Robin Guo @zebird0 Twitter profile

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Robin Guo

1 year

Today's my one year anniversary @a16z . It all started with a cold email. A story about my winding journey to becoming Employee #1 at Games Fund One 📖

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Last Seen Profiles

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

This one hit harder than I thought

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

Today I turned 27, a couple reflections now that I'm officially in my late 20s and my group is 5 years out of college 🤔 1/ Everyone who's successful is smart AND works their ass off. At first I thought it was a NYC work just for work-sake thing...

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

11 days

This chart shocked me today. Web3 games have 3.3M MAU, already way higher than the previous peak driven by Axie. I'm sure many of these are bots if the data is not cleaned but still impressive to see the recent growth led by Pixels. Feels like this is really slept on.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

5 months

Last week, we here @a16z gave our predictions on big ideas for 2024. For me, I'm doubling down on anime. Anime has quickly become one of the highest grossing genres of games by ARPU. In 2022, Mihoyo grossed over $3.8 billion from Genshin and Mihoyo.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

Before metaverses, crypto games, and Fortnite, there were MMORPGs. The original metaverse. 5 things that these new game platforms can learn from this ol' pixelated Java game @RuneScape . Welcome, fair Twitter scroller, to Tutorial Island. 👇

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

16 days

Proposed to my girlfriend yesterday Here’s what I learned about fully autonomous on chain worlds 🧵 1/10

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 month

I've been investing in games for three years now, and so I'm doing what any good, respectable VC should do: launch a substack :) In all seriousness though, I think there's a lack of great, consistent writing on the games industry. I admire what @DeconFun , @naavik_co , and

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

As 2022 wraps up, I ran a survey of 2,000+ gamers to see who they are, what they're playing, and how they're spending. And discovered one big surprise 👀 A sneak peak of Games Fund One's 2022 Gamer Survey (Part 1)👇

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

10 months

VCs get a lot of cold emails. Here's how to write a good one to get our attention 👇

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

2 years

It’s been a month since I joined the team @a16z to work with @andrewchen @Tocelot @gwertz @JackSoslow on games investing across studios/infra/social/Web3. Guess it’s time to start the hardest and most intimidating MMO of all, Twitter 😁

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

Really excited to be working with Curt and Mathilde of Roboto! Survival crafting is a great genre fit for web3 given the complex economies that naturally form, and the Animal Crossing / cozy aesthetic and core loops target an audience that is certainly underserved.

Roboto Games

@RobotoGames

1 year

🎉We're working on a bite sized survival/crafting MMO and just announced $15M in funding led by @gwertz at @a16z with @Ancient8_gg @animocabrands @GumiCryptos @makersfundvc @MeritCircle_IO @TranscendFund read more 🎉

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

Who’s the web3 gamer, the casual n00b or the 1337 gamer? We here @a16zGames ran a survey to dig in a bit more. A couple highlights: 87% traded digital items in games before ⚖️ 72% male (comp. to survey avg. 59%) 🧑‍💻 2x more likely to love MOBAs 🧙‍♂️ Thread 🧵

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

Headed home to NYC next week 🗽 Instead of doing a "who should I meet" tweet, here's my Top 10 food / drink spots I've accumulated over the last 25 years in NYC. 10/ Angel's Share / Pegu Club. Some of the best cocktails in town and immaculate vibes. RIP Pegu

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

Late 20s are all about high conviction bets. Deciding who you're gonna marry. Deciding what you're going to do long term. And then doubling / tripling down. Maintaining optionality only works for so long, and your time gets more valuable as you grow older.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

Games VC is a unique job that didn’t exist 10 years ago. So here are 5 lessons I learned from working @a16z for the last year 🧵

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

9 months

Waifus are eating the world. Mihoyo made $3.8B in revenue last year (PocketGamer), nearly half of Activision Blizzard. Here's why anime games / culture are taking over🧵

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

Obligatory a16z photo for clickbait + SF is back caption How viral can it go?

