Lessons Learned: Gaming Startups & New Global Risks

From Wargaming, Anton Kolkovskiy founded Bulberry Studio to build mid-core F2P mobile games. As war broke out between Russia and Ukraine, Anton was unable to raise a follow-on round of funding and eventually shut down the studio he had spent so much time, energy, and effort into.

What were the lessons he learned from the start to launch to attempting to save the company?

What would he do differently knowing what he knows now?

Phylicia Koh is a partner at Play Ventures, and while Play did not invest in Bulberry, she was aware of Bulberry and shared her thoughts about Bulberry's path.

What advice would Phylicia give Anton? What would it have taken for Phylicia to invest in Bulberry?

Further, what is the market like today, and given new market dynamics, what would she fund today?

OUTLINE:
0:00 Intro
4:24 Anton’s story starting Bulberry Studio from Wargaming.
8:25 What do VCs look to invest in then vs. now.
13:21 Initial funding from My.Games, deal structure, initial investment thesis, pitch to My.Games, and initial soft launch experience.
19:30 Initial testing experience, what they focused on, how to approach initial testing.
21:30 Typical approach for testing from Phylicia.
22:25 Strategic investments: company structure considerations
26:05 How do you know if you are succeeding on retention or deadline? Lessons learned from Anton. The line between confidence and being wrong.
29:30 What was the actual process/approach to their initial testing vs soft launch phase?
35:44 Initial soft launch metrics.
37:00 going to investors with metrics with small cohorts. Window dressing cohorts.
42:03 What could you have done to change the outcome of what happened?
46:31 The biggest fire.
47:56 Impact of global macro, the Russia-Ukraine war impact on Bulberry Studio.
59:50 How to extend runway when things go bad?
1:02:02 Psychological impact on founders for startups in trouble.
1:05:02 What would it take to invest in a troubled game deal from Play Ventures?
1:10:12 What should investors look for in the new investment environment?
1:23:22: How much global macro awareness should leadership teams be aware of?

👇 EPISODE LINKS:
- Anton Kolkovskiy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anton-kol...
- Phylicia Koh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phyliciakoh/

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