Benchmark’s Mitch Lasky and Blake Robbins on The Art of Business in Gaming

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

April 26, 2023

Duration

2h 15m

Channel

Acquired

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

We sit down Benchmark’s legendary gaming investors Mitch Lasky and Blake Robbins (now also of the excellent Gamecraft podcast fame) to discuss the history and future of gaming business models. This episode is the perfect bookend to our Nintendo/Sega gaming series this season on Acquired — no one is more qualified than Mitch and Blake to breakdown how the business side of the industry has evolved so radically from the Periscope quarter-drop days to the forever games and platform based publishers of today. Regardless if you’re a gamer, understanding the incredible innovation that’s taken place over the past two decades in gaming and what it portends for other industries is critical for any founder and investor to understand. Tune in! ACQ2 Show + LP Program: Subscribe to our interview show, ACQ2! https://pod.link/acquiredlp Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more! https://acquired.fm/lp Sponsors: Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: All of your product growth powered by Statsig https://bit.ly/statsigacquired Up to 10% off your first year of business insurance with Vouch https://bit.ly/acquired-vouch A free trial of PitchBook + links to research reports! https://bit.ly/acquiredpitchbook Links: The Gamecraft Podcast https://www.gamecraftpod.com Mitch and Blake on Twitter https://twitter.com/mitchlasky https://twitter.com/blakeir The Genius of the System https://www.amazon.com/Genius-System-Hollywood-Filmmaking-Studio/dp/0816670102 Mitch’s old “Investing in Content” blog post https://web.archive.org/web/20131013193226/http://mitchlasky.biz/investing-in-content/ That Game Company and Sky https://thatgamecompany.com https://thatgamecompany.com/sky/ Riot and the League of Legends dota-allstars.com growth hack https://www.hotspawn.com/dota2/guides/dota-allstars-com Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Mitch Lasky

  guest

• David Rosenthal

  host

• Ben Gilbert

  host

• Blake Robbins

  guest

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Acquired, featuring Mitch Lasky and David Rosenthal, Benchmark’s Mitch Lasky and Blake Robbins on The Art of Business in Gaming explores gaming’s business models shape creativity, distribution, and enduring platform power. Mitch Lasky and Blake Robbins explain that the history of gaming is best understood through business-model shifts that constrain and enable creative output, from packaged goods to free-to-play and from retail to digital platforms.

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