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Crucible MomentsAuthor: Sequoia Capital
A podcast about the inflection points that shaped some of the most significant companies of our time. Crucible moments are pivotal decisions that determine your trajectory. In Season 2, hear from founders and leaders like Steve Chen of YouTube, Drew Houston of Dropbox, Frank Slootman of ServiceNow and Tony Xu of DoorDash, Steve Huffman of Reddit and more about how they navigated the challenges and opportunities that defined their stories. Hosted by Roelof Botha of Sequoia Capital. The content of this podcast does not constitute investment advice, an offer to provide investment advisory services or an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy an interest in any investment fund. Language: en Genres: Business, Entrepreneurship, Investing Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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Supercell ft Ilkka Paananen - How an Early Pivot Led to ‘Clash of Clans’ and ‘Brawl Stars’
Thursday, 6 November, 2025
Founder and CEO Ilkka Paananen set out to create a different kind of game company—one where the game development teams would have decision-making power, not upper management. Ilkka recalls the early decision to scrap their first game and the entire cross-platform strategy that had landed them a Series A financing in order to make a counterintuitive pivot and focus exclusively on mobile. The decision launched one of gaming's most remarkable success stories: By obsessing over quality and treating failures as learning opportunities, Supercell created enduring hits like “Clash of Clans,” “Hay Day,” and “Brawl Stars,” and defined a new standard for mobile gaming. But success brought new challenges. By 2023, Supercell had slipped from the top 10 mobile publishers for the first time in a decade. Ilkka reveals how the company reinvented itself yet again to set a record-breaking year in 2024, and discusses Supercell’s future in the AI era. Featuring: Ilkka Paananen, Maya Hoffree, Joost van Dreunen Hosted by: Roelof Botha, Sequoia Capital
