Rise and Play Podcast
By Sophie Vo
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Category: Games
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Subscribers: 7
Reviews: 0
Episodes: 164
Description
Every two weeks, we spotlight the outlier founders and game industry leaders who may fly under the radar but carry hard-earned wisdom about leadership, creativity, and building successful sustainable businesses.
Get practical no-fluff insights from over a hundred experienced leaders who’ve walked the path before you.
Learn from their wins—and their mistakes—so you can focus on what really matters: crafting meaningful games and human experiences that last.
riseandplay.substack.com
riseandplay.substack.com
| Episode | Date |
|---|---|
|
The Fear of Becoming You: Why Some Leaders Change, and Others Never Will
|
Nov 25, 2025 |
|
163. Embracing Inner Work: Transforming Leadership from Unconscious Patterns to Self-Mastery
|
Oct 28, 2025 |
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162. From Performance to Presence: The Courage Of Letting Go
|
Oct 14, 2025 |
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161. From Andreessen’s Call to Walking Away: Ioana’s Founder Journey
|
Sep 30, 2025 |
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160. Emotion as a GPS: Living Authentically in Business and Life With Claire Rozain
|
Sep 16, 2025 |
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159. Running an Indie Game Studio with Three Kids. Mission Impossible?
|
Sep 02, 2025 |
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158. Sacrifice and Reconnecting With Joy in Gaming With Maria Gillies
|
Aug 19, 2025 |
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157. Luna Javier Pioneering Play: The First Female Game Developer in the Philippines
