Over my time at Proletariat I made many notes on leadership, fundraising, company building and more. I am going to start sharing that through my website and Substack. I wanted to kick it off my thoughts on culture and some lessons I learned. We Don't Do That Here - 5 Lessons on Culture 👇

Every hiring manager should make time for reference checks, especially for leadership roles or those heavily requiring soft skills. While interviews offer insights into a candidate’s background and skill, they only provide one side of the story. Reference checks provide an external perspective, allowing you to make more informed hiring decisions. I recommend asking candidates for references and also seeking out objective references they may not directly provide. Before diving into questions, do some quick research on each reference’s relationship with the candidate, how long they worked together, and their professional connection. This allows you to focus the conversation more productively. Schedule at least 30 minutes to ensure plenty of time to ask questions and fully hear what the reference has to share. Top 5 Reference Check Questions 1. Why do you think the candidate chose to leave your company? This question offers valuable insight into the candidate’s motivations and career aspirations. It can also provide the other side of the story if the exit from the previous company was at all contentious. I prefer to work with people who do their best to leave places in good condition and not burn bridges. 2. Is this person one of the top 5 people you’ve ever worked with? Why? Ranking forces specificity and offers a clearer sense of how this candidate measures up. I find this more insightful than simply asking if they’d work with the person again, as it provides a more direct assessment. If a candidate provides a reference that does not absolutely put them in their top 5 that is a red flag. 3. What’s one area this person improved in while working with you? I put a lot of weight on a candidate’s ability to grow and adapt. This question can reveal how quickly they enhance their value on a team. It’s often helpful to follow up by exploring the process they undertook to improve and how much help the team or company provided. 4. Can you give an example of a time they made a difficult decision or tackled a tough problem? This question is essential for assessing resilience and problem-solving. It’s important to hear about specific challenges the candidate handled, which reveals their grit and determination. I really look for an example of the candidate doing a hard thing that helped the team or company succeed. 5. What was the best thing about working with them? And the most challenging? Unlike traditional strengths and weaknesses questions, this phrasing highlights the candidate’s impact as a teammate. It can reveal aspects of their work style, personality, and how they interact and communicate with others. I love to hear that a candidate is a joy to work with because of their positive attitude, which often has nothing to do with their skill in the role. BONUS: What did you learn from them, and what did they learn from you? I love this question because it often brings out unexpected answers. It reveals the candidate’s openness to feedback and their potential for growth. I want to work with people that are coachable and love to learn, but also enjoy teaching others. Final Thoughts While connecting with multiple references can be time-consuming, it’s almost always worth it. If you’re undecided on a hire or choosing between multiple strong candidates, extra reference checks can provide the clarity you need. Asking similar questions across multiple references and candidates will help you gather a broad set of insights to make the best decision.

This game is looking awesome.

Every team should have clear communication guidelines that are taught and enforced for all employees. You should have a cultural communication guideline document that lists out the channels your team uses to communicate and how each team member is expected to use them. By clearly defining how the team should communicate it becomes easier to enforce the cultural norms you want and accelerates how quickly new team members can onboard into the culture. Check out this example from Proletariat: Culture is often defined as “a series of unwritten rules that everyone knows and follows”. Why do these need to be unwritten? They don’t! Please write them down, especially when it comes to how your team communicates with each other. What should be in a Cultural Communication Guide? For the guide to be useful it should include at least three sections. The value of the guide is in the details. By reading this document every employee should be on their way to becoming a great communicator with the rest of their team. 1. Choosing the Right Communication Channel Teams often use multiple channels—email, Slack, meetings. Clearly define which type of communication belongs where based on message content, urgency, and response needs. 2. Communication Channel Usage Guidelines Once a channel is chosen, the guide should outline how to use it effectively. This includes setting expectations for tone, timing, format, and best practices for emails, meetings, and other interactions. 3. Examples and Best Practices Include examples to show the guidelines in action, making it easier for employees to understand and follow. How do you use a Cultural Communication Guide? The two primary uses for this guide will be with existing teams and with new team members. For existing teams this should be used for creating consistency and agreement on how the team wants to communicate. For new employees it should be part of their training and onboarding. At Proletariat we would include this guide as part of the employee handbook, send it to new employees when they started, and also give a presentation covering these details as part of their onboarding. It is up to company leadership to decide how to enforce these guidelines. The way these are enforced, and how strictly, is also a major reflection on the culture of the team. Do not define these rules and then decide to not enforce them! How do you make a Cultural Communication Guide? Crafting a document like this should be a group effort with feedback from the full team. If there is no agreement on ways to communicate, use the creation of this guide to find compromises. The process of choosing how the team will communicate is a great step to improving efficiency across the team. The best way to start making this guide is to simply write down all the ways the team communicates now. Taking stock of the current communication practices of the team sets a good foundation for discussion around what areas of team communication are working well and what areas could be improved. This should be a living document, something that is updated regularly as your team grows and changes. I have found that certain communication styles can work well when a team is small but fall apart when a team is big.

