent witnessing rapid economic growth and smartphone adoption. Carry1st is changing that with it's new approach for distribution and payments, custom made for Africa. In this episode, we talk about mobile gaming in Africa and about Cordel's entrepreneur journey.2021-07-1951 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 094: Jon Hook, BoombitToday I'm talking with Jon Hook, who is an angel investor and VP of Publishing at Boombit. With Jon, we talk about the current state of mobile gaming, what is happening to hyper-casual and how Jon looks at angel investing in gaming.2021-07-1256 min
Rise and Play Podcast3. Elevating Game Founders - with Joakim AchrénIn this episode, Joakim and I cover how Elite Game Developers started: how the platform grew up to 3,000+ subscribers in 2 years, what was the reasoning behind the content creation, and what is the ambition with the platform going forward.Joakim shares few pieces of wisdom about his life values and priorities, why he decided to not start another company to create Elite Game Developers instead, a great platform of content for founders to not repeat the common mistakes and pitfalls in the industry. We also touch on the topic of angel investing, and why it is...2021-07-061h 04
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 093: Tomi Kaukinen, License to FailTomi Kaukinen is a fellow Finnish entrepreneur, public speaker, and founder of Licence to Fail. After countless years of start-up life, founding several companies, Tomi hit the wall hard and burnt out. Now, through Licence to Fail, he speaks and writes publicly about entrepreneur life, motivation, and coping with the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur. In this podcast episode, we talk about Tomi's experiences with startups and burnout, and how entrepreneurs can avoid burnout and leave a healthy life. Burnout should be on every entrepreneur's mind. What should you do about it, how to make big changes...2021-07-051h 12
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 092: Ben Cousens, LakestarIn this episode, I'm talking with Ben Cousens who is an investor at Lakestar Ventures. He follows the worlds of gaming and crypto very closely and has backed a number of very exciting companies working at the intersection of gaming and crypto. In this episode, we talk about how Ben got excited about crypto, why gaming is a natural place for Bitcoin, how Ben got involved with ZEBEDEE, and what the future looks like.2021-06-2858 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 091: Ask Me Anything #2This week I published my second Ask Me Anything podcast episode, where I answer people's questions related to game studios, fundraising, and all other entrepreneurs related stuff. I will be recording another episode quite soon, so please submit your questions by filling out this form.2021-06-2144 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 090: Jernej Cesen, Outfit7Jernej Cesen is GM and SVP of Distribution & BI at Outfit7, the makers of Talking Tom. With Jernej, we talk about being knowledgeable about your market, how you understand the players and the opportunities, and what it's like to operate with a big gaming IP like Talking Tom.2021-06-1452 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 089: Andrew Green on startup lessons learnedToday I'm talking with Andrew Green, who is the SVP of Operations and Growth at Stillfront Group. Andrew has been in gaming for twenty years, has founded two companies, and has worked for other gaming companies including Take-Two, EA, and TinyCo. He then did a two-year stint at Andreessen Horowitz, before then joining Stillfront. We'll now talk with Andrew about his journey in gaming and startups and what lessons he's learned.2021-06-071h 07
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 088: Eric Goldberg, Crossover TechnologiesToday I'm talking with Eric Goldberg, who is an investor and an entrepreneur in gaming, and he has been in the industry for close to 35 years now. Eric runs an investment company called Crossover Technologies. And he's now a co-founder with Raph Koster in Playable Worlds. In this episode, we're going to be talking about Eric's background, his knowledge of gaming funding, but also about some of these billion dollar game companies, how they've been growing in the recent years, and what has been changing there to allow these companies to come up.2021-05-3156 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 087: Karoliina Korppoo, 10th MuseToday I'm talking with Karoliina Korppoo, the founder and CEO of 10th Muse, a Helsinki-based startup working on an interactive romance reading and self-publishing platform. Karoliina started the company as a solo founder, building the vision, team, and the company. Her background is in PC gaming, where she worked as a lead designer on games like Cities: Skylines and Cities in Motion. In this podcast episode, we talk about Karoliina's journey into startups, where the idea for 10th Muse came from, and how the creator economy is shaping gaming.2021-05-2446 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD Special: Valuations for early-stage startupsI've got Ethan Levy back on the podcast and he wanted to ask me about startup valuations, what's all the terminology around the topic, how to prepare for a fundraise with a valuation in mind, and how investors and founders can think about the right valuation for a startup.2021-05-171h 06