|
Aug 05, 2025 |
|
156. From Bioshock to 10Six Games: Susan Cumming’s Founder Journey of Resilience and Reinvention
|
Jul 22, 2025 |
|
155. Rise of Fearless: Building Africa’s Fortnite from the Ground Up With Kanessa Muluneh
|
Jul 08, 2025 |
|
154. Midlife Shift From 20 Years In Games To Executive Coaching - With Zoë Curnoe
|
Jun 24, 2025 |
|
153. Nurture In Nature: Building A Co-Working Space For Creativity With Julianne Becker
|
Jun 10, 2025 |
|
152. Unpacking AI: Finding Your USP in Asset Generation with Julia and Burcu
|
May 27, 2025 |
|
151. Building A Successful Business At The Rock Bottom Of My Life - with Subina Kiani
|
May 13, 2025 |
|
150. What's The Worst That Could Happen? Jen MacLean On Founding A Game Studio For GenZ
|
Apr 29, 2025 |
|
149. Building Culture Through Growth: Kimber Dall on Leadership at Scale
|
Apr 15, 2025 |
|
148. From Corporate To Entrepreneurship - with Odile Limpach, co-founder of SpielFrabrique
|
Apr 01, 2025 |
|
147. Is Bootstrapping For You? with Liquid & Grit CEO Brett Nowak
|
Mar 18, 2025 |
|
146. Behold VC: Funded By Gaming Leaders For Gaming Leaders with Lína Ingvarsdóttir
|
Mar 04, 2025 |
|
145. Don't Wait For Permission, Carve Your Own Leadership Path - With Alicia Fortier
|
Feb 18, 2025 |
|
144. PlayCap: Building A Powerful Network Of Women Mentor-Investors
|
Feb 04, 2025 |
|
143. Shutting Down Twin Drums: Bridging Cultural Stories With Technology, Entrepreneurial Learnings
|
Jan 21, 2025 |
|
142. More than Dress Up: Merging Digital and Designer Goods with Emily Yim
|
Jan 07, 2025 |
|
141. Building The NextGen Fashion Game With Nicola Mizon
|
Dec 10, 2024 |
|
140. Redefining Sustainable Entrepreneurship with Ludovic Bodin: From Blitz Scaling to Atomic Scaling
|
Nov 26, 2024 |
|
139. The Transformative Power Of Retreats: Breaking Through Your Mental Walls
|
Nov 12, 2024 |
|
138. Unmasking the Authentic Leader Within: A Journey to Liberated Leadership
|
Oct 29, 2024 |
|
137. How To Market Your Game With Music
|
Oct 15, 2024 |
|
136. Boosting Team Results With Empathy - With Amy Graves
|
Oct 01, 2024 |
|
135. Building Game Conferences With Love At DevGAMM
|
Sep 17, 2024 |
|
134. The Transformative Power Of Coaching And Self Discovery
|
Sep 03, 2024 |
|
133. Sunny Lab: Bringing Sparks Of Hope In Every Play
|
Aug 20, 2024 |
|
132. Taking Your Studio's Fate Into Your Own Hands
|
Aug 06, 2024 |
|
131. Sophie Vo Breaking Barriers On Building Networks, Studios and Businesses
|
Jul 30, 2024 |
|
130. Building Immersive Ad Tech During Game-ageddon With AdInMo COO Joanne Lacey
|
Jul 23, 2024 |
|
129. Crystin Cox on Leadership, LiveOps, and Navigating Cultural Differences in the Gaming Industry
|
Jul 16, 2024 |
|
128. VC & Mobile Fundraising: We're ROAS Positive, KPIs Look Great, And It Is Still Not Enough?
|
Jul 02, 2024 |
|
127. Funding Studio Camelia in 2024: How To Run A Successful Kickstarter Campaign
|
Jun 18, 2024 |
|
126. Inside Pok Pok: Reimagining Digital Play For Kids
|
Jun 04, 2024 |
|
125. CEO Olya Caliujnaia's Diary: Start Your Company From 'Who', Then 'What'
|
May 28, 2024 |
|
124. What I Wish I Knew Before Fundraising in 2024
|
May 21, 2024 |
|
123. VC Fundraising: The Do's and Don'ts From Founders Who Raised
|
May 14, 2024 |
|
122. Co-Founder Shelby Moledina's Diary: Founding And Closing Double Loop Games
|
May 07, 2024 |
|
121. Why I Founded A Company At The 'Worst' Time Of The Industry
