Shows
Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'ShaughnessyWolfgang Hammer - The Power of StoryMy guest today is my friend Wolfgang Hammer. Wolfgang is a successful film producer and executive who helped create House of Cards and ran several major studios, including Lionsgate, CBS Films and Miramax. He’s now building a new kind of film studio with support from Mitch Lasky and Marc Andreessen.
Wolfgang also helps founders and CEOs use storytelling to better understand what they do, and why it matters. In many ways, this conversation is a manual for how to find that story and communicate it in a way that resonates. Wolfgang shares the questions and tools he...
2025-11-1142 min
GamecraftThe EA "LBO"In this Special Edition of the GameCraft podcast, Mitch and Blake discuss the $55 billion leveraged buy-out of Electronic Arts by the Private Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, Siliver Lake Partners, and Affinity Partners -- the largest LBO in US history, and the second largest transaction in the history of the video game business after Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision. They discuss the deal itself (and how to properly characterize it), some of its immediate implications, and why Mitch's take on the possibilities created by EA going private went from excitement to disappointment in the two weeks following...
2025-10-1537 min
SSACInvesting In Sports: Around the Game from Teams to TechModerator: Steve Heiner
Panelists: George Pyne, Carolyn Tisch Blodgett, Mitch Lasky
Sports investing has expanded far beyond traditional team ownership, with capital now pouring into areas such as sports technology, media rights, betting, athlete-backed ventures, and emerging leagues. This panel will explore how the smartest money in sports is being allocated and what factors investors consider when evaluating these non-traditional assets. Are these emerging opportunities a passing trend, or do they represent the future of sports investment?
2025-08-0147 minGamecraftThe Sum of the Parts (Ep. 24)Mitch and Blake explore the role of consolidation -- primarily through mergers and acquistions -- in building some of the biggest and most durable companies in gaming. They begin with a discussion of the four major strategic uses of mergers and acquisitions: economies of scale, entry into new markets, control of talent and intellectual property, and new technologies. They provide many examples along the way. Mitch argues that M&A is so important to the business that it's actually difficult to avoid ending up on either side of that equation, as an acquirer or as a...
2025-05-211h 09GamecraftAI as a Platform (Ep. 23)Last season, Mitch and Blake discussed the implications of new Large Language Model Artificial Intelligence in games. In this episode, they return to the topic, this time focusing on games that are using AI as a platform -- meaning, the games are predicated on the use of LLMs to manage gameplay in some way. After introducing the central ideas, they list a series of games they have encountered that make use of these new technologies, from relatively modest text-based adventure and role playing games, to more sophisticated games involving dialog with digital characters, dynamic narratives, and adaptive...
2025-05-1452 minGamecraftHasbro and Lego (Ep. 22)Mitch and Blake look at two of the largest toy companies in the world, Hasbro and Lego, and discuss their divergent but ultimately very successful forays into the games business as licensors of intellectual property. Your hosts discuss how both Hasbro and Lego tried to enter the games business directly as developers and publishers of digital games in the late 1990s, how they had very different experiences of success and failure, and how both decided to exit the business in the early 2000s only to return as licensors rather than publishers later in that decade. Mitch tells...
2025-05-0744 minGamecraftThe Venture Deadpool (Ep. 21)Mitch and Blake address the unpleasant topic of how and why venture-backed games companies fail. They look first at the nature of venture financing and the inherent differences between venture and publisher money. This leads to a conversation about how developers who were used to working with publishers treated venture capital like production financing as opposed to company financing, and why that distinction matters. They then turn to the flawed strategies and tactics of gaming funds and investors, who tried to make up for their lack of judgment and taste by placing many bets on...
2025-04-301h 06GamecraftChina (Ep. 20)Mitch and Blake look at the current state of the vitally important Chinese gaming market, on the precipice of a bitter trade war resulting from the Trump tariffs. They review the history of the games business in China, discuss the reasons China is so competitive in the global gaming market, and look at how some of the ways the Chinese market diverged from other markets influenced the strategies of Chinese game companies. In particular, they look at how China's relatively late entry into the games business proved to be a benefit, by allowing them to...
