Issue #87 Hello friends, First off, let me acknowledge that it's been *a while* since the last edition of this newsletter. I got a bit busy there for a while--which is a good thing! The one problem is that more client work cuts into two things: my reading time, meaning fewer inputs for coming up with new things to write about; and my writing time, which I need even more of when I've got fewer ideas to work with. I've got some ideas on how to get around this moving forward, so that I can get...
8 days ago • 9 min read
Issue #86 Hello friends, Greetings from Utrecht! Lots of stuff happening behind the scenes currently. I've just rounded up two engagements with AAA studios, which might be prolonged after the summer. These have already been incredibly rewarding and insightful, and I'm looking forward to incorporating my learnings into the rest of my coaching. I'm working on a refined personal brand that will tie together all of the individual bits and pieces that I've cobbled together over the years. This...
6 months ago • 8 min read
Issue #85 Hello friends, Greetings from Utrecht! It's been an insanely busy period, with some incredible personal milestones that I'm excited to share with you. First off, I've recently started working with Valued Cultures, a US based coaching agency through which I'm now coaching top leadership at studios like Bethesda and MachineGames. If you had told me three years ago that I'd be coaching AAA studios, I simply would not have believed you. Second, including the people I'm coaching through...
8 months ago • 5 min read
Issue #84 Hello friends, Greetings from Utrecht! GDC is over, which means I can now start prepping for my favorite event: Reboot Develop Blue. I'm working on a new talk, based on my coaching work with game studios, that will touch on the various mistakes I see founders make with regards to running their studios. Before that though, I'm visiting Boden Game Changer in Sweden next week, to give both a talk and a workshop to some promising indie studios on the topic of studio management. Besides...
10 months ago • 5 min read
Issue #83 Hello friends, Greetings from Utrecht! I hope you're all doing well after a great start to the year. It's definitely been a great start for me personally, as some exciting projects are about to land. Additionally, my revenue's miraculous recovery after GamesCom last year seems to be holding, and the outlook for 2025 is looking pretty good. 2024 wasn't great, but 2025 is shaping up nicely, and I couldn't be more excited about the studios I'll be working with to help them thrive as...
11 months ago • 3 min read
Issue #72 Hello friends, Greetings from Utrecht! I've finally written up the rest of my annual review, you can read it below. As I mention below, doing an annual review has quickly proven to be one of the highest impact rituals in my life. If you want to do one of your own, you should check out this annual review blueprint by Steve Schlafman: The Ultimate Annual Review Annual Review 2024 Sitting down every year between Christmas and New Year's to review the past year is the most valuable...
12 months ago • 5 min read
Issue #81 Happy new year folks!If last year was all about survival for many of us in the games industry, let's make 2025 all about helping each other thrive!I hope you all had a great start to the new year and are ready to make it a good one. During the break I sat down to reflect on the past year. As part of that, I always take a long hard look at everything I saw, read, heard and played, to come up with the 5 songs, movies/shows, books and games that meant the most to me this year. As in...
about 1 year ago • 6 min read
Issue #80 Hello friends, Greetings from Utrecht! It took a bit longer than I would have liked, but I finally managed to get another newsletter out. The last three months have been incredibly busy with client work, and while that was much needed to turn an otherwise meagre year around, it cut directly into my writing. As this is the time where most companies rethink their long term strategy and plan for the next year, I figured it would be a good time to do a full write-up of how I help my...
about 1 year ago • 6 min read
Issue #79 Hello friends, Greetings from Utrecht! Lot's going on these days, I feel like I've been running non-stop since Gamescom. Just in September, I have: onboarded one Long Game OS client onboarded one investment preparation client created two videos for Xsolla's new accelerator video vault attended DICE Europe made preparations for a workshop at Trondheim's new SpawnPoint incubator, and a talk at Unwrap All good things though! And since one of the Xsolla videos touched on company culture...
about 1 year ago • 6 min read