Deconstructor of Fun

What are the key challenges and issues with respect to hiring during pandemic?   While hiring has actually not slowed down in these crazy times despite coronavirus, we discuss challenges and issues due to current circumstances and best practices to help ensure great hires! Host:           - Joe Kim, CEO LILA Games: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/  Guests:      - Simone Heard, Talent Acquisition, Jam City: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simoneheard/      - Moses Sison, Talent Acquisition, Unity: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mosessison/      - Neil Warlicht, Executive Recruitment, Stepping Stone: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilwarlicht/   Topics Covered: Biggest Changes  Key Challenges  Best Practices & Processes  Best Indicator of Performance  Impact of Remote Work  Long-term Implications Yo! Btw, Joe Kim here and my company LILA Games is hiring. We will be in Bangalore, India. Positions we're looking for right here:  https://www.lilagames.com/job-openings/

Today we’re here to talk about the biggest challenges and mistakes early stage companies have in order to scale their companies and achieve success.   To speak to these issues we have arguably 3 of the best people in the world to talk about this: #1. Travis Boatman: Travis has held senior leadership positions at a bunch of major gaming and mobile gaming companies including Mattel, JAMDAT, EA, and Zynga. And most recently Travis founded Carbonated Inc. a mobile and PC games studio located in Southern California. Carbonated also raised an $8.5M seed venture financing round led by Andreessen Horowitz. https://www.linkedin.com/in/travis-boatman-3bb593/ #2. Gigi Levy-Weiss: Gigi has been a founder, senior executive, and investor in like a billion companies.But some notable companies in particular includes Playtika and Plarium. And Gigi today is a general partner at one of the most exciting venture capital firms NFX (https://www.nfx.com/).  https://www.linkedin.com/in/gigilevy/   #3. Kristian Segerstrale: Kristian was a co-founder of Glu mobile, CEO of Playfish acquired by EA, was a seed investor in Supercell, was a senior exec at EA, and now is the CEO of Super Evil Megacorp which will soon release their new MOBA shooter called Catalyst Black (https://catalystblack.com/). https://www.linkedin.com/in/segerstrale/   Topics Covered: Biggest Mistakes to Avoid  Creative vs. Data vs. Tech? Impact of Data in Games  Hiring for Cultural Fit  Initial Focus Post Funding  You Need to Plan + Panic!  How to Build Culture  Individual Contributor vs. Manager vs. Leader  How to Avoid Day 2

Welcome to TWIG #107! This week we cover: #1. If You Play Videogames, China May Be Spying on You #2. Mobile Games Company Scopely Boasts Of ‘Significantly Profitable Business’ As It Raises $340M #3. "For Descenders, it has been immense. Sales across all platforms increased after we went into Game Pass" – What does Game Pass mean for indies? | Business News | MCV/DEVELOP #4. Bringing more franchises to mobile is Activision Blizzard's biggest opportunity, says COO Hosts: (Twitter) Joseph Kim: @jokim1 Eric Kress: @ekress Adam Telfer: @adamwtelfer Miska Katkoff: @m_katkoff

In many (perhaps most) companies, so many corporate processes, policies, and work flows WASTE TIME!    Meetings are a huge culprit but in this discussion we talk about what are the biggest time wasters and how to stop wasting time. Learn more about how to make your company more efficient RIGHT NOW!   With us to talk about all of this are the "Love Bros":   1. Filippo DeRose, Chief Growth Officer, Traplight: https://www.linkedin.com/in/filippoderose/  2. Matej Lancaric, UA/Marketing Consultant, Lancaric.me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matejlancaric/  3. Brett Nowak, CEO, Liquid & Grit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-nowak-8920675/   Host:   - Joseph Kim, CEO, LILA Games: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim/

Ron Ashtiani has spent a career in art and as an art director. Ron's had an over 25 year career in art and has served as an art director in multiple game studios including at Midway Games. He also co-founded Atomhawk in 2009 and currently starting a new adventure.   In today's discussion with Ron we discuss the role of an art director (AD), the different kinds of ADs, how to determine an art style for a game, documentation best practices, biggest lessons/mistakes, art differences for mobile vs. PC/console, and much more!   Find out more about Ron Ashtiani here: https://www.ronashtiani.com/ https://www.artstation.com/ashtiani https://www.linkedin.com/in/cumronashtiani/

Welcome to TWIG #106: Today we cover: #1. The Problem With Tech Monopolies, From Both Sides of the Political Aisle #2. Stadia creative director says streamers should pay publishers #3. Facebook’s cloud-gaming offering focuses on free-to-play mobile games Your hosts for today: Joe Kim Eric Kress Adam Telfer Kenny Liu

Lot of talk about IDFA deprecation and impact to marketing/UA not so much on product and tools impact. So for our discussion today we will focus on:      - #1. A summary of what IDFA deprecation means generally for the industry      - #2. Implications to the value chain      - #3. Product and tools impact  To talk about all of this we have:     - Andre Cohen - Head of Data Science Tilting Point: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrecohen/      - Niklas Herriger - Founder 8 Bit Coaching: https://www.linkedin.com/in/niklasherriger/

What up people? Welcome to TWIG #105! Today we cover: #1. Introducing the Game Growth program - Unity Technologies Blog #2. China-owned gaming firm Playtika files confidentially for U.S. IPO #3. Among Us isn’t just blowing up on Twitch — it’s dominating mobile gaming #4. How Discord Won LINKS: Riz Virk: Here's how the Big Tech breakup should go down Riz Virk on GameMakers: Riz Virk on US vs. China App Wars, Simulation Hypothesis, Startup Myths & Lessons Your Hosts: Joe Kim Eric Kress Miska Katkoff Adam Telfer

How do you determine the content cadence and events (type and frequency) for your live operated game? How do you measure whether you are operating content and events successfully or not? Find out from some of the best guys in the industry how this is done! Drew leads PM on Words With Friends, Barak is leading a revenue growth tear at Murka, and Jeff 4x'ed revenue on Modern War with a single event! This was a panel presentation originally recorded during a live GameMakers digital conference event. Sign up to be notified of future events: https://gamemakers.com/digital-events/ Panel Host: Joe Kim, CEO LILA Games Speakers: Barak David, COO, Murka Drew Levin, Lead PM Words with Friends, Zynga Jeff Witt, Co-founder, Storm8 and Funzio

Welcome to TWIG #104! This week we cover: #1. Amazon Wants to ‘Win at Games.’ So Why Hasn’t It? #2. Genshin Impact Generates $60 Million in First Week as it Becomes World’s No. 2 Grossing Mobile Game #3. World of Warcraft next expansion delayed Do you have feedback or comments for us? You can reach us on Twitter/LI at: Joseph Kim: @jokim1 (Twitter, Insta)    Eric Kress: @ekress     Kenny Liu: @kliuless Jeff Witt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwittsf/