Today we’re talking with Pavel Afanasiev of Northern Lights Entertainment. Pavel’s founding journey is a fresh one, starting during student protests in Hong Kong, through to a paper written on his way to a Master’s degree in economics and business. And all of this was built on experiences in forums for a large web strategy game, and a passion for bringing political systems to players inside of games. Along the way, Pavel met his cofounder, built a team, got funding, and found that Karaoke, and the community he found there, was important to his sanity as a founder. I really enjoy when folks find their way to founding a studio from fresh perspectives, and found Pavel’s to be incredibly compelling. Let’s jump in.

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.

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.