Rise and Play

🎙️📣 ⭐️ We are thrilled to announce new leadership voices on the Rise and Play podcast Shelby Moledina, Nina Kim, Tiffany Keller, and previously Claire Rozain as new co-hosts. Shoutout to these extraordinary women, who drive positive change in the industry through their ventures, courage, and creativity. 💡Don't miss out on the latest episodes with their unique perspectives and worldviews, along with their wonderful guests like Crystin Cox and Joanne Lacey. When founder Sophie Vo started Rise and Play in 2021, her goal was to create a community of conscious leaders in the gaming industry, at a time when there was little attention to effective #leadership in games. Rise and Play began with her voice to bring awareness to the industry, but has now evolved into a new exciting chapter of #co-#creation with other gaming leaders. Be sure to tune in to the latest episodes from Nina and Tiffany (Substack link in the comments) We will keep fostering sustainability in the gaming industry, especially during times of crisis like these. If you're interested in contributing and collaborating, reach out to us! 💜 #podcast #leadership #newvoices #diversity #cocreation

In this episode of Rise and Play, new cohost Tiffany Keller joins the podcast! 🙌 Tiffany has spent the past decade in product management across several billion dollars plus earning franchises at three of Gaming’s top five acquisitions and the most downloaded games of the decade. She sits down with Joanne Lacey, COO and Board Director at AdInMo, a privacy-first in-game monetization platform working with free-to-play mobile game publishers and developers. They dive into her path to the executive suite in multiple ad ecosystem roles that span Board Director of the trade body shaping GDPR for mobile, senior roles in multiple start-ups that have gone on to be acquired by larger companies and a Board Trustee for a cancer charity. Jo shares how AdInMo is shaping the evolving relationship between the gaming and advertising industries. 💡 Jo shares her leadership philosophy as a “#Defender” to foster team cohesion in remote working, even during instability such as the Ukraine conflict 🇺🇦 👩💻🧑💻 For those experiencing layoffs or wanting a change, Jo advises how your career could branch out into adjacent game ecosystem roles. ⭐️ Take their survey now for a chance to win Gamesforum tickets: https://lnkd.in/eGhfSFvc #game #admonetization #leadership #PM

We're excited to have on this episode a new podcast host at Rise and Play: Welcome Nina Kim 👏 In this episode, we interview the wonderful Crystin Cox, Director of Business Strategy for Xbox Game Studios Publishing. Crystin also runs a well-known podcast for Live Ops called #TheArtOfLiveOps Crystin shares her journey from theatrical design to a career in gaming, her early experiences in QA, and her transition into leadership roles. We cover leadership practices on how to give feedback in complex corporate environments, effective management training, and how to navigate cultural differences in business. Episode available on podcast and Substack 🎧 #liveops #multicultural #leadership #xbox #feedback

Rise and Play is now on #Substack 🎉 Our content just moved to Substack, so you can now follow podcast episodes and blog posts all in one place. We kick off our Substack with a profound post from founder Sophie Vo about life transformation and healing, through her journey of conscious leadership. Be ready to be moved 🥹 ✨ Don't forget to follow Rise and Play on Substack 💌 (link in the comments) #leadership #consciousness #healing #retreat #principles #coaching

Wait, so we're ROAS positive, our KPIs look great, and it is still not enough??? (to raise our next round in 2024) 🤔 That is probably how most mobile game studios feel in 2024, as the hype around mobile game investments looks much different from what it was in 2021. So, what do we do in 2024? In this new episode, we interview Charlotte Lavergne, who shares her journey co-founding Supercosi Games in 2020, a mobile studio focused on evergreen games. Charlotte shares the context of bootstrapping the company in 2020 until they raised 2M€ in 2022. She also discusses the challenges of raising seed/Series A funding through VCs in 2024, despite having healthy financial results. She explains her strategic process focusing on evergreen games and the multiple iterations that led their team to find their 'hit' title in 2023: Word Search Puzzle Challenge, and how they are scaling the game in 2024. This episode is an open-hearted testimonial about the ups and downs of being a game entrepreneur, reminding all founders that whatever you are going through this year, you are not alone. We do the best with what we have and can control, and try to survive the wave(s) 🌊 Thanks, Charlotte, for sharing so transparently your entrepreneurial rollercoaster journey. Episode available on podcast 🎧 #entrepreneurship #gamefounder #fundraising #mobilegames #casualgames