2025-04-2356 minGamecraftValve (Ep. 19)Mitch and Blake take an in-depth look at one of the most important companies in the global gaming business: Valve. They trace the company's origin as the developer of first-person shooter Half Life, their use of the Quake engine and the benefits Valve derived from their relationship with id, and their development and deployment of the Steam platform. They explain how Valve used content like Half Life, Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, and other games to aggregate audiences on Steam, and how they used those audiences as the bedrock of their move to platform-based publishing on Steam. They discuss...
2025-04-161h 01GamecraftThe Mobile Gaming Duopoly (Ep. 18)Mitch and Blake discuss the mobile duopoly in which Apple and Google exert extraordinary power by tying their app stores to hardware and software platforms. They warn that the inflexible and expensive distribution systems on iOS and Android could be models for future PC and console distribution systems. They briefly review the history of mobile distribution and mobile technology innovation from the late 90's to the present, and what that development meant for content on the platforms. They discuss the similarities between the JAMDAT and Scopely content portfolio strategies as responses to their very different distribution situations.
2025-04-0959 minGamecraftCycles & Survival (Ep. 17)Mitch and Blake kick off Season 3 of the podcast with a high-level look at the current moment in the video game business, critiquing both the idea that the business is cyclical and we are in a downward phase of the cycle (and the naïve notion of "survive 'till '25"), as well as the idea that the business has simply matured, suggesting we are in a new phase of low growth and consolidation. Instead, they propose a framework for thinking about the games business that argues for the continuous interplay of three innovation forces: content, distribution, and t...
2025-04-021h 23
The Fourth CurtainBest of 2024In this week's episode we recap some of the best moments from Season 2, with John Romero on hits and misses, how Peter Molyneux makes a game, Ed Fries on Xbox's Valentines Day massacre, Warren Spector on how playstyle is everything and much more! 🎮 The Fourth Curtain – S2 Best Of Highlights[00:00:00] – Season 2 Recap & Patreon Launch 🎉Alex and Aaron reflect on Season 2, announce the new Patreon, and tease upcoming guests.[00:08:00] – John Romero’s First Game 👾John shares how he programmed his first game on a mainframe in 1979 and discovered Colossa...
2025-02-201h 44
Venture with GraceJason Yeh: Patron's Early-Stage Fund for Gaming & Consumer Internet Startups🚀 This episode is brought to you by LG NOVA. 🚀
Jason Yeh is the Co-Founder & General Partner of Patron Fund. Patron, an early-stage VC firm investing in the next generation of consumer startups announced the raise of a $100 million USD Fund II. The company's second fund has attracted significant institutional and individual support, anchored again by Horsley Bridge Partners and joined by new institutional investors including university endowments, sovereign wealth funds and institutional family offices. Individual investors include Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Marc Andreessen and general partner Chris Dixon; Union Square Ventures co-founder Fred Wilson, Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan, Benchmark genera...
2024-09-2057 min
Designer NotesDesigner Notes 83: Mitch Lasky - Part 2In this episode, Soren interviews noted game investor Mitch Lasky, best known for his work as a venture capitalist at Benchmark, as the CEO of JAMDAT, and as an executive at Activision and Electronic Arts. They discuss how the industry’s business models have always affected design, why he was wrong about the Halloween pack ruining League of Legends, and why the litigation leaks are better than GDC. This episode was recorded on October 23, 2023.
2024-06-061h 54
Idle ThumbsDesigner Notes 83: Mitch Lasky - Part 2In this episode, Soren interviews noted game investor Mitch Lasky, best known for his work as a venture capitalist at Benchmark, as the CEO of JAMDAT, and as an executive at Activision and Electronic Arts. They discuss how the industry’s business models have always affected design, why he was wrong about the Halloween pack ruining League of Legends, and why the litigation leaks are better than GDC. This episode was recorded on October 23, 2023.
