This is a bit of a different episode for us, where we dive deeply into a particular aspect of the founding journey. In this case we're talking with Andy Mauro, who's been on the show before, about his recent fundraise and lessons he learned through it specific to pitching, in this case to venture. We try to really break down what actually happened, what he's learned from it, and what could be repeatable by other founders. I really enjoyed going deep on a topic here and trying to extract learning from occurrence, and hopefully there are tangible things here that you feel is applicable to your own journey. Definitely reach out and let me know if you enjoyed this format and would like to hear more like it (and if so, what topics?). Let's jump in.

Today we’re talking with Lisette Teatree-Montgomery, founder of Cornerstone Interactive which got started in 2023. Her background is that of an incredible art and creative director previously working at DoubleFine, Ubisoft, EA, and more. We talk about her journey from working on award winnng games to starting her own studio, what she’s learned along the way, and how adaptability has become central to her perspective on the industry. Let’s jump in.

Today, we talk with Oksana of Seeker Entertainment. Oksana and I first met back in the day when she first joined Riot, when she was already a deeply accomplished engineer and leader. Since then she spent 9 years growing and leading at Riot in a variety of roles, getting further and further from development and building new things. She talks about how that drove her to pursue her founding journey, and the learning and experiences along the way. She’s also one of the few founders to join me who went on a true co-founder dating experience, so it was great to speak more deeply of how she approached that difficult task. Let’s jump in.