|
Apr 30, 2024 |
|
120. News Announcement For Rise And Play!
|
Apr 09, 2024 |
|
119. Applying Agile Development To AAA Game Design - with Jamie Smith
|
Apr 02, 2024 |
|
118. Growing Beatstar Into A $125M hit - with Game Lead Charmie Kim
|
Mar 26, 2024 |
|
117. Inside Paladin Studios: A 20-Year CEO Journey With Derk De Geus
|
Mar 19, 2024 |
|
116. Inside Interior Night: Building Innovative Stories For Mature Audiences
|
Mar 12, 2024 |
|
115. Laura Carter CEO's Diary: Leading A Purpose-Driven Gaming Company in 2024
|
Mar 05, 2024 |
|
114. UP, DOWN, UP: Why Some Game Companies Succeed, While Others Fail
|
Feb 27, 2024 |
|
113. The Emerging Trend Of Co-CEO In Games - with Veronica Rojas
|
Feb 20, 2024 |
|
112. Diversity: A Strategic Investment Approach at 1Up Ventures
|
Feb 13, 2024 |
|
111. Success In Business Will Not Bring You More Happiness - with Miska Katkoff
|
Feb 06, 2024 |
|
110. The Road To Becoming A Solopreneur In Games - with Matej Lancaric
|
Jan 30, 2024 |
|
109. How Metacore Disrupted The Puzzle Market With A Merge Hit
|
Jan 26, 2024 |
|
108. Inside Lightforge Games: Is Open Salaries For You And Where To Begin?
|
Jan 16, 2024 |
|
107. How To Build A VC Backable Gaming Business In India?
|
Jan 09, 2024 |
|
106. Inside QuriousBit: How To Build A Culture Code From The Start
|
Jan 09, 2024 |
|
105. Inside SuperGaming: Unleashing The Untold Stories From India
|
Dec 26, 2023 |
|
104. Inside Supernova: Providing An AI Tutor For Every Child
|
Dec 19, 2023 |
|
103. Inside Mayhem Studios: Building An Ambitious Battle Royale From India
|
Dec 12, 2023 |
|
102. Inside Bombay Play: Bringing Hyper Social Games From India To The World
|
Dec 12, 2023 |
|
101. Jenny Xu's Grit Diary: Lessons From Building A Fitness Game For GenZ
|
Dec 12, 2023 |
|
100. Revolutionizing Game Publishing: Kepler Interactive's Co-Ownership Model
|
Nov 21, 2023 |
|
99. Antti Hattara's Founder Diary: The Sisu Journey Of Starberry Games
|
Nov 17, 2023 |
|
98. From Game Design To Leadership: The 7 Super Skills Every Designer Should Grow
|
Nov 07, 2023 |
|
97. Coaching 101: You Are The Blocker To Your Full Potential And Can't See It
|
Oct 31, 2023 |
|
96. Power Rangers and Beyond: 10 Years Pivoting Product To Finding Success at nWay
|
Oct 24, 2023 |
|
95. Inside MY.GAMES: Unlocking The Remote Talent Advantage With Anton Gorodestky
|
Oct 17, 2023 |
|
94. Inside Lightheart Entertainment: 4-Year Retrospective Building A Holacratic Organization With Kalle Kaivola
|
Oct 10, 2023 |
|
93. Miska Katkoff & Sophie's Diary: Leadership Pains And Lessons For Our Next Ventures
|
Oct 03, 2023 |
|
92. Martial Valéry Founder's Diary: 10 Years Of Hard-Earned Lessons At OhBiBi
|
Sep 26, 2023 |
|
91. Jens Begemann CEO's Diary: A Decade of Wooga's Evolution To Success
|
Sep 19, 2023 |
|
90. Solving The Team Culture Map Puzzle - with Sophie and Jen Donahoe
|
Aug 22, 2023 |
|
89. Unlock Your True Self With Liberated Leadership - with Steve Cuss
|
Aug 08, 2023 |
|
88. How To Rebuild Trust - with Jen Donahoe
|
Aug 01, 2023 |
|
87. Changing The Money Game - with Marina Barthélémy
|
Jul 25, 2023 |
|
86. Leadership Journey At Ustwo Games - with Maria Sayans and Daniel Gray
|
Jul 18, 2023 |
|
85. The Human Science Of Scaling Company Culture - with Bastian Bergmann
|
Jul 11, 2023 |
|
84. How To Build An Antifragile Casual Games Studio - with Michael Martinez
|
Jul 04, 2023 |
|