Games discussed: League of Legends, Hearthstone, StarCraft, Civilization 6, World of Warcraft, Pentiment, Offworld Trading Company, Flow, Sky, Journey, Grand Theft Auto V, Stormgate
2024-06-061h 54
Grit#192 CTO & Co-Founder Discord, Stanislav Vishnevskiy: Ship ItGuest: Stanislav Vishnevskiy, CTO and co-founder of DiscordFor many years, the conventional wisdom was the gaming was not social because it was something you usually did at home. “But people who play games are often the most social,” says Discord CTO Stanislav Vishnevskiy. “They’re spending 10, 20 hours with other people online, hanging out.” As a teenager, Stanislav logged more than 1,000 days playing his favorite video game and socializing with friends around the world, but with 200 million monthly active users, the social platform is appealing to a lot more than hardcore gamers. “People online who need to get together...
2024-05-271h 03Designer NotesDesigner Notes 82: Mitch Lasky - Part 1In this episode, Soren interviews noted game investor Mitch Lasky, best known for his work as a venture capitalist at Benchmark, as the CEO of JAMDAT, and as an executive at Activision and Electronic Arts. They discuss how the Doom shareware model was a preview of free-to-play, why a console transition led to EA buying Maxis, and how Jamdat pioneered paying for visibility on mobile. This episode was recorded on October 23, 2023.
2024-05-061h 53Idle ThumbsDesigner Notes 82: Mitch Lasky - Part 1In this episode, Soren interviews noted game investor Mitch Lasky, best known for his work as a venture capitalist at Benchmark, as the CEO of JAMDAT, and as an executive at Activision and Electronic Arts. They discuss how the Doom shareware model was a preview of free-to-play, why a console transition led to EA buying Maxis, and how Jamdat pioneered paying for visibility on mobile. This episode was recorded on October 23, 2023.
Games discussed: Pong, Computer Space, Robotron, Seven Cities of Gold, Secret of Monkey Island, Civilization: Call to Power, The Lion King, Aladdin, Classic Text Adventure Masterpieces of Infocom, Quake...
2024-05-061h 53
The Fourth CurtainWhat Could Go Right with Mitch LaskyYou may know not the name of our guest Mitch Lasky, but you absolutely know his work. He created Activision’s third-party business and basically kicked off mobile gaming. As a VC he played a key role in the creation of Riot, Discord, Twitter and a dozen other hit businesses. Longtime partner at Benchmark Capital he’s now an owner of the LAFC soccer team. We talk the role of venture capital, marketing takeovers and more this week!Support the showThank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who...
2024-04-181h 20GamecraftArtificial Intelligence (Ep. 16)In their final episode of Season 2, Mitch and Blake take on the complex and highly speculative topic of the impact of recent improvements in artificial intelligence on the games business. Your hosts acknowledge that the sector is moving so quickly that this episode could be obsolete by the time it airs, and warn that it's difficult at this early moment to look too far into the future. Mitch offers a loose framework for thinking about AI in game production, mapping this framework to specific areas of game creation and publishing that could be effected by AI. They...
2024-03-131h 13GamecraftIntellectual Property (Ep. 15)Mitch and Blake look at the ins and outs of intellectual property licensing in games. After discussing the checkered history of the practice, they look at the creative and business reasons why licensed IP continues to be valuable to game creators. After a quick look at how IP licenses actually function and what to expect from licensors, Mitch and Blake discuss IP arbitrages -- finding gems in the rough that can be licensed at lower cost but with considerable customer acquisition lift, using the examples of Tony Hawk, Kim Kardashian, and Sponge Bob. They draw an important d...
