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View, browse and sort the ever-growing list of sessions by day, pass type, topic, and format. With this Session Viewer, you can view GDC 2023 session details and speakers, and share your favorites via social media. You will be able to build your schedule and access it during the show via export or Mobile App, once live. Sessions do fill up and seating is first come, first serve, so arrive early to sessions that you would like to attend.

Embrace the "Dark Side": Demystifying Game Venture Capital

Moritz Baier-Lentz  (Partner & Head of Gaming, Lightspeed Venture Partners)

Location: Room 215, South Hall

Date: Wednesday, March 22

Time: 11:30 am - 12:30 pm

Pass Type: All Access Pass, Core Pass

Topic: Business & Marketing

Format: Lecture

Vault Recording: Video

Audience Level: All

Moritz Baier-Lentz, Partner and Head of Gaming at Lightspeed Venture Partners, offers a candid and lighthearted overview of venture capital in the video game industry. This talk will cover the brief history of game venture capital, and why and how former leaders at Riot Games, Blizzard, and Epic Games raised funding for their new projects. Importantly, we'll get inside the mind of the investor: How do venture capitalists actually make decisions, and how can you use this information to maximize your chances of success?

This lecture covers everything from refining your funding story, creating your pitch deck, determining your outreach strategy, valuation and dilution tactics, term sheet negotiation, and pitfalls, to psychological jiu-jitsu for closing a deal. Along the way, case studies of the most successful game startups of 2022 and 2023 will illustrate each point and bring the ideas to life.

Takeaway

Attendees will gain a deep understanding of game venture capital from both the founder and investor perspective. Novices and experts alike will have preconceptions challenged as Moritz pulls back the curtain on the most successful fundraises of 2022 and 2023, and discusses the secret sauce behind how deals are made.

Intended Audience

This will be invaluable for entrepreneurs in the game industry, including founders of game studios, platforms, or related technology startups. It is designed for experienced fundraisers as well as corporate professionals and game enthusiasts who are new to this nascent but increasingly popular financing option. No prerequisite experience is necessary.