Jonathan Lai
Hey, it's Jon, thanks for stopping by.
I'm an investment partner at Andreessen Horowitz. A few themes I'm excited about:
Games as social networks (next-gen studios, vertical platforms)
New interactive media (sports, edutainment, self-help)
The passion economy (enabling people to make a living off their talents)
Consumerization of the enterprise (SaaS / infrastructure with viral growth motions)
Prior to a16z, I was a senior director at Tencent where I led the North America investments team and spearheaded the launch of our WeGame platform for Western games in China. Before that, I was a product manager at Riot Games (acquired by Tencent), where we developed League of Legends, the world's most played PC game. I also served as head of product for Dots, a mobile games start-up that was acquired by Take-Two. HBS MBA '13. Harvard '06.
A few things I love: sweet tea, good sake, Imagine Dragons, TFT, Dark Souls, my amazing wife Jen, and our brood of voracious Zerglings: Asher, Aiden, & Yellow Kitty.
Essays & Podcasts
The best consumer, enterprise, & fintech apps today embrace game design
The next big innovation in social play will likely come from tabletop games (D&D, Mafia, etc)
A new generation of instant games is changing how we play, discover, and develop games
As we spend more time in virtual worlds, the ways in which we socialize will evolve
What's the next Facebook or Snapchat? Look to games to lead the way
A new class of creators is emerging as the future of live video entertainment
Buiding the defining video social network for the virtual world generation
On collectibles and building the stock market for athletes
Applying lessons from game design to software onboarding (tweetstorm)
How does Tencent have such a great track record in games? (tweetstorm)
The promise of cloud gaming lies in software - unique, cloud-native experiences
Half a billion people played the party game Among Us in Nov, what's going on? (pod)
Snapchat is doubling down on games and Bitmoji (pod)
How games have evolved from entertainment into social networks today (pod)
Both livestreaming and gaming are up massively amidst COVID-19 (pod)
Implications of IP crossovers in Fortnite (pod)