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Martijn van Zwieten

TLG#94: Dumb ways to die: 30 ways to accidentally kill your studio

Published 4 months ago • 1 min read

Issue #94

Hello friends,

Greetings from Utrecht!

Last week I did a talk at Nordic Games about all the small-but-important ways I've seen founders accidentally contribute to the death of their studio.
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The room was packed, and since then at least a dozen people have contacted me to ask for the slides, or otherwise indicated that they wish they could have seen it.

Thankfully, my good friend Wouter Go was on site to film the talk, and I'm happy to share it in its entirety with you today.

Dumb Ways To Die: 30 Ways to Accidentally Kill Your Studio

The path to a building a great studio is littered with common mistakes–mistakes that humble indie and AAA equally. In this talk, I highlight 30 common management mistakes that I've seen happening over and over, and what you can do to avoid them.

video preview​

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Right Now

Playing - Mina the Hollower

I'm a few hours into Yacht Club Game's latest now, and while I can see the appeal, so far the game hasn't quite clicked for me. I'll see if I can at least make it to the second dungeon before making up my mind.

Reading - Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

I've been on an Ursula K. Le Guin kick lately, and after starting on The Dispossessed, I'm now burning my way through the Earthsea series. The writing and world building is truly phenomenal, and I'm already anxious about finishing the series. Hit me up with your best Le Guin suggestions please so I know what to read next.

Watching - The Boys season 5

This show is a blast, and I keep being amazed at the laugh-out-loud, over-the-top shenanigans it throws your way. Whoever came up with The Deep's butthole tanning device commercial needs a raise.

Meet me at

  • August 26-28: Gamescom, Cologne
  • September 21-23: DICE EU, Athens

See you in two weeks!

Martijn

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Martijn van Zwieten

Best practices, models and frameworks that will help you run and grow a business in the videogames industry. https://www.martijnvanzwieten.com

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