83. What Can We Learn From Failing A Startup - with Collin Foss
|
Jun 27, 2023 |
|
82. Apply Non-Violent Communication At Work - with Sophie
|
Jun 20, 2023 |
|
81. How To Solve Messy Business With Stoicism - with Arseny Lebedev
|
Jun 13, 2023 |
|
80. The Limitations of Being Truly Yourself - with Sophie and Miska
|
Jun 06, 2023 |
|
79. Building A Team Of Maverick - with Harinder Sangha
|
May 30, 2023 |
|
78. What I Wish I Knew Before I Began My Career - with Ethan Levy
|
May 23, 2023 |
|
77. Master Emotionally Charged Conversations - with Julie, Ben, Sophie
|
May 16, 2023 |
|
76. Leveling Up From Manager To C-Suite Leader - with Ioana Hreninciuc
|
May 09, 2023 |
|
75. How To Become A Boundary Boss - with Maria Maunula and Sophie
|
May 02, 2023 |
|
74. Understanding Neurodiversity At Work - with Alice Bowman
|
Apr 25, 2023 |
|
73. Pivoting Your Company Strategy 360 - with Nicolas Godement
|
Apr 18, 2023 |
|
72. Manage Your Time Like CEOs - with Simonetta and Ioana
|
Apr 11, 2023 |
|
71. How To Hire Great UX Designers In Games - with Olga Marushchak
|
Apr 04, 2023 |
|
70. How To Become A Stoic Leader And Control Your Emotions - with Sophie and Miska
|
Mar 28, 2023 |
|
69. The Journey Of Next Games To Becoming A Netflix Studio - with Saara Bergström
|
Mar 21, 2023 |
|
68. Scaling Wordscapes and PeopleFun - with Carol Miu
|
Mar 14, 2023 |
|
67. Practice Everyday Courage - BONUS
|
Mar 08, 2023 |
|
66. Building A Bottom-Up Culture At Nitro Games - with Jussi Tähtinen
|
Mar 07, 2023 |
|
65. Managing Up - with Sophie and Miska
|
Feb 28, 2023 |
|
64. Managing Transition At Ubisoft RedLynx - with Celine Pasula
|
Feb 21, 2023 |
|
63. The State Of Mental Health At Work - with Sophie and Songya
|
Feb 14, 2023 |
|
62. Building Games Portfolio At Netflix - with Leanne Loombe
|
Feb 07, 2023 |
|
61. DEI Is A Process, Not A Feature - with Laura and Sophie
|
Jan 31, 2023 |
|
60. Am I In Burnout? - with Joakim and Sophie
|
Jan 24, 2023 |
|
59. How to Plan and Nurture Your Career in Games - with Sophie and Mishka
|
Jan 17, 2023 |
|
58. Forging My Own Path - with Marie Mejerwall
|
Jan 10, 2023 |
|
57. Design Your Life Playbook - with Tom Hammond
|
Dec 27, 2022 |
|
56. Change Management In A Startup - with Isabelle Henriques
|
Dec 20, 2022 |
|
55. Setting New Standards For AAA Studios - with Forest Swartout-Large
|
Dec 13, 2022 |
|
54. Leading With A Coaching Mindset - with Aaron Smith and Ben Carcich
|
Dec 06, 2022 |
|
53. How To Start A Podcast In Games - with Lauren Kaye
|
Nov 29, 2022 |
|
52. Running Your 1:1s In A Modern Workplace - with Marko Kecman
|
Nov 22, 2022 |
|
51. Empowering The Storytellers Of The World - with Julia Palatovska
|
Nov 15, 2022 |
|
50. Building A Kinder World - with Lauren Clinnick
|
Nov 08, 2022 |
|
49. Evolving The Sims With Distributed Teams - with Catharina Lavers Mallet
|
Nov 01, 2022 |
|
48. How Do We Design A Workplace For Leaders As Mothers? - with Emily Yim and Betty Lapeyre
|
Oct 25, 2022 |
|
47. Re-Prioritize Your Personal Life And Work - with Vanessa Rouhani
|
Oct 18, 2022 |
|
46. Building The Next Casual Hit At Rovio - with Julie Beaugrand
|
Oct 11, 2022 |
|
45. Invest In Your Financial Literacy - with Marcela Barrera
|
Oct 04, 2022 |
|
44. How To Approach Racism - with Jennifer Lufau
|
Sep 27, 2022 |
|
43. Re-Examining Your Life Script - with Tamara Rose Morales
|
Sep 20, 2022 |
|
42. Making Games With Impact At Ustwo Games - with Maria Sayans