2024-03-061h 10GamecraftDistribution (Ep. 14)In perhaps their most important episode of the series, Mitch and Blake explain what they mean when they use the term "distribution" and why it is so important to their understanding of how the video games business functions. Like they did with the term "publishing" last season, they try to recontextualize distribution as a much larger and more important concept than simply moving atoms or bits into commerce. Your hosts define distribution as the myriad of systems that exist in between the developer of a game and the ultimate end-user of that game, all intended to enable a...
2024-02-281h 10GamecraftGoing Global (Ep. 13)Mitch and Blake discuss the massive expansion of gaming in emerging markets around the world. The begin with a discussion of the big-picture factors driving this expansion -- primarily mobile technology, but also new business models, payment systems, and demographics. They then take a closer look at the Middle East and North Africa, and how the different approaches that companies are taking in Turkey, Israel, and Saudi Arabia are making that region one of the fastest growing in the world. They contrast it with the Latin American market, which has had a longer history but which operates q...
2024-02-211h 07
Thinking With Mitch JoelSPOS #919 – Todd Rogers On How To Write For Busy ReadersHere it is: Six Pixels of Separation - The ThinkersOne Podcast - Episode #919. In a world of information overload, Todd Rogers, a Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, recently published the book, Writing for Busy Readers - Communicate More Effectively in the Real World (co-authored with Jessica Lasky-Fink), as a testament to their understanding of the nuances of better writing in our text and emoji-paced world. Todd has dedicated his career to the study of efficient communication strategies, whether it's engaging with families, students, consumers, employees, or voters. His expertise is not just academic...
2024-02-1856 minGamecraftIndependent Intervention (Ep. 12)Mitch and Blake explore the idea of independent game development. They attempt to define "indie" in the video game context -- something that proves more difficult that it might seem on the surface. They discuss the early successful indie developers in the 90s, and examine how the technology and business innovations that revolutionized the industry in the 20th century (online distribution, new platforms, new business models) catapulted indie developers into positions of power and influence that rivaled, and even surpassed, their incumbent competitors. They discuss the new publishers like Annapurna who are curating indie games under a brand that...
2024-02-141h 03GamecraftA Changing of the Guard (Ep. 11)Mitch and Blake expand on last season's discussion of platform-based publishers by introducing a new kind of company: the game-enabling software platform. The five companies they discuss (Epic, Unity, AppLovin, Discord, and Roblox) are all pursuing customer aggregation strategies similar to the platform-based publishers, but -- with the exception of Epic, which has attributes of both a publisher and software platform -- they are doing so with enabling technologies (game engines, advertising tech, and communications software) rather than by producing content. Your hosts talk about the evolution of what had previously been considered "tools" businesses into bona f...
2024-02-071h 19GamecraftChoose Your (ad)Venture (Ep. 10)Mitch and Blake discuss the nuances of game financing. They begin by explaining how the publishing model of advances against royalties functions, and what the expected costs and benefits are for both the developer and publisher. After a brief discussion of bootstrapping, they do a deep dive on venture capital financing for games. They reveal how venture capital firms make money, drawing a sharp contrast with how traditional game publishers make money. This leads to a conversation about the implied promises that game studios make when they take venture capital. Mitch talks about how ill-prepared he thinks...
2024-01-311h 11GamecraftThe State of Play: 2024 (Ep. 9)They're back! Season 2 of the GameCraft podcast kicks off with Mitch and Blake introducing the new 8-episode season, followed by an analysis of the current health of the games business. Mitch and Blake discuss the paradoxical state of the business, where a "golden age" of content is facing some increasing financial headwinds. They compare the games business to the post-pandemic video streaming businesses, which have all faced difficult belt-tightening after a growth phase that produced some of the best content ever. They look at the implications of increasing consolidation in the business (i...