In this episode, we delve into an energizing conversation with Emma Delage, CEO of Studio Camelia. Emma shares her journey from working at Ubisoft Paris to founding her own independent game studio based in Montpellier, France. We cover the challenges of starting and funding a game company in 2024 in a category that is not well-known by the masses: #JRPGs. Sometimes, being an expert in your segment that many others don't know can be an asset because that's how you build a game that your audience loves! Emma is an example of resilience in entrepreneurship. She didn't take 'no' for an answer and tried multiple creative strategies when the traditional doors of funding were closing to her. That's what led the team to prove their #productmarket fit by running their successful #Kickstarter in June. Congratulations to Studio Camelia for closing their Kickstarter campaign at #200% of their goal! 👏 Follow their exciting journey with #Alzara, their first game. #JRPG #independentstudio #kickstarter #funding #frenchstudio

What is your culture of feedback? This week, founder Sophie Vo hosted a masterclass with GAMASTE on the art of giving and receiving feedback. Feedback sounds trivial, but in practice, it is not that easy. If you missed the masterclass, here are takeaways to reflect on your culture of feedback in your team or organization. #1 It doesn't matter how good your feedback delivery is if there is no trust and #psychologicalsafety 🤷🏻♀️. #Trust is the foundation for teams to have healthy conflicts, and then to grow to high performance. #2 Your need to establish first an environment of trust and a #system of open #feedback in your team/organization. And then, feedback tools can amplify the impact. A culture of feedback always starts from the leadership 💡 ✏️ What are the feedback loops happening every day, week, month, and quarter in your team? ✏️ Is the feedback culture happening at all layers of your organization, including the leadership level? #3 What is #BAD feedback: - unprepared - unannounced (especially if it is a negative feedback) - unclear - non-actionable for the receiver 🤷🏻♀️ What other bad practices of feedback have you experienced? Sharing is caring 🫶 #feedback #gamaste #workshop #conflicts #leadership

💡 How far have we pushed the boundaries of #Play and #Games to other fields such as education? That's the exciting journey that Pok Pok is on: to help raise the next generation of creative thinkers with digital toys that empower kids to be creative and think outside the box. The future is in the hands of the little dreamers and problem-solvers who will one day change the world 🙌 In this episode, we interview Melissa Cash, co-founder and CEO of Pok Pok. For game developers considering branching out from core games, we share the challenges and strategies of developing #nonaddictive, #educational content for young children, focusing on the importance of designing tools that integrate seamlessly with a parent’s daily life. ⁠Pok Pok⁠, raised $3 million in seed funding in 2022. The company was founded in 2019 after it spun out of Snowman, the small studio behind award-winning iOS games #Alto’s Adventure, #Alto’s Odyssey, Skate City and others. Pok Pok is a great example of how games can be expanded beyond the gaming industry to consumer and educational apps. Episode available on podcast 🎧 #edtech #education #play #pokpok

🌍 Continuing our world tour, the next Rise and Play networking brunch is happening next week on #June11th in #Paris in collaboration with ISART DIGITAL Paris 🇫🇷🥖🥐 We are tackling a topic dear to our hearts: how to create your own job opportunities in times of crisis. Given the number of layoffs announced every week and the high competition for open positions, it can feel discouraging to try to find a job in the gaming industry at the moment. We'll hear from a panel of game veterans who have seen these cycles before. Jennifer LUFAU ⚔, founder of Afrogameuses and consultant in DEI, Morgane Falaize, president of Women in Games France and Director at Minuit Douze, Nicolas Godement, Managing Director Twin Sails Interactive - Asmodee Group and Angel Investor and Mélissandre Monatus, co-founder and CMO at INGWAZ STUDIO and host Sophie Vo, founder at Rise and Play, ex-GM at Neon Koi, a PlayStation Studio and Voodoo, share their experiences on how to craft your own career path, good or bad times. 💡What can you expect from this talk? A path from feeling powerless to taking action and practical tips on what you can do today, even when job opportunities seem scarce. 🥐 We will continue the event with a networking brunch with gaming professionals. See you next week! Registration link in the comments ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️

Start your company from #Who, then #What. In this episode, we interview Olya Caliujnaia, the CEO and co-founder at ⁠Sanlo.io,⁠ on a mission to help game businesses thrive in revenues. Olya shares her entrepreneurial journey, from growing up in a family of resilient entrepreneurs, to eventually founding her own company in the gaming industry, after a 360 experience in gaming, product, and fintech. Olya shares her process, trial and error of finding the right co-founder, the early stages of customer discovery, and the importance of building a committed and complementary co-founder team. 👥 #Who is important in your business? Your #customers and your #team. If you have that well figured out, it is much easier to solve the #What than the other way around. Back to Jim Collins's quote (Author of 'Good To Great') "If we get the right people on the bus, the right people in the right seats, and the wrong people off the bus, then we'll figure out how to take it someplace great.” Episode available on podcast 🎧