Unlocking Telegram’s Gaming Potential with Daniil Shcherbakov from TonTon Games
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
Release Date: 11/08/2024
Palash Soni on Building Goldcast and the Future of AI Video Marketing
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
I am thrilled to have Palash Soni, the CEO of , an AI-powered B2B Video Campaign Platform that transforms marketing by putting video and events at the heart of the customer journey. In this episode, Palash Soni, CEO and Co-founder of Goldcast, shares how dropping out of Harvard Business School during the pandemic led to building an AI-powered B2B video marketing platform. Palash walks us through his early failures, the moment he saw the COVID tailwind, and how Goldcast scaled from zero to $1M ARR with Drift as an early customer. He also explains the future of AI-powered video content, why...
info_outline
How Kishore Ravichandran from Plug and Play Backs Deep Tech and the Next $100M Startups
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
Kishore Ravichandran is the investor at , the ultimate innovation platform. Over the past 15 years, PnP has brought together 35,000+ startups, 500+ world-leading corporations, and hundreds of venture capital firms, universities, and government agencies across 20+ industries In this episode, Kishore Ravichandran, Investor at Plug and Play Tech Center shares how a university program in Singapore sparked his passion for startups and led to a career in venture capital. Kishore explains Plug and Play’s global model—investing in over 2,000 startups, supporting them with a 550+ strong...
info_outline
Redefining Luxury Fintech with Hugo Gomez from Bobo
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
is the co-founder and CEO of , a fintech that caters to the unique needs of (U)HNWIs. Hugo has over 15 years of experience in traditional banking, including roles at HSBC and Banistmo In this episode, Hugo Gomez, Co-founder and CEO of Bobo Fintech, shares how his background in traditional banking led him to build a luxury fintech platform tailored for high-net-worth individuals. Hugo discusses how Bobo offers customizable financial experiences—from wearable payment devices to accounts for private staff—and why legacy banks are unprepared for the $84 trillion generational wealth...
info_outline
Ilya Drozdov from Dwelly on AI in Lettings and Building High-Margin Businesses
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
the CEO at , an AI-enabled Lettings & Property Management Marketplace, that boosts 3x margins of the letting agency in 2 months only. He previously co-founded the largest tech-enabled letting company in Eastern Europe that managed 10,000+ properties and reached $50M GMV in three years. In this episode, Ilya Drozdov, former Uber GM and CEO of Dwelly shares his journey from scaling Uber Russia to building tech-enabled property management platforms. He dives into lessons from managing fierce competition with Yandex, what made Uber’s playbook effective, and how Dwelly uses AI to transform...
info_outline
The Super Upside Factor with Daniel Kang
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
is the CEO & co-founder of Y-Combinator-backed startup , a marketplace that provides financing to influencers and allows fans to share in their success. He is the author of his new book - In this episode, Daniel Kang, author of The Super Upside Factor, shares his journey from consulting at BCG to venture capital at SoftBank and ultimately founding Flowbo, a Y Combinator-backed marketplace that helps creators access capital. He discusses the challenges of building Flowbo during COVID-19, securing early customers, and the importance of asymmetric bets in life and business. Daniel also...
info_outline
Kartik Dabiru on Building Complystream, AI in Financial Crime, and Startup Success
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
is the founder and CEO of , an innovative regulatory tech start-up venture dedicated to simplifying and unifying fragmented tools and compliance processes. In this episode, Karthik Dabiru, founder and CEO of Complystream, shares his journey from product management to entrepreneurship in the FinTech space. He discusses the challenges and lessons learned while transitioning from traditional banking to a fast-paced FinTech environment, the inception of Complystream, and the importance of AI in streamlining financial crime operations. Karthik also highlights the significance of hiring the...
info_outline
Anthony Danon on Building Rerail and Scaling Startups
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
Anthony Danon is the GP of - Pre-seed / seed angel fund investing in founders that look to utilize fintech. He was earlier a partner at Speedinvest and an investor at Anthemis In this episode, Anthony Danon, General Partner at Rerail, shares his journey from an unpaid internship at Anthemis to building Rerail, a $24M solo GP fund focused on fintech-powered businesses. Anthony discusses his early days of investing in fintech at Anthemis and Speedinvest, the decision to co-found Coco Fund with Carmen, and why he eventually launched Rerail. He explains his “Everything is Fintech”...
info_outline
Venture Everywhere with Jenny Fielding
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
is the co-founder and Managing Partner of . She is the author of the book, In this episode, Jenny Fielding, co-founder and managing partner of Everywhere Ventures, shares her journey from corporate law and startup founder to becoming a top pre-seed investor. She discusses the transition from running startups to venture capital, the challenges of building a micro-fund, and the power of community-driven investing. She also talks about her book Venture Everywhere, highlighting inspiring founders worldwide, and much more! Timestamps 00:30 - 01:00 - Jenny’s background as a pre-seed investor and...