2024-01-241h 18SSACInvesting in Global Sports: Creating Value While Building DynastiesGerry Cardinale - Founder and Managing Partner, RedBird Capital Partners
Steve Pagliuca - Senior Advisor, Bain Capital | Managing General Partner and Co-Owner, Boston Celtics
Mitch Lasky - Partner, Benchmark | Co-owner, LAFC
Saj Cherian (moderator) - Chief of Staff and Head of Fanatics Ventures, Fanatics
Global investment in sports teams has boomed in recent years across continents, sports, and levels, especially as institutional capital has become an increasing driver of team valuations and the sports landscape writ large. Sports-specific funds are popping up and raising funds of ever-increasing sizes, while more generalist institutional f...
2023-08-301h 00
Karcast - کارکست۵۷: طراحی درست یک شغلطراحی درست یک شغلشغل هارو چالش برانگیز طراحی کنید! اما زیاده روی هم نکنید.من مدت زیادی دنبال نیروی کار گشتم. بعد توی دوستا و همکارا دیدم که میگن به اندازهی کافی رزومهی خوب نمیگیرن یا اینکه اصلا نمیتونن نیرویهای مناسب برای کارشون پیدا کنن. از اونور خیلی از آدمایی که میبینم از کارشون رضایت ندارن و حس میکنن که دارن توی اون مسیری که باید حرکت کنن، حرکت نمیکنن. اتفاقی که داره میفته چیه؟ اینکه کسی به ما یاد نداده چطوری اصلا یه کاری که داریم رو تعریف کنیم. اصلا برای اینکه کار رو خوب تعریف کنیم، چه خصوصیاتی باید داشته باشه کار و اینکه اصلا چطوری مطمئن باشیم همهی آدمهامون دارن در راستای خواستهی اصلی بیزینس ما توی شرکت کار میکنن. مشکلات این شکلی زیاده و نه تنها توی ایران بلکه توی اکثر دنیا وجود داره. توی این اپیزود میخوایم بریم سراغ یه مقالهای که بهمون یاد بده چطوری کار رو تعریف کنیم و چطوری مطمئن باشیم با گذر زمان کار برای آدمها جالبه و در راستای خواستهی بیزینسمون کار میکنن.لینک کامیونیتی کارکست:https://t.me/KarcastCommunityلینک مقالهی این اپیزود:https://hbr.org/2023/01/designing-jobs-rightلینک اپیزود ۱۵۷ از اکوایرد:https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/benchmarks-mitch-lasky-and-blake-robbins-on-the-art-of-business-in-gamingلینک پادکست خورجین:https://castbox.fm/channel/%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%AC%DB%8C%D9%86-id4946094
2023-06-0130 min
AcquiredBenchmark’s Mitch Lasky and Blake Robbins on The Art of Business in GamingWe sit down Benchmark’s legendary gaming investors Mitch Lasky and Blake Robbins (now also of the excellent Gamecraft podcast fame) to discuss the history and future of gaming business models. This episode is the perfect bookend to our Nintendo/Sega gaming series this season on Acquired — no one is more qualified than Mitch and Blake to breakdown how the business side of the industry has evolved so radically from the Periscope quarter-drop days to the forever games and platform based publishers of today.Regardless if you’re a gamer, understanding the incredible innovation that’s taken place ov...
2023-04-262h 17
HUM Curated Podcasts#286 Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger Podcast: Founders (LS 65 · TOP 0.05% what is this?)Episode: #286 Warren Buffett and Charlie MungerPub date: 2023-01-16Get Podcast Transcript →powered by Listen411 - fast audio-to-text and summarizationWhat I learned from reading All I Want To Know Is Where I'm Going To Die So I'll Never Go There: Buffett & Munger – A Study in Simplicity and Uncommon, Common Sense by Peter Bevelin. ----Get access to the World’s Most Valuable Notebook for Founders by investing in a subscription to Founders Notes----Follow...