I recently had the pleasure of joining the @naavik_co Podcast to dive deep into a topic I care deeply about: studio culture and its impact on success. Hosted by @takeit_eazzy, we explored the question: What is culture, and why does it matter? In this episode, we discuss the culture we built at Proletariat, the lessons I learned along the way, and how a strong team culture can be a driving force behind company success. I had the chance to talk about the definition of culture, who is responsible for setting and maintaining it, and actionable tactics leaders can use to build and nurture a thriving culture within their teams. Over the course of our hour-long conversation, we dove into Proletariat’s core values and how they evolved as the company grew. We also touched on how values need to adapt in response to a company’s changing needs and goals. We even talk about the difficult tradeoffs of investing in culture when a company is simply struggling to survive. If you’re curious about how culture can fuel growth, retention, and success, this episode is for you. Check it out here:

Whether you’re stepping into a startup as a non-founder leader or hiring your first executive as a founder, it is critical to build trust quickly. Create a Trust Building Plan One of the most effective ways to build trust is through a clear plan with frequent check-ins that encourage transparent discussion. At Proletariat, we used a 30-60-90 day structure, focusing on two key aspects. The Two Pillars of Leadership Trust Leaders often have two core responsibilities: tasks (the tangible work they produce) and decision-making. 1. Tasks: This involves skill, execution, and communication. It can range from crafting a presentation to delivering complex projects involving large teams. 2. Decision-Making: This is about identifying choices, gathering information, assessing possible solutions, managing differing opinions, and ultimately choosing the right path. Building Trust Through Tasks To build trust through tasks an individual needs to consistently meet or exceed expectations over time. When creating a trust building plan consider the following: 1. Communication: A new leader should set clear expectations and create a communication plan that existing leadership and the new leader can use to keep everyone on the same page. 2. Skill and Competency: New leaders need to build credibility within their team and show that they can apply their skills within the context of where the company is today. Existing leadership should highlight areas where those skills are most needed. 3. Execution: Successful execution shows grit, team building and problem-solving. When creating a plan be sure to focus on what exactly great execution looks like. Start with tasks that are likely to succeed to help build momentum. If a task fails, conduct a post mortem to understand what went wrong and set up the leader for future success. Trust is easily lost through a few failed tasks. Building Trust Through Decision-Making To build trust through decision-making an individual needs to consistently make “good” decisions based on the organization’s decision-making framework. Decision-making is about applying a consistent framework that balances team needs, strategic goals, and company values. I recently wrote a post diving deep into how to delegate decision making which discusses this framework. A trust building plan should lay out how decision-making can be phased over time to give the new leader more and more autonomy as they learn to use the decision making framework. Clear communication on when a new leader should get additional approval, and how much transparency they should provide in the decision-making process, or any other key factors, will help ensure success. If a wrong decision is made it is critical to post-mortem that decision and fix any issues or misalignment. Final Thoughts I know that I trust a new leader when I can delegate a responsibility to them and have full confidence in the outcome. It’s when I can trust them to make decisions, knowing they’ll either choose the path I would have or find an even better one. Trust isn’t built overnight, but through a consistent approach to tasks and decisions, leaders can earn the confidence of their team and set the foundation for long-term success.

Successful delegation hinges not only on the individual leader’s capabilities but also on the prevailing team culture. Cultivating an environment where effective delegation thrives—allowing team members autonomy in decision making and the opportunity to grow without being micromanaged—is a deep topic. A concept that I love from the US Military is known as Commander’s Intent. Simply defined: it is the end-state of the battlefield if the mission is a success. In a business context, this means the leader articulates a detailed vision of the end-state for a successful project to the team but allows the time to define the plan and path to that end state. This approach requires the team to not only devise with their own plan but empowers them to make decisions without the need to go all the way up the chain because a clear final goal has been established Implementing Commander’s Intent Below are several concrete steps to use this process when kicking off a project. 1. Define End-State Success Clearly define what success looks like for the project through objectives and outcomes. An Objective is a desired goal that is both inspirational and easy to understand. An Outcome is a measurable want, need, or change from the current state. 2. Set Constraints and Requirements Identify the constraints and requirements of an end-state victory provides the guard rails for the team to start problem solving and establishing a plan of action. Constraints are limitations or restrictions on any plan or process to reach the desired end state. Requirements are any necessary conditions for the end-state victory. 3. Determine Anti-Goals Define what failure looks like. This helps to clarify what success does not entail and assists in avoiding undesired end-states. Anti-goals include scenarios where the outcomes and objectives might be met, but the project is still considered unsuccessful. 4. Question and Redefine Ensure the entire team understands the Commander’s Intent. Any potential judgment call or unclear circumstance should be brought up and discussed. Each of the previous steps will work better as open dialogs. If they are prescribed ahead of time, it is critical to allow for discussion and redefinition before commencing the project. Final Thoughts The Commander’s Intent is explicit intent. This end-state definition is shared widely and clearly to the entire team. Explicit intent alone is not enough to properly deliver successful results, implicit intent is also required. Implicit Intent is the culture of the team, the rules of engagement, the norms and values the team wants to uphold along with any habits that allow them to function at a high level. These are usually not redefined for every mission or project but they should be defined.