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 086: Salla Niemela, FutureplayToday Iâm talking with Salla NiemelĂ€, who is responsible for Employee Experience at FuturePlay, a mobile game studio in Helsinki. With Salla, we talk about how game studios approach the employee and employer relationship, throughout the full lifecycle of the employment, from hiring, to working and developing the relationship and finally to an exit.2021-05-1049 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 086: Salla NiemelÀ, FutureplayToday I'm talking with Salla NiemelÀ, who is responsible for Employee Experience at FuturePlay, a mobile game studio in Helsinki. With Salla, we talk about how game studios approach the employee and employer relationship, throughout the full lifecycle of the employment, from hiring, to working and developing the relationship and finally to an exit.2021-05-1049 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD Special: Ask Me Anything #1In today's episode, I'm going to be addressing some Ask Me Anything questions that I've been asking for on the Elite Game Developers newsletter. I sent out a survey form, where I asked subscribers of the newsletter to send out questions related to gaming studios, how to build successful businesses, and all things related. So let's get going with this first episode.2021-05-0344 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 085: Anat Shperling, ToyaToday I'm talking with Anat Shperling, the co-founder and CEO of Toya, a Roblox game studio based out of Israel. Anat and her team started building games for UGC platforms in 2016, first on Minecraft, before moving fully over to Roblox. Anat's company Toya is a female-led studio developing digital games and media to empower a growing female user base.2021-04-2646 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD Special: The Merge Genre On MobileI recently did a webinar with Collin Foss, the Co-Founder and CPO of Skunkworks, a Helsinki-based mobile games startup and makers of the wildly popular MergeFriends. With Collin, we talked about how the casual merge category has recently been blowing up with more and more developers moving over, and what makes these games differentiate from each other.2021-04-191h 00
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 084: Celia Hodent, Game UXIn this episode, I talk with Celia Hodent, game user experience expert and former Director of UX at Epic Games. We talk about adapting the game UX mindset, breaking down how players learn and retain information, and how players are motivated to return to the games that they are playing. Celia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/celiahodent/2021-04-1253 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD Special: Tower of WantI recently invited Ethan Levy from N3twork back on the show, to talk about an interesting concept called the "Tower of Want". The concept of "Tower of Want" is something that Ethan created some six years ago, to help free-to-play game designers to create long-term goals, through understanding the short-term and long-term loops and player motivations that would drive a successful free-to-play game.2021-04-0548 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 083: Sebastiaan Heijne and Elmer Bulthuis, GameyeIn this episode, Sebastiaan Heijne and Elmer Bulthuis, from game scaling solution company Gameye. Both Seb and Elmer are long time entrepreneurs and in this episode, we chat about their experiences on learning so many things the hard way, building Gameye now together and what the future could look like for their game server startup.2021-03-2953 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 083: Sebastiaan Heijne and Elmer Bulthuis, GameyeIn this episode, Sebastiaan Heijne and Elmer Bulthuis, from game scaling solution company Gameye. Both Seb and Elmer are long time entrepreneurs and in this episode, we chat about their experiences on learning so many things the hard way, building Gameye now together and what the future could look like for their game server startup.2021-03-2953 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD Special: Innovation in mobile game adsI recently a webinar with Erik Bryant from Opera Event and Steven Chard from Luna Labs on mobile game ad creatives. Both companies are at the forefront of innovative mobile game ads, and I wanted to explore several topics on how game developers can utilize game creatives to win players over.2021-03-221h 02
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 082: Susana Meza Graham, ALDEONIn this episode, I have a chat with Susana Meza Graham, Co-Founder of ALDEON, an investment company from Stockholm, Sweden, focusing on games and tech start-ups in their early stages. Susana started he career in gaming when she joined Paradox Interactive and later taking on the roles of Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Operating Officer. For the last two years, Susana has been focusing on investing, and in this episode, we talk about culture, bravery, trust and how the Nordics have built an amazing gaming ecosystem.2021-03-151h 02