2023-03-011h 10GamecraftThe New Gold Rush (Ep. 8)Mitch and Blake take on the complex topic of in-game economies. They discuss how the endemic problems of trust and arbitrage were present in the earliest in-game economies of the late 1980 and how they have persisted to the present web3 economies. They look at the concept of mudlfation, a unique economic problem of massively multiplayer online games, and the strategies for controlling it, as well as the idea of economic play. Mitch talks about how gold farming and real-money trading were early antecedents of play-to-earn, before taking a look at early web3 economies. They end the episode with a...
2023-02-221h 02
Podcast Notes Playlist: Signal From The Noise: By Podcast Notes#290 Bill GatesFounders
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Claim
: Read the notes at at podcastnotes.org. Don't forget to subscribe for free to our newsletter, the top 10 ideas of the week, every Monday
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What I learned from rereading Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire by James Wallace and Jim Erickson.----This episode is brought to you by: Tiny: Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Quick and straightforward exits for Founders.----Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best and listen to episode 292 The Business of Ga...
2023-02-2200 min
Game of Life Podcast4. Jonathan Knight ― Lessons from 25+ years of games leadershipJonathan Knight is the Head of Games at the New York Times. He's had a multi-decades long career in games, and we dig through his learnings from working on games like Sims 2, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and Words with Friends, and working with people like Mitch Lasky and Will Wright. We also talk about the interesting opportunity for games at The New York Times, the global sensation that is Wordle, and Jonathan's outlook on the future of games.
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Substack: https://gameoflifepod.substack.com...
2023-02-1733 minGamecraftThe Failures and Futures of Virtual Reality (Ep. 7)Mitch and Blake discuss the recurring industry obsession with the idea of virtual reality, beginning in the mid-1980s. Mitch recounts a story about his encounter with VPL and the weird world of digital artists and promoters in the early days of personal computing. They look at the second failed wave of VR investment in the 1990s and the importance of Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. Mitch talks about how Linden Lab's Second Life anticipated many of the ideas of the modern metaverse. They then look at the Oculus, and Facebook's decade-long failure to generate momentum behind a new wave...
2023-02-1553 min
Founders#290 Bill GatesWhat I learned from rereading Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire by James Wallace and Jim Erickson.----Get access to the World’s Most Valuable Notebook for Founders by investing in a subscription to Founders Notes----Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best and listen to episode 292 The Business of Gaming with Mitch Lasky and 293 David Senra Passion and Pain !----Gates read the encyclopedia from beginning to end when he was only seven or eight years ol...
2023-02-1347 minGamecraftConsole Castles (Ep. 6)Mitch and Blake debate the continuing relevance of dedicated gaming consoles to the video game business. They begin with a discussion of the economics of the console business, and how console manufacturers built defensible moats that have remained relevant for over 40 years. Mitch compares the current state of the console business to the theatrical feature film business -- and how both have become the domain of big budget blockbusters with cultural significance but dwindling market share. They discuss the history of Nintendo, how its often-contrarian business strategy has paid off over time. Mitch explains how a lawsuit with Nintendo...
2023-02-081h 01GamecraftThe Playground and the Stage (Ep. 5)Mitch and Blake propose a framework for understanding user-generated content in games based on two central metaphors -- the playground and the stage -- representing the two ways users "create" content in games through play and performance. They discuss the rise of sandbox games, The Sims, GTA3, Runescape, Second Life, EVE Online, and Minecraft. Mitch explains the evolution of games as performance spaces, beginning with early machinima and progressing to YouTube videos and Twitch streaming. They conclude with a brief look at Roblox and Discord as two "third places" that people hang out online, and the influence of games...
2023-02-011h 11GamecraftThe Forever Games (Ep. 4)Mitch and Blake discuss how the rise of games-as-services has privileged durable, long-duration play-patterns -- leading to the modern idea of the "Forever Game" which can persist for decades. Mitch outlines his five attributes of long-term engagement and provides examples of each from games like Ultima Online, World of Warcraft, Age of Empires, and League of Legends. They look at the two distinct strands of long-duration play that emerged in the 1990's -- the massively-multiplayer online role playing game and the session-based online competitive game -- and how those genres evolved and cross-polinated to produce multi-billion dollar online games that...
