Rise and Play Podcast

From building your vision to the methods to find, screen and select the best candidates for you - I will share my full hiring framework with you. Hiring makes up 50% of the success of your studio, so it is important to get it right! It is worth investing heavily upfront to build a sustainable studio for the long term.Crystallise your Team Vision - Who do you need, how many people, which skills for which phase, what team composition should you aim for? Why Diversity matters so much when hiring?Link to the Masterclass video: https://www.riseandplay.io/video/team-vision This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

From building your vision to the methods to find, screen and select the best candidates for you - I will share my full hiring framework with you. Hiring makes up 50% of the success of your studio, so it is important to get it right! It is worth investing heavily upfront to build a sustainable studio for the long term.Define your Studio Mission and Vision - Before you hire, get clarity about your studio mission and vision so you attract the right people for your mission.Link to the Masterclass video: https://www.riseandplay.io/video/studio-vision-mission This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

From building your vision to the methods to find, screen and select the best candidates for you - I will share my full hiring framework with you. Hiring makes up 50% of the success of your studio, so it is important to get it right! It is worth investing heavily upfront to build a sustainable studio for the long term.Start with Why - Your Why is your North Star for every single decision you make. It shapes your behaviour and communication towards others, including new hires. Invest the time to define and crystallise your Why, before building a new studioLink to the class video: https://www.riseandplay.io/video/start-with-whyYour Personal Values:  After you defined your Why, define your own personal values. Your personal values influence everything you do, who you hire, how you make decisions. Make it intentional, not accidental.Link to the class video: https://www.riseandplay.io/video/define-your-personal-valuesGallup Strengths Test: https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/252137/home.aspxEnneagram Test: https://www.truity.com/test/enneagram-personality-testBig 5 Personality Traits: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

In this last episode of the Season 1 of Rise and Play Podcast, I am thrilled to have the one and only Mishka as a guest. Mishka is the CEO and founder of Savage Game Studios and the founder of Deconstructor of Fun. We are addressing several topics in this episode:- How Deconstructor of Fun started from an accident and a discovery process- Why and how should you start to create your own content to elevate the industry- What's behind the name and culture of Savage Game Studios- Tips on how to handle exit interviews, keeper test, probation periods- Mishka's vision on the importance of the diversity of mind over ethnical diversity only- The challenges and responsibility to be a CEO and step away from day-to-day operationsEnjoy this last episode! Stay tuned for the Season 2 we are preparing for winter 2021!More about Savage Game Culture at: https://www.savagegamestudios.com/culture This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

Georgina is the COO & Co-founder of Talewind, a studio with a mission to create incredibly fun and engaging gaming experiences for the metaverse, starting with Roblox! At Talewind she is responsible for the operational running of the business and is typically known as the Head of Happiness! The health and wellbeing of the team are always a top priority and she has her finger constantly on the pulse of ways in which she can innovate best working practices. She has proven passion and success in building diverse, high functioning, emotionally intelligent teams and operations for the Games industry.In this episode, we cover how she started the company Talewind with her co-founder and partner Mike Allender. We will also cover the company culture they consciously built, valuing kindness, positive impact, sustainability and education. For example, they applied the model of a 4-day workweek.Enjoy this new episode! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

In this new episode, I have the pleasure to have Tom Hammond as my guest. Tom has been an active contributor to the Live Ops community with his podcast Mastering Retention and recently the UserWise Academy. Tom is sharing his entrepreneurial journey creating his two companies TheoremReach and UserWise, his company culture and values, and what led him to create the Mastering Retention podcast. To "give back" to the community.I recommend his podcast as there is a lot of valuable and tangible content about Live Ops.Enjoy this new episode!Mastering Retention Podcast: https://userwise.io/podcast/mastering-retention-podcast-presented-by-userwise/UserWise Academy: https://userwise.io/academy/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

In this new episode, I am talking to Carolin Krenzer, the CEO and co-founder of Trailmix, a London based studio which focuses on combining great storytelling with the best of free-to-play mobile gaming as well as creating a space for people to be the best version of themselves. Their latest title is Love & Pies, taking an innovative twist on the puzzle hybrid genre.Carolin has an impressive background in gaming. Before founding Trailmix, she worked as VP & Head of Studio for King. She joined the company in 2012 to help set up the London studio and bring the studio’s first title Farm Heroes Saga to life. Carolin also worked at EA/ Playfish as a Director of Product Management.We address in this episode, how Carolin started her new company Trailmix with her co-founder and ex-King colleague Tristan. As co-founders, they spent 6 months before the company founding to discuss and set up a clear vision, mission and culture for their company. Their studio is backed by Supercell.Enjoy this new episode!More about Trailmix: https://www.trailmixgames.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

In this new podcast episode, I am talking to Benjamin Chevalier, one of the co-founders of Mighty Bear Games. With Simon Davis and Fadzuli Said his two other co-founder, they started Mighty Bear Games in Singapore in early 2017 with ex-King colleagues and grew the studio to 50+ team members after two rounds of funding. Mighty Bear Games has been known lately for their successful title 'Butter Royale' on Apple Arcade.We tackle the vision and company culture the co-founders established from the beginning, focusing on honesty and transparency. How they run their company with integrity and 'walk the talk'. We address the challenges and opportunities they faced by building a studio with the Western mindset in a Southeast Asian hub such as Singapore. My discussion with Ben was very inspiring to see how a value-based company can look like. Without compromising on getting things done and achieving financial results.Enjoy this new episode!Mighty Bear Games blog: https://medium.com/mighty-bear-gamesShane Parish podcast: https://fs.blog/knowledge-project/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

In this new episode, I am talking to Tatiana Kondratyeva, CEO & co-founder at Playpack, a new company formed in early 2021 focused on making games for an underserved audience with meaningful social interactions. Tatiana started her career in games more than 13 years ago. Games were always her biggest passion and she made it all the way up from being in QA to her current role of CEO and co-founder at Playpack. Tatiana has an amazing track record in the industry. She has worked at Wooga and Etermax, and beforehand she’s been working at Glu Mobile at the times where mobile Free-to-pay games were just on a rising trend.We tackle in this episode how Tatiana formed her new company, how she found her co-founders, and how they defined together their company mission and values.Enjoy this new episode!Open positions at Playpack: https://www.playpack.games/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com

In this new episode, I have the pleasure to talk to Taina Myöhänen, the president of We In Games Finland (formerly named Women in Games Finland). We tackle with Taina the sensible topics of diversity, inclusivity, women in games... and what it means concretely for We in Games, and how these important topics are handled in the community. I love the Finnish gaming community for their progressive thinking and thoughtfulness on diversity and equality. Not being afraid to tackle the hard things. I believe many could benefit from the practices from We In Games, whether you are running your own community or are in a position of leadership. Enjoy this new episode!More about We In Games Finland: https://weingames.fi/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit riseandplay.substack.com