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD Special: Angel investors and founder/idea fit with Ethan Levy, Executive Producer at N3tworkIn this special episode Iâm joined by Ethan Levy, Executive Producer at N3twork, a San Francisco-based games company, behind the hit game Legendary: Game of Heroes. We talk about the topic of Founder/Idea Fit and how founders should think about themselves being a good fit for the idea or concept that they are pursuing.2021-03-081h 06
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 081: Hakan Ulvan, Bigger GamesIn this episode, I have a chat with Hakan Ulvan, the co-founder and CEO of Bigger Games from Istanbul, Turkey. Hakan and his co-founders left Peak Games a few years ago to start working on their own game studio. In this episode, we talk about their approach to making games, how the Turkish gaming ecosystem has evolved over the years, and what will happen next.2021-03-0149 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD Special: Game making with Javier Barnes (part 2)This is part 2 of my discussion with Javier Barnes, Product Manager at Tilting Point. Javier has an extensive career in gaming, having worked at Gameloft, Social Point, and others. With Javier, we decided to make this episode a discussion around the topic of game design in 2021, as it's of big interest for both of us. We talk about playtesting, player motivations, user-oriented design, the model of small teams, and more.2021-02-251h 03
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD Special: Game making with Javier Barnes (part 1)Today I'm talking with Javier Barnes, Product Manager at Tilting Point. Javier has an extensive career in gaming, having worked at Gameloft, Social Point, and others. With Javier, we decided to make this episode a more of a discussion, around the topic of game design in 2021, as it's of big interest for both of us. We talk about playtesting, player motivations, user-oriented design, the model of small teams, and more.2021-02-221h 04
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 080: Phil Sanderson, Griffin Gaming PartnersIn this episode, I talking with Phil Sanderson, the Managing Partner at Griffin Gaming Partners, a venture capital firm that focuses on investing across the broad gaming ecosystem. They announced a fund of $235 million that they will invest in game companies and related technologies around the world. I've known Phil for years, since he invested in my previous company Next Games. We talk about venture, how gaming has evolved and how Phil sees the recent boom and M&A activities affecting things going forward.2021-02-1543 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD Special: How to create a game studio pitch deckOn January 28th, I did a webinar on the topic of how to create a game studio pitch deck. In this webinar, I shared all that I know about what pitch decks should communicate. Watch the recording and grab the presentation.2021-02-081h 01
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD Special: 2020 in Review with InvestGameThis is a recording from a webinar that I did with Anton Gorodetsky and Sergei Evdokimov from InvestGame.net and we reviewed gamingâs investment, M&A, and IPO landscape from 2020 and shared our predictions on what will happen in gaming during 2021.2021-02-011h 05
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 079: Anton Gauffin, Huuuge GamesIn this episode, I have a chat with Anton Gauffin, the founder and CEO of Huuuge Games. Anton has been an entrepreneur in gaming for two decades now and has seen pretty much everything, all the ups, and downs. In recent news, Huuuge Games announced that they will soon go public in an initial public offering on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. In this episode, we talk about leadership, company mission, and vision and Anton has grown to lead a 600 employee company.2021-01-251h 00
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 078: Herdjie Zhou, Lucky Kat GamesIn this episode, I'm talking with Herdjie Zhou, the Co-Founder and CEO of Lucky Kat Games, a hyper-casual gaming studio from the Netherlands. Herdjie started Lucky Kat with his brother in 2015 and they've gone through an amazing journey at building a gaming studio, totally bootstrapped. In this episode, we talk about company building, rapid game development, and how to make tough decision.2021-01-1851 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD Special: Lessons About Cap TablesIn this episode, I'm talking about the company cap table. What it means to manage a cap table when you're starting off with just the founders. And when you start growing and building a company, bringing on more employees, bringing on investors, who are incentivized with equity in the company. So we're going to cover a lot of topics regarding how you can manage and model your cap table.2021-01-1127 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 077: Shanti Bergel, Transcend FundIn this episode, I'm talking with Shanti Bergel, Managing Director at Transcend Fund. Transcend is an early stage venture capital firm focused on games and digital entertainment. Shanti has a long career in gaming and has been working in free-to-play for almost twenty years. We talk about Shanti's approach to investing and how he evaluates companies for an investment.2021-01-041h 01
