Founder’s Quest

Ep 19: Bernard Yee, Windup Minds

On today’s episode, we talk with Bernard Yee, founder of Windup Minds. Bernie has a long history in the games industry working at such places as SOE, Atari, Bungie, Popcap, and more. But immediately prior to starting Windup Minds, he was working at Oculus building early VR experiences. It was through that journey that he found the seed of what he wanted to continue as he started Windup Minds. He shares how he found his cofounders and thought about all the assets he did and did not have, as he went on his startup journey. I loved so much of how Bernie thinks about his journey and reflects on it, I hope you will too. Let’s jump in.

Ep 18: Caerie Houchins, Wicked Fox Games

Today we’re talking with Caerie Houchins of Wicked Fox Games. Caerie had what I think is a quintessential experience post-layoffs at Riot, where a bunch of well meaning folks were encouraging her to do a startup. This happens whenever there are big layoffs or downturns in the industry — surely those folks can just start their own studios! As you’ll hear, Caerie went on this journey with curiosity and learned more about what that path entailed. She ultimately found a co-founder and embarked, but it was not a sure thing. I hope anyone who is getting similar advice can learn from Caerie’s journey, and all the episodes of Founder’s Quest. Let’s jump in.

Ep 17: Michael Chu, Treehouse Games

Michael Chu, founder of Treehouse Games, is a dear friend of mine. We worked together at Riot Games a decade ago now and have helped support each other on our founding journeys since. He was a graduate of the USC games program where he led a project and met his co-founder. While he spent the next few years learning at Riot, his co-founder went on several entrepreneurial journeys. Michael shares how those two different set of experiences come together to create their journey at Treehouse and how that's gone. Michael is one of the humblest and kindest people you'll meet so it was a treat to get him to open up about his journey and share lessons.

Ep 16: Stephen MacDonald, Magic Potion Games

Stephen MacDonald, founder of Magic Potion Games, is my first guest who self-described as a serial entrepeneur. He’s done two prior startups, pushing hard along those journeys, and in between has worked at places like Disney, EA, and Relic. Each startup brought with it new lessons and experiences, which Stephen was quite introspective about and has carried forward on this journey. It’s really inspiring to hear someone who has that level of thoughtfulness break down prior journeys and how its shaped their current one.

Ep 15: Cole Clifford, Pickford AI

In this episode we talk to Cole Clifford from Pickford AI. This is a little bit out of our normal zone as Pickford is more in the broader entertainment space. However as I’ve gotten connected to Cole and his co-founder Stephen, I found their journey one that share a lot in common with other game industry founding stories. And while its hard to replicate a founding after a successful exit, the path Cole has navigated to learn how to go from “first engineer” to “founder” to be full of great lessons and reflections.
This year I hope to continue to broaden the conversations I have to find more and more interesting and insightful founding journeys in and around games and entertainment that we can learn from and enjoy.

Ep 14: Heather Cerlan, NEARstudios

Welcome back to Founder’s Quest here in 2025. Our first episode of the year is with Heather Cerlan, founder of NEARstudios. After seeing the announcement of their game Hawthorn last year, I wanted to learn more about Heather’s journey to that moment. An artist being the galvanizing founder of a team is on the more rare side and learning how Heather found the spark to start a studio and navigated that journey was both interesting and inspiring.
I hope you enjoy hearing her story as much as I had recording it.

Ep 13: M Yichao, Jam & Tea Studios

As the last episode of the year, I sat down with my co-founder at Jam & Tea Studios to have him share his founding journey. Hearing his perspective of the journey that we've shared really emphasized to me how each individual's founding journey is truly unique. I look forward to talking to more cofounders of folks that I've already interviewed next year.For now, we'll be taking a bit of a break over the holidays -- though its really because I've been fundraising over November/December and haven't gotten a chance to record much until January. I hope you've enjoyed the series thus far and look forward to more episodes in 2025!

Ep 12: Irena Pereira, Unleashed Games

Irena is a kindred spirit for me. She founded Unleashed Games in 2023 to pursue making games that tackled social design and brought players together. She hasn’t always wanted to start a studio, but after spending a career at places like Scopely, 38 Studios, and Blizzard working on World of Warcraft, she didn’t see anyone focused on the problems or opportunities she was most passionate about. If no one else is doing it, the sometimes you need to take the lead.
I deeply enjoyed my conversation with Irena, I hope you do as well. Let’s jump in

Ep 11: Jeanne-Marie Owens, Critical Path Games

I've known Jeanne-Marie Owens (co-founder of Critical Path Games, 2024) since 2020 when we worked together at Phoenix Labs. There she had the interesting experience of being the first employee of a startup and going on the whole founding journey through to an exit. It was a remarkable run and amazing learning experience, which she was then able to carry with her as she decided to be in a founder seat fully from the start on this journey.
 
We also talked a lot about the work that DigiBC - The Creative Technology Association of British Columbia does for the Vancouver startup ecosystem and the fulfillment and enjoyment she's gotten from participating and becoming the executive chair of gaming for the org. It really shows the power that local organizations can have on a founding journey, and the power of communities they can build.
 
Let's jump in.

Ep 10: Ran Mo, Proxima

Ran Mo, founder of Proxima in 2021, didn’t always work in games. He initially spent time as more of a consultant and corporate strategy side of things before transitioning into product management at Electronic Arts. That said, entrepreneurship and games was always the goal and so he spent time learning what he felt he needed to before making the jump. And despite being a very hard jump, Proxima has been successful! Releasing Suck Up, one of the first embodied AI games, earlier this year to strong success and building off of that. Ran’s journey has definitely had some wild turns and was wonderful to listen to. Let’s jump in.