Jason Citron, Co-Founder/CEO @Discord: The Untold Story Behind Scaling to 200M Users | E1230

Jason Citron is the Co-Founder and CEO of Discord, a voice, video and text platform for friends playing games. Jason has raised $1BN for the company and was able to scale it to 200M users. Prior to co-founding Discord, Jason founded OpenFeint, the biggest social mobile gaming platform, which sold to GREE in 2011 for $104 million. ----------------------------------------------- Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (00:51) How Gaming Skills Translate to Leadership (03:49) The Impact of Financial Cushion on Founders (05:35) The Core Idea Behind Building Discord (07:28) How Quickly Did Discord Find Its Market Fit (11:12) Reflecting on Discord’s Growth Journey (14:27) Approaching Delegation (20:44) Balancing Bold Ideas & Organizational Focus (22:13) Lessons from Scaling Executive Teams (29:06) The Chance To Sell the Company to Microsoft for $12BN (30:57) Future Insights in Gaming That Deserve Attention (34:54) AI’s Impact on Gaming Products (39:35) Meeting with Danny Rimer (40:59) What It Takes to Fundraise Successfully (42:58) A Discussion with Rockstar Games (45:10) The Future of Discord (47:00) Quick-Fire Round ----------------------------------------------- In Today’s Episode with Jason Citron We Discuss: 1. Leadership Lessons That are Total BS: Hiring: Why does Jason believe hiring experienced executives is the worst thing you can do for your company? What did he learn by doing it? Culture: Why does Jason believe that empowerment and alignment are total BS? How does Jason empower people when they are told what to do vs choose what to do? Strategy: What does Jason believe is the most effective way to drive and implement the strategy? 2. The Untold Moments Behind Scaling to 200M Users: Why did Jason offer to give investors their money back at one point? What was the hardest round to raise and why? Why did Jason turn down the chance to sell to Microsoft for $12BN? What one single change in how Jason communicated with the first 100 users changed the trajectory of the entire company? What do most founders think they know about product market fit that they do not? 3. The Makings of a Unicorn Founder: Does Jason believe that richer founders make better founders? Why does Jason believe that entrepreneurs who play video games have a higher chance of being successful in the future? What single trait does Jason believe he has that has made him such a successful founder? Does Jason ever have imposter syndrome? When? ----------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Jason Citron on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jasoncitron Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vchq Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/contact ----------------------------------------------- #20vc #harrystebbings #jasoncitron #discord #ceo #founder #hiring #gamingcommunity #gamingchannel #unicorn #rockstar