Kenneth To’s Post

The PixelPaddle Team is eager to deepen its understanding of the local startup ecosystem by participating in sessions led by various mentors and organizations in the field. Recently, Meer Anwar the CEO of PixelPaddle and several senior team members attended a #BCTech session focused on sustainable growth strategies for entering new markets. These sessions are invaluable for the team, as they provide essential context, enhance product features, and support sustainable growth initiatives. #BCTech #PixelPaddle #Sports #Metaverse #NewMarkets #SustainableGrowth https://lnkd.in/gBmnkpU5

Big Karma - Startup Pitch Now Live! 🚀 Up next from our 2024 Accelerator cohort, we’re excited to share Big Karma's pitch video featuring founder Pascal Clarysse! About Big Karma 🎮  Big Karma produces video games and digital entertainment starring action heroes and champions who leverage their disability to win: Phenoms - Be Impossible Location📍  United States Ask 🌱 Big Karma is currently fundraising. If you’d like to support their mission or learn more, please contact Big Karma to schedule a meeting. Learn More ℹ️ Visit our website for more details about Big Karma, including accessible versions of this pitch, and more info! Access our website at, https://bit.ly/3CpeQfc Video Description: Startup pitch presentation featuring Pascal Clarysse of Big Karma, presenting in a studio with a vibrant purple backdrop. Pascal speaks directly to the camera as the video transitions between him and Big Karma’s pitch presentation slides materials. The video ends with a call to action, text ‘Support Us Phenoms’, alongside a QR code and URL for Big Karma. #DisabilityTech #Remarkable #AccessibleGaming #InclusiveGaming #Gamer #DisabilityInGames #AdaptiveGaming #GameAccessibility 

Two conferences in one week! My first ever Gamesforum and then GamesBeat next, both right here in San Francisco. Very different and both excellent for their own reasons. First of all: I particularly enjoy smaller conferences. The intimacy creates opportunities for deeper connections and more meaningful conversations. Gamesforum was very mobile focused: paid UA and monetization. But had a great mix of studio leaders and other experts pushing the boundaries of mobile growth. GamesBeat next on the other hand was more macro trends: innovations & disruptions. Lots of investors also means plenty of startup founders. Great peek into what's coming next! Feeling inspired and energized from both! Looking forward to building on connections new and old.

There was a time when my PC welcomed me with the glow of video games every startup. But times change, and so did my priorities. Currently, I'm immersed in learning through various modules—a series of intentional moves towards shaping my future. I've learned to appreciate the power of baby steps. Each small stride counts, contributing to the larger journey. It's a reminder to myself and to anyone reading this: don't underestimate the impact of small moves. They're still progress, and no one can stop you. Take those steps confidently; they lead to growth and achievement. 🚀 #PersonalGrowth #LearningJourney #BabySteps

Deadline Dream Alert #6 - 30 Sept EOD Hello Founders, if you're building in AI/Playable Apps/Games Studios /AR/VR/Infra + Tools/UGC/Interactive Platforms/Web3 Then apply for the Jan '25 cohort for our A16Z GAMES SPEEDRUN Tech x Games 12-week accelerator. Apply yourself / tag teams you think should apply! Details below👇 - $750K Investment for each startup  - 12-week program from 01/06 to 03/21 with IRL speakers, office hours, personalized coaching, and events Andrew Chen is one of the smartest VC in the Silicon Valley. He is a General Partner for A16Z GAMES, focused on the intersection of tech and gaming — this includes AI, studios, infrastructure, and consumer apps. Do check his weekly newsletter. Dreamers, like this post to spread the word. Link in the comment Apply yourself / tag friends/teams you think should apply! Follow Hello San Francisco Startups for regular startup updates #DreamOn #SanFrancisco #AI #SaaS #Meetups #Tech #USA

I am pummmpped to host this CEO conversation with Arian Ghashghai He's one of the hottest up and coming pre-seed VCs in the game. With a fund backed by LP Andrew Chen of A16Z GAMES, years of experience as a technical engineer with Meta, and a mentor at Techstars and Stanford XR, this is going to be a convo with tons of insights. We're going to cover (1) What it's like fundraising as a VC and pitching LPs. (2) How does that compare to fundraising as a founder for a startup? (3) What's the future of AR/VR/AI/Robotics for an early stage fund? And plenty more You don't want to miss this it's sure to be the best convo of 2024 for pre-seed insights! https://lnkd.in/gB2dRhwF