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 month

Who are the best builders and investors in web3 games? A few interest areas: - novel UA / growth hacking (P2A? what else?) - token balancing game incentives - composable UGC - on-chain game state We're investing $750K each for SPEEDRUN and looking for promising co's. Tag em!

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

2 years

@elonmusk How do you have time managing 4 companies, that game is like 200+ hours long

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

17 days

Walking games have a weird amount of PMF. Pokémon Go still makes $500M+ every year! One of my best friends from college @gao_zibo has been working on a music version of this. Walk around, collect songs, trade with others.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

2 years

Growing up, I spent thousands of hours playing every game under the sun: RuneScape, COD, Zelda, LoL, AOE, Halo, Uncharted, CIV, OG SWB, the list goes on and on. It wasn’t cool back then but it didn’t matter. Our love for games ran deep, and it has all led to this. LFG

a16z

@a16z

2 years

We are proud to announce 𝙂𝘼𝙈𝙀𝙎 𝙁𝙐𝙉𝘿 𝙊𝙉𝙀 — $600M to build the future of the games industry, led by @andrewchen , @Tocelot , & @gwertz . Yeah, we made a hype video.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

11 months

Woke up. Could touch grass. Play Diablo instead Good life

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

2 years

I've looked at a thousand different game studios over the past few years as a games VC. As we kickoff @SlushHQ , wanted to share the five most common mistakes to avoid when raising money for your game 🧵

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

23 days

The State of Game Studio Financing In this week's newsletter I dive into how VC funding for game studios works at each stage (seed, Series A, Series B), what VCs tend to look for, and brainstorm where the markets might be going. Studio financing is

The State of Game Studio Financing

How to think about investing in and fundraising for game studios in a capital-constrained environment.

www.robin-guo.com

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

The AIGC market map 🧙‍♂️ Imagine you were playing DnD. You speak. And the world, monsters, and adventure all get generated in front of you, fully rendered, at real time. AI-powered UGC (AIGC) might make this a reality sooner than we think. @joshlu and I ponder this future below🧵

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

One thing I'll always ask new game founders when they're pitching: who's your audience? For newbies and vets alike, Bartle's taxonomy is the OG framework for understanding this.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

24 days

28 today. Feeling way older. 20s really fly by in a blink.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

4 months

A 21-year old trained on Roblox has now made $70M+ for Lethal Company... Time to retire my VC job and go make solo-dev indie games

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

2 years

Gamers! @a16z will be hosting a happy hour for @la_techweek with our founders and heavy hitters in the games industry. Wanted to save a few spots for fellow games founders/executives we haven't met yet to apply with the link below (space very limited).

a16z Games Happy Hour · Luma

Update: We are now at capacity and not accepting more applications from public registrants. Thank you for your understanding! a16z Games Founders, we'll be…

lu.ma

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

2 years

1/ Today I'm excited to announce the a16z START program, an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) program designed to help founders at the earliest stages with $1M in funding. So what is a16z START? More 👇

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

9 months

Normies think games are toxic for society. But we believe games are actually the key to solving many consumer/population health problems. Why I'm excited for games x healthcare, and why you should apply for SPEEDRUN if you're building in this space🧵

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

11 months

LA’s hottest club last night @a16z @100Thieves @Zedd

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

3 months

Behind the scenes of @speedrun with @CohhCarnage and @Chen Cool to hear your story from studying game design to working in IT to becoming a full time streamer and all your insights

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

8 months

Last call for SPEEDRUN applications! We'll be taking apps till end of the week, Sept 30th. We've gotten 2.5K+ apps already and the class is over half full, but there's always space for the best founders pushing the boundaries of tech x gaming. A few areas we're excited about 👇

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

Limited edition @a16z games swag drop today IYKYK Happy holidays y'all

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 month

SPEEDRUN interviews begin! Ready for the gauntlet :)

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 month

Yesterday our team announced that we raised $600M for GAMES FUND TWO as part of a16z's overall $7.2B fundraise. However! We invest in the broader ecosystem of games x tech from our fund: AI, AR/VR, web3, infra and tools, etc. In particular, games x consumer 🧵