@kylebrussell I went to 4th grade in that school!

@SamiraBehrouzan @speedrun *Bigfoot rocking a great dress

It is hard to hire great leaders and managers. Below are five of my favorite questions to ask in an interview to help you identify strong leadership candidates. Unlike many individual contributor roles, management and leadership positions can be particularly challenging to evaluate in an interview setting. A conversation is just one piece of the puzzle. In addition to interviews, I highly recommend conducting thorough reference checks and ensuring you have a well-structured onboarding plan for new hires—two topics I’ll cover in future posts. In a previous post, I discussed how to hire for grit. Beyond grit, there are several qualities I look for when hiring managers and leaders: the ability to make sound decisions, clear and effective communication (especially when delivering bad news), a results-oriented mindset over political maneuvering, and a high degree of self-awareness. 1. How do you define a high-performing team? This is a strong first question because it opens the door to follow-up inquiries. Here, I’m looking for candidates who can articulate not only how their team achieves results and meets goals but also how they balance company success with individual and team growth. It’s also a good opportunity to assess their views on culture. You can dig deeper by asking how they’ve contributed to creating an environment where high-performing teams can thrive. 2. What steps do you take to deliver difficult news that you know will upset your team? This question often reveals a lot about a candidate. It’s not uncommon for interviewees to seem visibly uncomfortable while answering, as delivering bad news is one of the hardest parts of management. What I listen for here is a commitment to transparency and accountability. Bonus points go to those who can explain how they foster a resilient team culture—one capable of processing and responding to challenging news. 3. How would your team describe your leadership style and strengths as a manager? This question provides two key insights: first, the candidate’s level of self-awareness, and second, a baseline for comparison during reference checks. While there isn’t one "right" leadership style, I want to see that the candidate has put thought into their leadership approach and can articulate what makes them effective. Leaders who are intentional about their craft tend to be the ones who grow and adapt the most successfully. 4. Describe a situation where you’ve had to manage your own emotions effectively to prevent the team from feeling demoralized or negative. It is common to ask how a leader motivates their team, but I find that learning how they avoid demotivating their team is often more insightful. This is especially true in passion-driven industries like game development, where many people are naturally motivated to do great work. In this answer, I want to hear evidence of self-awareness and a thoughtful, considered approach to communication. 5. How would you handle a high-performing team member who is consistently late to work? I love this question because it challenges the candidate to think beyond rigid policy enforcement and into the realm of personalized management. If their answer is, "I’d tell them to be on time or face the consequences," I often follow up with, "What if they say they work best later in the day?" The best responses delve into the nuances of individual management, balancing team culture and performance expectations with the needs of top performers. Final Thoughts Hiring great leaders and managers involves far more than just asking a few well-crafted questions, but these five have proven to be some of the most insightful over the years. When interviewing leadership candidates, think about your company’s culture and what kind of leaders will thrive within it. Remember that interviewing is a skill and you should constantly work to improve your ability to do it well.