HAPPENING TOMORROW IN PERSON AND VIRTUALLY! Abel M. will be joining us for a fireside chat during the C-Tribe x Gaming Festival at the end of the month. Visit https://lnkd.in/gjqTisVm for more details. Abel co-founded Backtrace, an error management software for gaming studios with the tooling they need for cross-platform crash reporting. He helped incubate the idea all the way to an exit, and the platform is now used by 18 out of the top 20 gaming companies in the world. Jordan numbers 👀 Yes, if you played Robolox this weekend, Backtrace was probably running on the backend. What makes his journey extra special is that he didn't stop there. In a few short months, he was called up to be the CTO at Sauce Labs and helped lead the organization through incredible stages of growth. Now that his tenure is complete, he did admit that there was a little bit of an identity crisis he experienced. How would he spend his time now post-exit? What's the true purpose of his existence? How would he pursue a greater purpose? During this fireside chat, we'll discuss the above and more. Abel will shed light on his team's process in defining a need, building a proof of concept before iterating and gaining product market fit, strategic pivots, raising money, and creating an opportunity for exiting (selling) the business. What do we hope you take away from the C-Tribe x Gaming Luncheon? 1. Life is never a straight path. We must learn from every one of our experiences and connect the dots to build a body of lessons that will give us leverage in the future. 2. The gaming industry is undergoing a rapid set of changes, and there are many opportunities that exist for innovative and creative people. 3. Iteration and execution of an idea is far more valuable than the idea itself 4. The Art of life proliferates when one applies constraints. You can learn more about the C-Tribe x Gaming Festival and register for the session by signing up here: https://lnkd.in/gRRXNje8 A big shoutout to our sponsors and partners that are helping bring this initiative to life: Edmonton Unlimited Edmonton RIN City of Edmonton ChreativeGaming . . . . Adaeze Hubbard Laura Domínguez Tessa C. Sid Jha Kaitlyn Eaton Janvi Patel Dharan Padhiyar Gueshly Masson Carina Kom CK Dhaliwal Derek Kwan Madison Côté Mohsen Dalir Black Business Ventures Association Prairies Economic Development Canada I Développement économique Canada pour les Prairies Global Taproot Edmonton Innovate Calgary Calgary Game Developers Association Product Calgary NAIT (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology) University of Alberta eHUB Entrepreneurship Centre - University of Alberta

What's the cube? It's $750K for your next startup in tech x games. It's sunny LA. It's a unique community of founders that doesn't exist elsewhere. What more could you ask for? A16Z GAMES SPEEDRUN is running SR003 in LA in the fall. This is home of many great games (Blizzard, Riot, Scopely, etc.) and consumer tech (Oculus, Square, Snap, etc.) companies. We're excited about the ecosystem and bringing more of SF tech down to LA taste. I've been working hard over the last year with Joshua Lu Andrew Lee Samira Behrouzan to make this program a success, working nights and weekends to find the best founders, convince them to move the promised land, and surround them with the best mentors, founders, and builders we can find. It's not always a "fun" experience - I didn't fully appreciate the massive amount of logistics/spreadsheets when I started - but it's worth every minute when the founders get real value out of the experience and you connect with them on a very human level. Summer camp for adults building cool things. A few logistics: 📅 Program runs July 29th - Oct 20th 📍 Location is LA 💰 A16Z GAMES invests $750K in every company 📄 Applications open April 1st - May 19th 🤔 Does the program only invest in games? A: No, our last SPEEDRUN cohort was evenly split between studios, gamified consumer platforms (think: Twitch, Discord, and even Duolingo), and infra/AI/tools. 🤔 Do I have to move to LA? A: No, we have international founders from all across the world. However, we do require that one member of the founding team is in person in LA once a week for programming. 🤔 Do I need a demo? How can I be a better applicant? A: No, but the more you can show, the more compelling your application. If you don't have traction then you might want a product. If you don't have product then you might want a team. And if you don't have a team then you better have a killer idea. 🤔 How many teams do you take? There's no hard cap as we want to invest in purely the best founders, but our last batch had 3700+ applications and 37 accepted teams as a rough benchmark.

what is min/maxxing? in role playing games, min/maxxing is the act of optimizing your player build by investing and playing into your character's strengths (max), while forgoing investment in anything not directly increasing those strengths (min). by min/maxxing your build from the start, you become disproportionately strong for your level. we do this for organizations. identify your team's core strengths, and leverage them to the max. identify your team's gaps and work around them, minimizing their impact. this results in lean, purpose-built startups. of course, there's a lot more to this analogy than we've shared in this one post. we'll be sharing more about min/max, what we do, and why, and we'll be sharing it right here. follow for more!

Building Complx Culture from the Ground Up! The journey of Complx Culture has been a rollercoaster, to say the least! When we first envisioned a Web3 fitness app that would empower people to earn rewards for staying active, we knew it wouldn’t be easy. But the passion and dedication within our team have kept us going through every challenge. Where We Started We began with an ambitious idea—an app that would bring fitness, community, and blockchain together on the Solana ecosystem. Alongside a roadmap and vision, we knew we needed funding and resources to bring it all to life, especially to build the MVP and map creation essential for the geo-location features. The Struggles Turning an idea into reality takes more than just a dream. From understanding the technical complexities of Web3 to ensuring data integrity in move-to-earn features, we’ve faced challenges at every turn. Creating a sustainable, fair, and functional ecosystem has been a constant learning process. Real-time data management, combating potential cheating, and ensuring a smooth user experience are just a few of the technical hurdles we've faced and continue to tackle. Funding Through Merch Rather than waiting for traditional funding, we took matters into our own hands and launched a merchandise line. Every shirt sold directly supports Complx Culture's development, bringing us closer to a fully functional MVP. It’s been incredible to see people from our community step up to support this vision. It’s more than just merch—it’s a symbol of what we’re building together. Real-Time Growth Today, we’ve achieved some incredible milestones. Our Discord community is growing daily, and our gym meme content on Instagram has helped spread the word far and wide. We’re nearly at our funding goal for our developer team, and every day brings us closer to launch. The journey is ongoing, but the excitement and energy from our team and community keep us motivated. Thank you to everyone who’s supported Complx Culture so far—whether through buying a shirt, joining our Discord, or simply spreading the word. The best is yet to come. #Web3 #StartupJourney #ComplxCulture #BlockchainFitness #MoveToEarn #Entrepreneurship #CommunityDriven #Solana