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

To wrap the year, we here at @a16z games have a few broad predictions for where gaming might evolve in 2023. Let's jam 👇

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

2 years

Ran a gamer survey recently with several thousand gamers across different demos, and this stat stood out to me: 60% of 13-17 year olds rank builders like @Minecraft and @Roblox as one of their favorite games, compared to ~20% of players for 25+

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

but if you want to get anything done you gotta put in the hours. Michael Jordan / LeBron with basketball, Tiger with golf, @pmarca @elonmusk in tech A lot of people in gaming consider @slimborama to have top tier taste in games.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 month

I look at thousands of game studio pitches per year. Here's what you need to keep in mind when pitching a publisher vs. VC. 🧵

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

4/ Manifesting your best life. God LA has rubbed off on me. But once you have conviction in something, you really need to be proactive about realizing that goal. Be it where you want to live, what you want to do, the people your surround yourself with, etc.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

Today I'm happy to announce our investment in @PlaiLabs , @Chris_DeWolfe and @AberWhitcomb 's new startup building at the intersection of AI, web3, and gaming. They're pioneering what the future of social play looks like leveraging this new technology.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

2/ You can see glimmers of brilliance early. Everyone's gotta start somewhere. The same brilliant hardworking friends that I admired in college are also the ones who are doing really cool stuff now: written books, become famous vloggers, worked on presidential campaigns, etc.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

3/ Optionality vs. conviction. A lot of just out of college jobs / choices / location etc. is about maintaining optionality. With who you want to be friends with, with what you want to do, with where you want to live ultimately.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

10 months

Working in gaming is just buying all the cool shit I wanted as a kid but couldn’t afford @NZXT @secretlabchairs

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

4 months

We're kicking off SPEEDRUN 2 next week! We received thousands of apps and noticed a few trends for founders building in games x tech: 🤖 AI NPCs / agents heating up ⚒️ UGC studios moving fast 👾 Web3 games alive and well ... and more! 🧵

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

11 months

@Zedd This is how you know it’s a real 1337 gamerz party

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

But over lunch he was saying how that taste was only gained through many, many conversations with artists, designers, producers, etc. about their decisions. It's meaningful work towards goals. Not another page for the appendix.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

10 months

We're running it back! SPEEDRUN 2024 kicks off next January and applications are open now: This is a mission that I'm personally excited to keep working on 🫡 Games should be more accessible and we should better support every type of founder.

Tech x Games Accelerator Coming to Los Angeles Summer ‘24 | Andreessen Horowitz

A16Z GAMES SPEEDRUN is back! Given the quality and volume of applicants, we’re bringing our Tech x Games accelerator to Los Angeles later this summer. SR003 will run for 12-weeks starting July 29th,...

a16z.com

andrew chen

@andrewchen

10 months

Fun update: Today we're open for applications on SPEEDRUN 2024, the second run of our accelerator for Games x Tech, with $75M from the a16z games fund to find the next amazing pre-seed startups. Applications are now open for SPEEDRUN 2024:

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

13 days

Quality lunch with quality people Will be hosting more of these this year

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

2 months

Breaking into VC: the why and why not I’ve talked to quite a number of folks early on their career who want to do VC, some deep down the idea maze and some just starting out. Here’s my take on why you should and why you shouldn't do VC.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

Oh one last one: Give, don't ask. Every cold email is an ask for time and attention. In that cold email you should offer up value (new insights, new startups, new networks) and prove you're not wasting their time. It'll help increase your chances of a response!

