#229 Former CEO Activision Blizzard, Bobby Kotick w/ Bing Gordon: Change the Game
Guest: Bobby Kotick, former CEO of Activision Blizzard; and Bing Gordon, Advisor at Kleiner Perkins
In 2020, when President Trump signed the executive order that would ban TikTok in the U.S., Bobby Kotick called his old friend Steven Mnuchin. The former Secretary of the Treasury told him that, if TikTok’s U.S. operations were to be sold to an American company, Microsoft would be the only bidder.
A couple calls later, he reached ByteDance founder and CEO Zhang Yiming, who said he’d rather sell to Bobby than Microsoft. Concerned about his ability to get the deal done solo, Bobby called Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and offered to make a joint bid.
Nadella declined, but added, “ if the deal doesn't get done, we should sit down and talk about us buying Activision.” TikTok currently remains Chinese-owned, but three years later, Microsoft paid $75 billion for Activision Blizzard.
Chapters:
(01:16) - Forming Activision Blizzard
(04:19) - Good acquisitions
(09:21) - Electronic Arts and “Schedule C”
(15:08) - Nintendo and Mediagenic
(21:19) - Steve Wynn
(29:24) - Wynn cashes out
(35:14) - Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
(40:38) - Blizzard’s many sales
(44:44) - World of Warcraft and Call of Duty
(47:59) - Jurassic Park
(50:40) - Chris Metzen
(55:06) - David Geffen
(58:11) - New competitors
(01:02:25) - The harassment lawsuits
(01:06:53) - Trying to buy TikTok
(01:08:51) - Hardware design
(01:12:52) - Polymarket, Donald Trump, and TikTok
(01:15:19) - The Call of Duty Endowment
(01:18:31) - Brian Stann and Hire Heroes USA
(01:21:49) - Steve Jobs and Pixar
(01:29:41) - The first Macintosh
(01:31:29) - The Wii demo
(01:33:42) - Nintendo 64, PlayStation and VR
(01:37:35) - The hardest year
(01:40:17) - Working with Brian Kelly
(01:41:26) - Satya Nadella and Microsoft
(01:44:39) - Xbox Game Pass
(01:49:35) - What “grit” means to Bobby
Mentioned in this episode: Vivendi, Bruce Hack and Arnaud de Puyfontaine, EA, Call of Duty, Bizarre Creations, Atari, Apple II, Commodore 64, Jean-Louis Gassée, Apple Lisa, Howard Lincoln, Philips, Magnavox Odyssey, Sutter Hill Ventures, Infocom and Zork, Toys-R-Us, Howard Hughes, E. Parry Thomas, Sun Valley, Thom Weisel, William Morris Endeavor, Guitar Hero, Davidson & Associates, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham, World of Warcraft, Medal of Honor, Steven Spielberg, Michael Crichton, Chris Roberts, Overwatch, Tencent, Time Warner, Jeff Bewkes, Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In, Lina Khan, Samsung, Elon Musk, James L. Jones, UFC, E. Floyd Kvamme, Toy Story 2, Procter & Gamble, Ron Doornik, John Lasseter, Xerox PARC, Shigeru Miyamoto, Satoru Iwata, Goldeneye 007, James Bond, Barbara Broccoli, Oculus, Apple Vision Pro, Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, Sam Altman, Mustafa Suleyman, Spotify, Candy Crush Saga, Disney, Phil Spencer, Clarence Avant and Motown Records.
Links:
Connect with Bobby
Twitter
LinkedIn
Connect with Bing
Twitter
LinkedIn
Connect with Joubin
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm
Navigating comms and PR | Lulu Cheng Meservey (Substack, Activision Blizzard)
Brought to you by AssemblyAI—Powerful AI models to transcribe and understand speech | Public—Invest in stocks, treasuries, crypto, and more | Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security.
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Lulu Cheng Meservey was formerly head of comms at Substack (where I host my newsletter and podcast) and is currently the Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Chief Communications Officer at Activision Blizzard. She also writes one of my favorite newsletters, “Flack,” where she shares tactical advice for company comms, PR, and messaging. In today’s episode, we dive deep into the world of PR and comms. We discuss why taking risks is crucial, how to gain attention as an underdog, and why it’s important to have a super-specific audience. Lulu outlines several frameworks I’d never heard of before, including a concentric circles framework for identifying your audience, the cultural erogenous zones, and even a physics-based framework for comms.
Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/navigating-comms-and-pr-lulu-cheng
Where to find Lulu Cheng Meservey:
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lulumeservey
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lulu-cheng-meservey/
• Newsletter: https://www.getflack.com/
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
Referenced:
• “Binders full of women”: Mitt Romney’s four words that alienated women voters: https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2012/oct/17/binders-full-of-women-romneys-four-words
• Bill Bishop’s newsletter on Substack: https://www.sinocism.com/
• Hamish McKenzie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hamishmckenzie
• The Network State: How to Start a New Country: https://www.amazon.com/Network-State-How-Start-Country-ebook/dp/B09VPKZR3G
• How to increase virality: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/increasing-virality
• Ryan Petersen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/typesfast
• Brian Armstrong on Twitter: https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong
• Palmer Luckey on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PalmerLuckey
• Pirate Wires: https://www.piratewires.com/
• NYX: https://www.nyxcosmetics.com/
• Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae: https://www.amazon.com/Gates-Fire-Novel-Battle-Thermopylae/dp/055338368X
• The Last of Us on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/the-last-of-us
• Notion: https://www.notion.so/
• Lex: https://lex.page/
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Lulu’s background
(04:36) What helps an idea spread
(06:17) Mitt Romney’s “binders full of women”
(07:19) Advice for coming up with contagious phrasing
(08:36) Lulu’s esoteric reference that left her Twitter followers confused
(11:08) The importance of taking risks, and Lulu’s thread on standing for free speech
(12:53) An example of another sticky phrase
(14:40) The cultural erogenous zones framework
(16:08) How Kamala Harris made people care about education
(17:29) How to get attention as the underdog
(20:25) How Substack used the concentric circles framework to spread information
(21:32) Understanding the layers in those concentric circles
(25:44) How to get started figuring out your concentric circles
(27:03) An example of aligning messaging with people’s values
(28:19) Lulu’s mathematical formula framework for comms for a purpose
(28:54) A physics-based framework for comms
(35:56) How Balaji Srinivasan used the concentric circles approach with his book The Network State
(39:46) The importance of a super-specific audience
(41:12) Reasons your comms are failing
(42:40) Why you should focus on one direct communication channel at first
(46:58) Why not every founder needs to be on Twitter
(48:02) Who LinkedIn works better for
(49:23) Examples of messaging with a human voice and hopping on trends quickly
(51:11) Reasons for direct comms
(53:52) How to get started setting up a direct channel
(56:09) Why consistent, good content is better than trying to go viral
(59:28) Lightning round
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe
Head of eSports at Activision Blizzard, Brandon Snow: Building 'Generational Fandom' of Professional Video Game Teams
Ever wonder how McDonald’s came up with its famous “I’m Lovin’ It” tagline? Brandon Snow knows all about it — in fact, he worked for the German advertising agency Heye & Partner when it pitched the winning slogan years ago.
With an impressive career that took him to live in Poland, Germany and China, Brandon has worked for not only Heye & Partner, but also the NBA as a senior marketing leader. Now, Brandon works as head of Activision Blizzard Esports — where he leads the effort to leverage the company’s popular video games such as Overwatch and Call of Duty to create city-based global franchise esports leagues.
On this episode of Go to Market Grit, Joubin and Brandon talk about the importance of creativity and charisma in the advertising industry, Brandon’s experience working for the NBA in China, and Activision Blizzard’s vision to build “generational fandom” around its esports leagues over time.
In this episode, we cover:
'I'm lovin' it': Brandon's experience of working at marketing firm Heye & Partner as it first pitched McDonald's now-famous worldwide tagline. (3:03)
Why Brandon left the NBA to transition from marketing to sales — and his eventual return to the NBA to work in sales. (7:02)
'Managing an orchestra': The incredibly long hours spent working on pitches as head of new business of an advertising agency — and the chances a pitch will succeed. (10:55)
The importance of creativity and charisma in the advertising business — and how sports sponsorship has evolved over time. (13:50)
Brandon's experience working for the NBA in Beijing, China — and the importance of embracing how different cultures conduct business. (18:38)
China, Hong Kong, and the NBA: The politics of running a global business. (24:04)
How Activision Blizzard is creating professional, NFL-like global esports leagues with its existing video game IPs. (28:01)
Activision Blizzard's vision to build 'generational fandom' in its professional, global, and city-based esports leagues over time. (35:06)
Ticket sales, sponsors, and digital goods: The revenue models behind the 'Overwatch' and 'Call of Duty' esports leagues. (39:55)
Activision Blizzard's franchise model for esports leagues — and why the esports industry must mature past sponsorship as its main revenue source. (43:16)
What other entertainment industries can learn from the video games business — and why Activision Blizzard continues to invest in its already popular video game franchises. (49:17)
What the word grit means to Brandon. (53:53)
Links:
Connect with JoubinTwitter
LinkedIn
Email: gtmg@kleinerperkins.com
Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
a16z Podcast: Gaming Goes Mainstream
Bobby Kotick is the CEO of Activision Blizzard (a merger he engineered); it's one of only two video gaming companies in the Fortune 500, and the largest game network in the world. The company is responsible for some of the most iconic entertainment franchises, including Call of Duty, Candy Crush, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft -- as well as its own professional esports league.
So in this episode of the a16z Podcast, Marc Andreessen interviews Kotick on everything from the evolution of video games in the 1980s to gaming trends more broadly. What changes as gaming goes from "just for nerds" to "just for kids" and spreads more broadly into entertainment and cultural phenomena (esports, Fortnite, Pokemon Go, etc.)... both online and offline?
The conversation originally took place at our annual innovation a16z Summit in November 2018 -- which features a16z speakers and invited experts from various organizations discussing innovation at companies small and large. You can also see other podcasts and videos from this event here: https://a16z.com/tag/summit-2018/
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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