|
Sep 13, 2022 |
|
41. Lead Your Company As A Sports Team, Not As A Family - with Valerie Alfimova
|
Sep 06, 2022 |
|
40. Never Stop Reinventing Yourself - with Bakyt Aidaralieva
|
Aug 22, 2022 |
|
39. Why We Need More Women As Investors - with Salone Sehgal
|
Aug 09, 2022 |
|
38. Why Games Need Narrative Design - with Stephanie Prue
|
Jul 26, 2022 |
|
37. What Can We Learn From Diablo - with Kegan Clark
|
Jul 12, 2022 |
|
36. Growing A 140M Download IP - with Anette Staloy
|
Jun 28, 2022 |
|
35. Leading Teams As A Stoic - with Sophie Vo
|
Jun 21, 2022 |
|
34. Unlocking Untapped Gaming Experiences - with Noémie Hernandez
|
Jun 14, 2022 |
|
33. Breaking The Bias Of Being A Female CEO - with Simonetta Lulli
|
May 31, 2022 |
|
32. What You Did Not Know About UX - with Devon Wyland
|
May 17, 2022 |
|
31. Crafting The Next Generation Of Lifestyle Games - with Ksusha Zito
|
May 03, 2022 |
|
30. Who Will Merge Em All? - with Laura Taranto
|
Apr 19, 2022 |
|
29. From Pixar Animation Studios To Bringing Tetris® To Mobile - with Mari Burns
|
Apr 05, 2022 |
|
28. What's Next After Leading Covet Fashion? - with Sarah Fuchs
|
Mar 22, 2022 |
|
27. Becoming The Head Of Experimentation On Candy Crush - with Delphine Sassi
|
Mar 08, 2022 |
|
26. Design The Playground For Creativity - with Maya Hofree
|
Feb 22, 2022 |
|
25. Breaking Through As A Solo Designer - with Maryna Iaremenko
|
Feb 08, 2022 |
|
24. Leading Small And Effective UA teams - with An Vu
|
Jan 27, 2022 |
|
23. Drop New Year's Resolutions, Focus on Self Reflection Instead
|
Jan 18, 2022 |
|
22. MasterClass Special - The Creative Leader Mindset
|
Dec 07, 2021 |
|
21. MasterClass Special - How To Create A Strong Studio Culture?
|
Nov 30, 2021 |
|
20. MasterClass Special - Build An Antifragile Team
|
Nov 23, 2021 |
|
19. MasterClass Special - Interview Questions And Red Flags
|
Nov 16, 2021 |
|
18. MasterClass Special - Crystallise Your Team Vision
|
Oct 19, 2021 |
|
17. MasterClass Special - Define Your Studio Mission And Vision
|
Oct 12, 2021 |
|
16. MasterClass Special - Start With Why, Identify Your Personal Values
|
Oct 05, 2021 |
|
15. From Product to CEO - with Mishka Katkoff
|
Sep 28, 2021 |
|
14. Bringing New Gaming Experiences For The Metaverse - with Georgina Felce
|
Sep 21, 2021 |
|
13. Building A Live Ops Community - with Tom Hammond
|
Sep 14, 2021 |
|
12. Making Snackable, Yet Nourishing Games - with Carolin Krenzer
|
Sep 07, 2021 |
|
11. Western Company Culture In Southeast Asia - with Benjamin Chevalier
|
Aug 31, 2021 |
|
10. Building Games With Meaningful Social Interactions - with Tatiana Kondratyeva
|
Aug 24, 2021 |
|
9. Inclusivity Over Gender-focused Representation - with Taina Myöhänen
|
Aug 17, 2021 |
|
8. A Culture Focused On Enabling Others - with Kam Punia
|
Aug 10, 2021 |
|
7. Finding My Calling In Games - with Sophie Vo
|
Aug 03, 2021 |
|
6. Lead With Responsibility And Integrity In Time Of Crisis - with Annina Salvén
|
Jul 27, 2021 |
|
5. Push Yourself To The Next Level - with Ivanna Pogrebniak
|
Jul 20, 2021 |
|
4. Bootstrapping And Keeping Creative Freedom - with Audrey Leprince
|
Jul 13, 2021 |
|
3. Elevating Game Founders - with Joakim Achrén
|
Jul 06, 2021 |
|
2. Rising The Next Generation Of Developers - with Tara Mustapha
|
Jun 29, 2021 |
|
1. Bringing The Joy Of Gaming To New Audiences - with Drussila Hollanda
|
Jun 13, 2021 |