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

8 months

Investing in the future of anime :')

Jon Lai

@Tocelot

8 months

1/ excited to share that @a16z is leading the $15M Series A round in @PahdoLabs - developers of upcoming anime RPG Halcyon Zero and a UGC platform where players can create their own anime-style worlds via AI tools & procedural generation more👇

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

5/ Cherish the time. In the years since college, my grandfather passed away and my grandmother's Alzheimer's has gotten worse. You don't appreciate it when you have it, the day to day joy of relationships. And sometimes you realize that it's gone oh so quickly.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

2 months

For one night every year, @a16zGames morphs from a VC into the hottest club in town

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

It's easy to get lost in the day to day of the job. And hard to be proactive about the relationships you want to build and the family/friends you want to see. That's why I've been actively planning trips with friends. Who knows how many years we'll have left before kids hit.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

29 days

Hosting a small lunch for games, consumer, and crypto founders in early May when I'm back in NYC. Who should we invite? A few I like already :) @danielwzou @PimDeWitte @knimkar @_jamessha @gao_zibo @perseus_yang @CryptoGamr @hohusen

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

SPEEDRUN. Demo. Day. 33 of the best companies hand picked from 1600+ applications that are innovating at the frontiers of gaming, AI, mental health, ed tech, social, etc. Lots of long nights for this one 😅 June 8th. 12-5PM. Apply here:

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

Used GPT-4 to make nyan cat Flappy Birds. Here's how it went.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

11 months

When people ask where I grew up

Garrett Scott 🕳

@thegarrettscott

11 months

When people ask where I grew up...

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

9 months

Great games can be made with small teams. Hollow Knight blew everyone away in 2017, and was made by three people. Here's how this lil bug knight took over the world, and why we're excited about indie devs for SPEEDRUN 🧵

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

25 days

Been thinking about this a lot recently: the J-curve for gaming investments. Takes more capital and more time to launch a game compared to a consumer app or LLM-wrapper. This is more similar to biotech or hardtech investing but with less moats (no patents, no capex).

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

Sometimes I just appreciate how lucky I am to literally get paid to playtest and diligence games for a living

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

15 days

Alright guys cmon now I can’t believe how many of you thought this was real

Robin Guo

@zebird0

16 days

Proposed to my girlfriend yesterday Here’s what I learned about fully autonomous on chain worlds 🧵 1/10

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 month

My theory is that the web3 Riot/Supercell is still far out. What we’re looking for is the web3 Zynga / MZ 👇🏼 Or RuneScape 😈

Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 month

Who are the best builders and investors in web3 games? A few interest areas: - novel UA / growth hacking (P2A? what else?) - token balancing game incentives - composable UGC - on-chain game state We're investing $750K each for SPEEDRUN and looking for promising co's. Tag em!

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

But dig in and it’s likely more about the money and prestige and access. True of much of NYC finance. Go to Riot and people have been playing the game for decades, living and breathing the lore. It’s their dream to work on a beloved product and move it forward for players

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

2 months

Last week we shared that we're hiring an investor @ @a16zGames . Here's how to stand out when breaking into VC. 🧵

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

Today… is a good day to be a gamer

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

The hardest thing in games is to evoke a feeling. Some games do this through narrative (Last of Us), some through cooperation (League), some through world-building (Genshin). The Believers have it all, and we're excited to partner on their journey.👇

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

4) Do your f*cking homework. Now that I'm on the other side it still astounds me the amount of people who interview and founders who pitch unprepared. Take the time, put in 110%, be hungry, and hold yourself to a high standard.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

Things I love about New York: 70 degree weather People watching in Bryant Park Paying $7 for a coffee

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

Addendum: It’s cool to be passionate about something. It was so different moving from McKinsey to Riot and seeing the level of passion about the job. Consultants will describe to you loving the people, the travel, the intellectual stimulation, etc.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 month

When we’re born, time is the only currency we have. We trade it for skills, relationships, experiences and things. Find out what you want to trade it for, and what you have a good exchange rate for. That’s the game.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

And the rest is history. A couple lessons from the journey so far: 1) Hustle is key. A lot of the job and a lot of life can be done through sheer persistence and willpower.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

3/ A surprising data point for me as an ex-Rioter, but MOBAs are pretty far down the list of favorite genres! 🥲 The most popular genres tend to be AAA ones like shooters / BRs / adventure games (40%+), puzzle games like Candy Crush (42%), and builders like Minecraft (39%)