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD Special: Podcast highlights from 2020In this episode, I'm looking back to all the episodes from 2020 and the highlights from all of my favorite episodes. If you don't listen to any other episodes from 2020, I definitely suggest you choose from these! They cover everything from company building, fundraising, product and so much more.2020-12-2846 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 076: Uri Marchand, OverwolfToday I'm talking with Uri Marchand, the Co-Founder and CEO of Overwolf, from Tel Aviv, Israel. Uri and his team started building tools for creators to build apps around games like League of Legends back in the early 2010s. Through the years, Uri and his team have built a company that truly enables gaming creators to create, grow and monetize their content.2020-12-2142 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD Special: How to raise from angel investorsLoads of new gaming studios first spend time courting with VCs, when they should actually start from the ground floor. In this podcast episode, I talk about raising funding from angel investors and how you can build your own list of angel investor leads.2020-12-1430 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 075: Lars Jörnow, EQT VenturesToday I'm talking with Lars Jörnow, partner at EQT Ventures. Half VC, half start-up. EQT Ventures is a multi-stage VC with âŹ1.2bn across two funds to help fuel European tech start-ups to become global winners. Lars started his career in gaming at King over ten years and eventually transitioned into VC in 2015. Since then, he's invested in companies like Small Giant Games, Popcore, Traplight and Reworks. We'll now hear more Lars himself.2020-12-0750 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD Special: Early-Stage Success in Mobile GamingIn November of 2020, I did a webinar called âEarly-Stage Success in Mobile Gaming,â where I talked to Skunkworks Games Co-Founder and CEO James Cramer. This webinar is a real case study in how Skunkworks raised its angel rounds and how they built the pathway to success in mobile games while raising very little.2020-11-301h 01
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 074: Vladimir Funtikov, Creative MobileToday I'm talking with Vladimir Funtikov, the Co-Founder and CEO of Creative Mobile, from Tallinn, Estonia. Vlad and his team were one of the earliest mobile teams to strike it big on Android back in the day. The team started scaling things up quickly and through their rollercoaster ride, Vlad has learned a lot about company building. We'll now hear more from Vlad himself.2020-11-231h 03
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD Special: Tales From PlaytestingIn October of 2020, I did a webinar on playtesting mobile games with Elie Mouraud from PlaytestCloud. We talked about how you can learn more about your game by focusing on the player's experience, from early on in the development, all the way to soft launching, and going live.2020-11-1656 min
Elite Game Developers PodcastEGD 073: Sean Kauppinen, Hiber WorldToday I'm talking with Sean Kauppinen from Hiber World. We talk about Sean's experience in gaming from three decades, how he's seen startups grow and what mistakes have come along the way. We also talk about Hiber and what the company is doing in the gaming user generated content space.2020-11-0951 min
App Marketing by App Masters807: What Small Game Studios Can Learn From Big Gaming Studios with Joakim AchrenToday's guest is a games entrepreneur for the last 15 years. He previously founded Next Games, Ironstar Helsinki, and was an early employee at Supercell. You will discover what he would do differently if he were starting his game studio today, what small game studios can learn from the big game studios and his biggest lesson from going IPO.
Joakim Achren is the Founder and CEO at Elite Game Developers.
Show Mentions:
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- Fav game: Marvel Contest of Champions
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GameDive: Redefining Game DiscoveryEpisode 18 with Cris Reed, Joakim Achren, companies GameBuddy and AfterMath and the latest game newsIn this episode esport item of Chris Reed, of The Level Up Experience, with "Reed Thinks", Joakim Achren, of Elite Game Developers, with his highlights of gaming industry and two companies to watch. Niklas send me a deck of GameBuddy and Kim of Aftermath.
And I found this via Borja; HYPE Virtual Accelerator Focused on Fundraising & COVID19 new gameplan. HYPE Sports Innovation has built the largest global ecosystem in sports innovation. With over 40,000 members, including retail brands, athletic clubs, federations and academia together with over 11,000 startups, HYPE has an unrivalled capacity for outreach to global partners across...2020-04-1424 min