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How Discord Became a Developer Platform

In 2009 Discord cofounder and CEO, Jason Citron, started building tools and infrastructure for games. Fast forward to today and the platform has over 200 million monthly active users. In this episode, Jason, alongside a16z General Partner Anjney Midha—who merged his company Ubiquity6 with Discord in 2021—shares insights on the nuances of community-driven product development, the shift from gamer to developer, and Discord’s longstanding commitment to platform extensibility. Now, with Discord's recent release of embeddable apps, what can we expect now that it's easier than ever for developers to build? Timecodes: 00:00 - Introduction 02:30 - From Player to Developer: Building Game Infrastructure and Early Projects 07:45 - The Evolution of Discord: The Vision for Discord in 2012 and Its Rapid Growth 11:33 - How the Discord Community Shapes the Product 15:40 - The Importance of an Open API and Developer Tools 16:59 - The Rise of Generative AI on Discord 18:48 - Discord’s Embeddable Apps 21:01 - The Future of Apps on Discord: New Genres in Gaming and Apps 34:16 - Launch of the Embedded App SDK 36:39 - Building Sustainable Businesses on Discord 44:01 - Future Outlook and Developer Aspirations Resources: Find Jason on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jasoncitron Find Anjney on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnjneyMidha Stay Updated: Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/ Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Jason CitronguestAnjney Midhahost

Jun 23, 202446mWatch on YouTube ↗

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EPISODE INFO

Released: June 23, 2024
Duration: 46m
Channel: a16z
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

In 2009 Discord cofounder and CEO, Jason Citron, started building tools and infrastructure for games. Fast forward to today and the platform has over 200 million monthly active users. In this episode, Jason, alongside a16z General Partner Anjney Midha—who merged his company Ubiquity6 with Discord in 2021—shares insights on the nuances of community-driven product development, the shift from gamer to developer, and Discord’s longstanding commitment to platform extensibility. Now, with Discord's recent release of embeddable apps, what can we expect now that it's easier than ever for developers to build? Timecodes: 00:00 - Introduction 02:30 - From Player to Developer: Building Game Infrastructure and Early Projects 07:45 - The Evolution of Discord: The Vision for Discord in 2012 and Its Rapid Growth 11:33 - How the Discord Community Shapes the Product 15:40 - The Importance of an Open API and Developer Tools 16:59 - The Rise of Generative AI on Discord 18:48 - Discord’s Embeddable Apps 21:01 - The Future of Apps on Discord: New Genres in Gaming and Apps 34:16 - Launch of the Embedded App SDK 36:39 - Building Sustainable Businesses on Discord 44:01 - Future Outlook and Developer Aspirations Resources: Find Jason on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jasoncitron Find Anjney on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnjneyMidha Stay Updated: Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/ Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

SPEAKERS

Jason Citron
guest
Co-founder and CEO of Discord.
Anjney Midha
host
Investor at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and former Discord product/engineering leader focused on developer platforms.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of a16z, featuring Jason Citron and Anjney Midha, How Discord Became a Developer Platform explores jason Citron on Discord's Journey From Chat App to Developer Platform Jason Citron traces his path from a kid learning QBasic to building Aurora Feint, OpenFeint and Hammer&Chisel, and finally launching Discord in 2015 as a communications app for gamers.

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