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

3 months

We do up to a hundred playtests of new games a year. Here’s what we look for to find ones that stand out 👇🏼

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 month

Hades. Spelunky. FTL. Slay the Spire. Dead Cells. Vampire Survivors. These are some of the most beloved games of all time, often found in the top 50 charts on Steam. However, for the vast majority of casual players these titles remain relatively unknown.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

2 months

This week we had @pmarca come for @speedrun alumni demo day. One idea stuck with me: The new AI art form will be somewhere between movies and games. An interactive movie, a never ending game that reacts to you. A shaping world. It’ll be a dream.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

9 months

@growing_daniel Crazy thing is that a majority of that $221 is likely 10% of the gamer base

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

10 months

A thought I had recently on being reactive vs. proactive: I grew up in NYC, where a lot of life and work is reacting to things. Client needs a new analysis, markets are moving in this way, friends are hosting a dinner/pickleball/pre-game

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

16 days

One of the most underrated qualities is just staying curious. People say to have an always learning mindset, but it’s actually very hard. People are creatures of habit and get complacent. Laziness is a center of gravity. Don’t get drawn in.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

Come to LA they said, it’ll be sunny and warm they said

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

2 months

Startup fundraising is just like dating Pitch hook = pickup line Cold outbound = fishing Unbounded retention = catfishing ARR = income Hot deal = attractive guy/girl T3 VC = benching Leaning in = interested Too early = breadcrumbing Term sheet = confession Negotiations = setting

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

Zelda so good I brought it to Columbia commencement 😅

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

3 months

Splurged on the new Alienware 4k 240hz 32” and it was worth every penny

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

3 months

This week at A16Z GAMES SPEEDRUN we talked about product-market fit. Most people think product-market fit as a chart that goes up and to the right. But that's only the start of the story.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

With the pace AI is going, we're going to be out of a job soon @JackSoslow

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

8 months

New Orleans, the land of jazz, beignets and... Unreal Fest! A few of us from a16z Games will be down in New Orleans next week to meet with the best builders on UEFN. We'll be hosting a dinner on Wednesday; reach out if you're building in the ecosystem!

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

8 months

Jason Rosenthal

@jasonrosenthal

8 months

1/ We’ve got some exciting news to share! Applications for Crypto Startup School (CSS) Spring 2024 in London are now OPEN! Ready to fast-track your crypto startup journey? Apply here: Learn more👇

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

We did a good job hacking non-sponsored SEO @JackSoslow 🫡

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

Brand…. Or diet…. 🙃

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

11 months

Time to kick off SPEEDUN demo day lfg 🫡🫡

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

2 months

Got a lot of q’s about GDC (Should I get an expo pass? Wait people just meet in hotel lobbies?) so here’s a quick GDC 101. Happy conferencing! - Figure out your goal. Is it to recruit devs? Get funding? BD? That’ll determine how you spend your time - Bring hand sanitizer and

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

1 year

Did the basic LA thing and paid $20 (!) to try the Hailey Bieber smoothie at Erewhon Overhyped 0/10 would do again

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

3 months

A common refrain I hear from parents: Why do you invest in games? Isn’t that toxic for kids? My kid is always on Roblox! A few common myths: 👯‍♀️ Games aren’t social 🕙 Games are a waste of time 📚 Games don’t teach anything 💸 Games are a money pit Thread 🧵

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

4 months

One of the coolest things about @a16zGames SPEEDRUN is literally seeing companies form in front of you From two guys in a basement —> first product —> first users —> first engineering hire —> scaling the team / UA / traction —> becoming a “real” CEO Nothing more fun

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

2 months

When I was in working in biotech, games was a major passion but a career in games was just a hypothetical afterthought. Some cool thing that smarter people than I did in the sunny shores of California.

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Robin Guo

@zebird0

9 months

Come join SPEEDRUN they said. It'll be chill they said.

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