There was a time I wondered: “What do I ultimately want to do with my life?” Does having an easy job, a nice family, and a big house define a life well lived? Is that success? There was a time when two roads diverged in my career, and I considered: “Should I choose the path of difficulty or comfort.” Many of you may be making a similar decision in your own life. Should … [Read more...] about The Path to Mastery: How to Become a Kensei (剣聖)
Philosophy
Philosophy #11: 2021 Key Trends and Lessons Learned
To All: I’m sure you’re all sick 🤮 of yet another 2021 recap. I am too. But you’re gonna want to check out this one. Because I’m dope, and I think about dope shit. On January 1st, your Philosophy bros Brett Nowak and I discussed what we believe were some of the biggest trends and lessons learned from last year. 1. Rise of Personal Brands (and everyone now … [Read more...] about Philosophy #11: 2021 Key Trends and Lessons Learned
Philosophy #10: How To Recruit Like A Pro
Recruiting can literally be the difference between success and failure for a gaming company. Peter Thiel has remarked that a critical question he often asks start-up founders to determine whether they will ultimately succeed or not, is the following question: Why will the 20th employee at your company join your company rather than Google (or some other industry relevant … [Read more...] about Philosophy #10: How To Recruit Like A Pro
Philosophy #9: Bill Walsh | Don’t Make Enemies!
How do you deal with enemies in your life and workplace? Today, we discuss the philosophy and specific nuances behind making friends vs. enemies. Bill Walsh, the hall of fame NFL football coach, has a number of really incredible leadership and management lessons from his book “The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership.” In his book, Walsh makes a … [Read more...] about Philosophy #9: Bill Walsh | Don’t Make Enemies!
Philosophy #8: How to Make Difficult Decisions
How do you make difficult decisions? In the context of the gaming industry some of these kinds of decisions could include: What genre to enter with a new gameShould we launch a new game? Expand? Or just invest in our current games?What bold beat to create?Should we kill a game with mediocre KPIs?Who to hire or fire? On a personal level, very common decisions could … [Read more...] about Philosophy #8: How to Make Difficult Decisions
Philosophy #3: 0 to 1 vs. 1 to N Product Management
Looks like our first episode of “Philosophy Friday” was a hit and thanks to everyone for all of the great comments and DMs! Based on feedback, seems like many want more product management content and so we decided to expound a bit on the Peter Thiel concept of “Zero to One” vs. “1 to N” applied to game development and the product management function in this context. For … [Read more...] about Philosophy #3: 0 to 1 vs. 1 to N Product Management
Philosophy #2: On The Ethical Use of Data
I really didn’t know what to expect when I was first writing about the ethical use of data in the gaming industry: On App Annie, Alternative Data, and the SEC Completely disregarding the potential for popularity, I actually first became interested in writing on the topic because: #1. I felt some of the outrage expressed in various public and private channels was a bit … [Read more...] about Philosophy #2: On The Ethical Use of Data
Philosophy #1: How To Be A Great PM!
Brett Nowak, CEO of Liquid & Grit, and I believe that our industry needs more real conversations. As an experiment, we are launching a new content series called Philosophy Friday where we have informal but hopefully deep and contentious discussions about current topics related to the F2P gaming industry. Anyway, since both of us have fairly significant experience as … [Read more...] about Philosophy #1: How To Be A Great PM!