2023-01-251h 21Founders#287 The Founder of Rolls-RoyceWhat I learned from rereading Rolls-Royce: The Magic of a Name: The First Forty Years of Britain s Most Prestigious Company by Peter Pugh.----Get access to the World’s Most Valuable Notebook for Founders by investing in a subscription to Founders Notes----Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best and listen to episode Mitch Lasky—The Business of Gaming----[2:31] Henry Royce had known poverty and hardship all his life. The only university he had graduated from was the one of hard...
2023-01-2331 minGamecraftThe Calculus of Fun (Ep. 3)Mitch and Blake discuss perhaps the most important developments in the video games business since the 1990s: the explosion of casual and mobile gaming. Mitch explains how the casual business was catalyzed by the most unlikely of heroes. He talks about his time as the CEO of the first public mobile game company in the US (JAMDAT) leading up to the launch of the iPhone. They look at the rise of so-called "social gaming" on Facebook and how it was enabled by new advances in analytics and data science. They do a deep dive on the iOS App Store...
2023-01-181h 10GamecraftThe Fall and Rise of Publishing (Ep. 2)Mitch and Blake take a deep dive into the game industry's migration from physical goods at retail to electronic distribution over the internet. They explore the rise of platform-based publishing — a new concept that marries the internet's remarkable utility in aggregating customers on digital platforms with the traditional publishing roles of editorial, marketing, and sales. This episode covers the origins of the innovative Steam service, Microsoft's GamePass platform (and why it led to Microsoft's $69B acquisition of Activision-Blizzard), and how the Chinese giant Tencent used platform-based publishing to become the largest game company in the world. Links & Sh...
2023-01-161h 03GamecraftSteal This Game (Ep. 1)Hosts Mitch Lasky and Blake Robbins discuss the rise of free-to-play as a dominant business model for video game marketing and distribution. They look at the roots of free-to-play in the shareware business, where companies like id Software and Apogee used it to build independent game businesses. Mitch shares some stories about his time as id's publisher in the late 90's. They then look at free-to-play as a response to rampant PC software piracy, primarily in Asia, and how Korean giant Nexon invented the modern internet free-to-play model with games like Maple Story and particularly Kart Rider. They conclude...
2023-01-161h 09Founders#286 Warren Buffett and Charlie MungerWhat I learned from reading All I Want To Know Is Where I'm Going To Die So I'll Never Go There: Buffett & Munger – A Study in Simplicity and Uncommon, Common Sense by Peter Bevelin. ----Get access to the World’s Most Valuable Notebook for Founders by investing in a subscription to Founders Notes----Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best and listen to episode Mitch Lasky—The Business of GamingFollow the podcast Gamecraft to learn more about the history of the video game industr...
2023-01-161h 10GamecraftIntroducing GamecraftGamecraft is a limited series podcast about the modern history of the video game business hosted by industry veteran Mitch Lasky and investor Blake Robbins. In this introductory episode, Mitch and Blake discuss the series as a whole, breaking down the eight episodes and why the themes explored in the episodes are so relevant to understanding the modern business. They discuss their backgrounds in the industry and why they chose to record this series of conversations.