“How much money should I raise, and at what valuation?” The answer is a balance between what you should raise and what you could raise. Let’s break down how to approach this for the best possible fundraising outcome. The best outcome is when the amount you should raise to hit the next inflection point for your business is within the range of the amount of money you could raise based on the current market and the company’s past fundraising history. How Much Money Should You Raise? The amount of money you should raise comes from analyzing your strategy and determining where capital can accelerate your success. A useful rule of thumb is to raise enough to hit your next major inflection point, plus six months of additional runway—because things always take longer than expected. Identifying Your Inflection Point Your inflection point should be a milestone that could double your company’s valuation. This could be hitting profitability, launching a product, or reaching a key metric like ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) or user growth. Early-stage investors are often looking for signs that your company can achieve a significant valuation bump within 12–24 months, as that helps them raise their next fund. When you think about how much you should raise, do it in isolation—don’t worry about market conditions or fundraising history just yet. This gives you a clear view of what your business truly needs to succeed, even if the final amount raised differs from this number. How Much Money Could You Raise? This is where the current market conditions and your company’s fundraising history come into play. Fundraising norms vary based on factors like company type, market trends, and investor sentiment, creating some guardrails around how much you could raise and at what valuation. Understanding Market Conditions The fundraising market is always shifting, so check recent deals in your space for benchmarks. For example, the size and valuation of seed rounds can vary depending on your industry and business model. If your company fits well within an established category, recent funding rounds from similar companies can give you an idea of what to expect. Cap Table Considerations Your cap table and previous funding rounds will also impact your raise. Ideally, you want to raise an “up round,” meaning your pre-money valuation should be higher than your last post-money valuation. A general goal is to aim for a pre-money valuation that’s double your previous valuation, and to raise 50% more capital than in your last round. While it’s possible to deviate from these norms—raising a flat round, a down round, or less capital than before—it makes your fundraising more challenging. Investors will ask why, and you’ll need strong answers ready to address their concerns. Testing the Market The tricky part about how much you could raise is that it often requires testing the market directly. You can gather as much intel as possible, but until you start pitching, you won’t know for sure how investors will respond. Be prepared to adjust based on real-time feedback. Final Thoughts The ideal fundraising amount lies at the intersection of what you should raise and what you can raise. If the amount you can raise falls well below what you need, it’s time to rethink your strategy. Conversely, if the market allows for raising significantly more than you need, carefully consider whether to take the extra capital or adjust your goals accordingly.

@BourassaArt Huge congrats!

RT @gamedevdotcom: Proletariat's Spellbreak lives on as a free, player-run game

The game industry is notoriously secretive. That is a mistake. Every team can benefit from radical transparency. By being open with your team, you foster trust, alignment, and accountability—critical elements for any successful startup. Here’s how to implement radical transparency and build credibility as a leader. The Trade-Off of Radical Transparency Radical transparency comes with risks. Startups are a rollercoaster, and not everyone wants to be exposed to every high and low. There’s also the chance of a leak or breach of trust when sharing sensitive information. However, the benefits of transparency far outweigh the risks. When you share as much as possible with your team and trust them to use that information, you empower better decision-making throughout the organization. 1. Communicate Clear Goals Don’t shy away from communicating the key goals that will make or break your team’s success. Boldly sharing big objectives can feel uncomfortable, but it’s foundational to transparency. If your team doesn’t know what they’re working toward, how can they make informed decisions? Every team member should be able to clearly articulate the goals and understand why those goals were chosen. 2. Explain the Decision-Making Process Transparency isn’t just about outcomes—it’s about the process. There are two crucial elements here: Clarify Decision Ownership: Make sure it’s clear who the decision maker is. This can feel awkward in some team cultures, but if it’s ambiguous, the entire decision-making process is set up for confusion or failure. Provide Post-Decision Clarity: After a decision is made, offer full details. Anyone should be able to ask about the process, the options considered, and why a particular choice was made. Even if people disagree with the outcome, they will appreciate understanding how and why the decision came about. 3. Deliver Bad News Transparency isn’t just for good news. Leaders build credibility by delivering bad news openly, honestly, and humbly. Avoiding problems or pretending everything is fine creates a culture of secrecy that prevents teams from addressing challenges head-on. Share the results—good or bad—so the team can learn and grow together. 4. Answer Questions At Proletariat, we held weekly all-team meetings where leadership answered questions from the company. This can be intimidating for leaders, especially as the company grows, but it’s one of the most powerful ways to build credibility. Answering questions authentically builds trust, and mastering this skill is crucial for both internal and external communication. 5. Avoid Surprises When people are surprised, it usually means they were left out of the loop. While not every surprise can be foreseen, many can. If you anticipate that an event might shock your team, it’s a sign that you haven’t been transparent enough about what’s happening in the company and how it will affect them. Final Thoughts I can’t imagine building a strong culture without radical transparency. By giving your team as much information as possible and trusting them to use it wisely, you build a foundation of trust, alignment, and accountability. While transparency has its challenges, the long-term benefits for your culture and your company far outweigh the risks.

This makes me very happy

I love that the community is using this version of the game. I may need to jump into a few matches.

If you are between the ages of 30-40 you will see this and just whisper “hell yeah”

@aaronwhite Alright I’m going for it

@Qwik Indiana Jones and the Great Circle for sure

This is smart. I hope it works.