info_outline
From Morning Brew to Smooth Media: Jenny Rothenberg’s Blueprint for Scaling the Creator Economy
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
, the COO of , an NYC-based agency representing knowledge creators. She is the ex-director of growth at Morning Brew. In this episode, the CEO of Smooth Media, Jenny Rothenberg shares her journey from Industry Dive and Morning Brew to founding her own media and agency powerhouse. Jenny reveals how she leveraged data-driven paid ads, referral programs, and strategic content repurposing to scale audiences and build thriving relationships with knowledge creators. She discusses pivotal lessons learned from growth experiments, from subway ad missteps to optimizing subscriber engagement and much...
info_outline
Roshan Gupta from AmplifyPM on Storytelling & the Future of PM
Lifeselfmastery's podcast I Startups I Venture Capital
Roshan Gupta is the founder of AmplifyPM Roshan founded AmplifyPM to bridge this gap and transform Product Managers into Product Leaders.. He is the ex-product head at Google and Meta In this episode, Roshan Gupta, founder of Amplify PM and former product leader at Google and Meta, shares his journey from software engineering to product management and leadership. Roshan discusses breaking into PM roles, scaling from team management to leading 300+ people, and key mindset shifts for product leaders. He dives into the importance of storytelling, strategic thinking, and networking for career...
info_outlineI am thrilled to have Daniil Shcherbakov, CEO of TonTon Games, a Telegram gaming publisher welcomed into Binance Labs' incubation program. Daniil holds a MBA from Cambridge Business School
In this episode, Daniil Shcherbakov, co-founder and CEO of TonTon Games, shares his journey from studying computer science to launching TonTon Games within Telegram's ecosystem. He delves into TonTon Games' unique strategy for long-term growth, the blue ocean opportunities within Telegram, and the company's commitment to genuine gaming experiences. Daniil offers valuable insights into user acquisition, sustainable monetization, and balancing creativity with data-driven decisions in gaming, and much more!
Subscribe on Spotify
Subscribe on YouTube
Subscribe on iTunes
Learn
* How does Daniil approach monetization in your games while maintaining a positive user experience?
* What are the single biggest mistakes companies make with content today?
* What trends does Daniil see emerging in the casual mobile gaming market?
* What is your favourite business book? –Atomic Habits
* What is your favourite online tool? –Use Bubbles
* If you could go back to when you started working, what is the one thing you would have focused on? – Start company earlier
Timestamps
0:00 - Introduction to Daniil, CEO of TonTon Games.
1:30 - Daniil shares his background, his shift from a family of doctors to pursuing computer science, and discovering his passion for tech.
5:45 - His experience of joining Fibrum, an early startup where he created the company’s name.
10:45 - Daniil describes the camaraderie he built with classmates and the benefits of Cambridge's smaller, diverse class.
13:00 - Founding of TonTon Games and the blend of his passion for gaming and startups.
14:45 - TonTon Games’ focus on Telegram as a gaming platform and the “blue ocean” opportunity in this space.
16:30 - Overview of how Telegram's ecosystem for games is similar to WeChat's in China.
18:15 - Daniil explains TonTon Games’ strategy of avoiding “pump and dump” schemes and instead focusing on long-term incentives.
20:45 - Discussion on acquiring users, including their approach to organic growth through influencers.
23:00 - Success of their flagship game, DFT, which reached top 10 grossing apps on Telegram.
24:30 - Daniil explains why they are not creating their own token and instead focus on sustainable mechanics.
27:00 - How they evaluate and collaborate with development teams before entering formal agreements.
28:30 - Explanation of the iterative approach to user acquisition and maintaining platform stability.
31:00 - Strategy for monetizing games while respecting user experience.
33:00 - Importance of data analysis in game development and Daniil’s insights on balancing gut feeling and metrics.
35:00 - Daniil’s thoughts on the future of mobile gaming, especially in emerging markets.
39:00 - Advice for budding game developers about the future of gaming demographics.
45:00 - Daniil’s perspective on AI, highlighting that it’s a helpful tool rather than a replacement.
Daniil’s Links
LDN– https://www.linkedin.com/in/shcherbakovds/
Website - https://tonton.games/
My Links
Podcast: https://lifeselfmastery.com/itunes
YouTube: youtube.com/lifeselfmastery
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rohitmal
5-day email course: www.enterprisesalesexpertise.com
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit partnergrow.substack.com