2023-01-1111 min
Rum CakeEP14：人类的悲欢有时相通---有关职场、跳槽、投资和消费的点滴背景噪音是金汤力的猫在瞎闹，实在不好意思！【00:47】我等朋友吃饭，你等朋友辞职【02:04】养宠物的你，起外号能力有没有质的提高【03:32】公司和面试官如何浪费打工人的宝贵时间？【08:29】下一个黄金年代【12:35】中美交锋之PCAOB内部视角：中概股公司的审计问题【16:35】国内外法律的区别，如何影响国际关系【21:55】商业服务行业，为什么如此看重学历【25:23】如何跟猎头打交道：职场实用指南【27:22】隔行如隔山，到底是什么意思【33:21】播客推荐：Mitch Lasky讲游戏投资【37:31】看似不同的产品，有哪些本质上的共同点？【40:33】订阅、惰性、习惯消费与消费者权益【45:06】Zencastr的音质，秒杀几乎一切会议软件和录音平台
2022-10-0150 min
AcquiredBenchmark Part IBenchmark Capital. We tell the tale of the legendary equal partnership that accomplished something no other venture firm can claim: twice it has produced the highest returning fund of its cycle, each time with a 100% different GP lineup. If ever there were a playbook for successful generational transfer of a generational-defining venture firm, this is it. We spend 3.5+ hours digging into how the dotcom “eBay eBoys” transformed into the rockstar Fab Four of the Uber, Instagram and Snap mobile gold rush (spoiler: not by a straight line!), and what the future holds for Benchmark’s next GP generation. If you’re...
2022-09-283h 44
Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'ShaughnessyMitch Lasky - The Business of GamingMy guest today is Mitch Lasky. Mitch is a partner at Benchmark and one of the leading figures in the video game industry. Over the last 30 years, he has built, led, and invested in a number of the best gaming companies in the world, including Activision, EA, Riot, Snapchat, and Discord. I couldn’t think of a better person to break down the anatomy of great gaming businesses and Mitch does not disappoint. His insights are remarkable. Please enjoy this excellent conversation with Mitch Lasky. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned con...
2022-09-061h 15SSACEntrepreneurship, Fundraising, Investing: Approaches to Success
Meredith McPherron - CEO & Managing Partner, Drive by DraftKings
Mitch Lasky - Partner, Benchmark / Co-Owner, LAFC
Jeff Ma - VP, Microsoft for Startups
Bruce Smith - Founder & CEO, Hydrow
Corbin Petro (moderator) - Co-Founder & CEO, Eleanor Health
The data doesn’t lie – 90% of start-ups fail, including 65% that raise VC funding, and only 5% of VCs return more than 3x to their LPs. Yet the allure of entrepreneurship and investing drive innovation across industries and sectors, including sports and analytics. This panel brings together successful entrepreneurs from Microsoft and investors and venture capitalists from ARod Corp and Drive by Draft...
2022-07-2254 minSSACBlockchain, Technology, and Sports
Steve Pagliuca - Co-Owner, Boston Celtics
Jonathan Kraft - President, The Kraft Group
Jason Robins - CEO of DraftKings
Mitch Lasky - Partner, Benchmark | Co-owner, LAFC
Saj Cherian (moderator) - Fanatics Chief of Staff & Head of Fanatics Ventures
Promising greater transparency, improved security, and decentralization, blockchain technology has the potential to fundamentally upend the status quo. Some analysts even predict it will be the next multi-trillion dollar opportunity. While the average sports fan may be familiar with the NBA Top Shot’s of the world, the sports industry continues to be at the cutting edge of innovative blockchain technology app...
2022-07-141h 00
Bandana Blues, founded by Beardo, hosted by SpinnerBandana Blues #570 Entertaining as HELL!!!show#570 12.13.14 (...wow...whatta date!) A Very Entertaining Show!! The Belairs - Rocket In Her Soul from Need Me A Car 1984 (2:04) Mark Wenner - Rollin & Tumblin' from Nothin' But... (3:14) The Nighthawks - Heartbreak Radio from Hot Spot 1984 (3:21) Geoff Muldaur & Amos Garrett - My Tears Came Rolling Down from Geoff Muldaur & Amos Garrett 1978 (3:49) Duke Tumatoe and the All Star Frogs - Naughty Child from Naughty Child (3:11) Magic Sam - Sawed Off Shotgun from Magic Touch 1968 (2:45) Bessie Smith - Empty Bed Blues, Pts. 1+2 [1928] from St. Louis Blues...
2014-12-142h 03