Johnny Monsarrat co-created a new category of video game as founder of Turbine, one of the “big three” first MMO game companies. Warner Brothers bought Turbine for $160MM, and MMO games now earn $54B a year.

Turbine’s games won two Game the Year D.I.C.E. awards, the “Oscars” of gaming, for Asheron’s Call and Lord of the Rings Online. Turbine’s games also include Dungeons & Dragons Online, and mobile game Game of Thrones: Conquest, which earned $750MM.

In technology, Johnny is an internationally award-winning artificial intelligence expert from the MIT AI Lab, MIT Media Lab, Harvard, and Brown University, who helped build the world’s first juggling robot, and was the first person to drive a robot remotely using the Internet.

In business, he is an Ivy League award-winning public speaker with an MIT MBA, a Guinness World Record, and Richard Dawkins Apex Award. His consulting clients have included billionaires Penn Jillette and Cyan Banister.

Brian Sullivan is an award-winning game designer and serial entrepreneur. He has cofounded two game companies and co-created Age of Empires, the $1B Microsoft game franchise, and Titan Quest. His games have sold over 25 million copies worldwide and have won countless industry awards.

He has also helped develop the game program at Northeastern University, including teaching game design courses. Previous to working in the games industry, Brian was an IT consultant for over a dozen years. He is a graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University.

Mike Ybarra has decades of leadership and operational experience in technology and gaming at large, public companies. He is currently the CEO of PrizePicks, one of the largest fantasy sports companies in the US. Prior to that, as President of Blizzard Entertainment for more than 5 years, he was responsible for the 5,000+ organization driving growth, engagement, and player satisfaction across a $3B+ portfolio.

Blizzard was one of three divisions of Activision Blizzard before its acquisition by Microsoft for $68.7 billion in 2023. Blizzard makes some of the world’s most beloved video game franchises, including Warcraft, Diablo and Overwatch. Previously, Mike served as Executive Vice President & General Manager of Platform and Technology at Blizzard, where he was responsible for a 1,400-person organization across Platform and Development Services.

Before Blizzard, Mike spent 22 years at Microsoft, helping to create software and entertainment that reached billions of people around the globe. He led management and development teams of several versions of Microsoft Windows before moving to Xbox, including as Corporate Vice President at Microsoft, driving engineering and program management for the Xbox portfolio.

Jack Tretton has 35 years’ experience as an interactive entertainment executive, including as President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America from 2006-2014, with a multi-billion-dollar P&L responsibility. He has launched some of the most successful consumer products of all time, generating record profits and establishing the PlayStation as a worldwide leader.

After being Vice President of Sales at Activision from 1986-1991, he joined Sony Corporation in 1995 and was a key part of the team that created the original PlayStation and was involved in the development and publishing of all major Sony consoles and handhelds, including the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and also Sony’s first forays into the handheld market, the PlayStation Portable (PSP) and PlayStation Vita.

An industry icon, Jack is a featured global keynote speaker who previously served as Chairman of the Entertainment Software Association, the US video game trade association that organizes Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the largest digital entertainment conference in the world.

Today, he is President of Coastal Interactive Associates, a global consulting and investment firm providing market analysis, M&A support, strategic management services and funding assistance to the interactive entertainment, consumer products, and consumer electronics industries.

Jenna Seiden has more than 25 years’ experience as an executive in video games, XR, and media, including serving as Vice President of Business Development at Niantic Labs, maker of Pokémon Go, where she led efforts across IP/Publishing, Mapping, AR, Platform, and other key areas.

She began her career in sports marketing at the NBA and has held executive positions at CAA, Xbox, HTC, Maker Studios, and Meta. Jenna is board advisor to three Emmy-winning immersive and games studios Arvore, Baobab, and Felix & Paul and consults across the AI and XR landscape. She also founded an AI and IoT solutioning company for conservation and sustainability, Zambezi Partners. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

David Anderman is a seasoned executive in technology, media, and consumer products, and former General Counsel of SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket company, who assisted their 2020 raise of $1.9B.

He previously spent 16 years at Lucasfilm Ltd., George Lucas’s entertainment empire, where as COO he was responsible for the day-to-day business of all subsidiaries. In 2012, he negotiated the $4 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney, earning the Variety Dealmaker of the Year Award. He also negotiated deals including:

• First ever presentation of a feature film via digital cinema for Star Wars: Episode I
• First satellite distribution of a theatrical release for Star Wars: Episode II
• First user generated fan video site for a major film property, StarWars.com
• Long term license agreements with Hasbro, LEGO, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Sony Online and others, as well hundreds of merchandise and promotional licenses in over 100 countries for Star Wars and Indiana Jones
  Digital, theatrical, and home video distribution agreements with Fox, Paramount, Warner Bros., Apple, and Yahoo!

In between, he was Chief Business Officer and General Counsel for Jaunt, the AR/VR platform acquired by Verizon, helping raise $125M from Disney, CAA, China Media Capital, and others.

Stephen Saltzman is the former Managing Director for Intel Capital for 16 years, specializing in AR/VR, video games, and esports. In his last ten years there, Intel Capital had more positive venture exits than any other VC fund of any type in the world.

Previously, he helped Intel’s PC Enhancement Operation grow from $6M/year to over $250M/year in 3 years, and he co-founded Now Software, which became the world’s largest Macintosh-only software publisher. Then he was founder and General Manager of Intel’s Wi-Fi division. Stephen is a former Inc. Magazine-Ernst & Young Software Entrepreneur of the Year finalist and a former Oregon High-Tech Entrepreneur of the Year finalist.
.

Sandy Climan was previously Corporate EVP and President of Worldwide Business Development of Universal Studios.

He started his entertainment career at MGM, holding executive positions in motion picture production and the distribution of films and television. He became the founding head of the corporate practice at Creative Artists Agency, where he represented well-known actors including Robert De Niro, Robert Redford, Kevin Costner, and Danny DeVito, and Oscar-nominated director Michael Mann.

Achievements include: Executive Producer of the first digital live-action 3D feature film, “U2 3D,” and Producer of “The Aviator,” directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, for which he won a BAFTA and a Golden Globe Award. He has a BA, MS, and MBA from Harvard.

Craig Kornblau built his media career at NBC Universal and Disney, where he spearheaded projects around transformative technology and delivery, and is now principal of a strategic consulting firm.

Craig was President of Universal Studios Home Entertainment for 15 years, where he oversaw sales, marketing, distribution, and finance for Universal’s North American home entertainment operations. A critical function of this position was his participation on the studio’s theatrical greenlight committee. Prior to Universal, Craig was an executive at Buena Vista Home Video, now Walt Disney Home Entertainment. He is GV’s (formerly known as Google Ventures) first advisor from the media and entertainment sector, and he serves on the board of directors of a variety of companies in the media and tech space.

He has a broad network of consumer and retail partners including Amazon, Apple, Best Buy, Comcast, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, Target and Walmart. Craig has previously held board positions with the Consumer Electronics Association, Digital Entertainment Group, Media Audits International, and Next Level Communications. Craig earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business.

Ninis Samuel has 20 years’ experience at top tech companies building brands, launching new technology products, driving strategic partnerships, and leading e-commerce and product teams worldwide.

He was most recently Vice President of Consumer Product Marketing & Innovation at T-Mobile, where he reported directly to the CMO of the Consumer Group. Previously he was CMO & Digital Officer at SteelSeries, a top gaming and esports brand. He’s also led consumer marketing and strategy for companies including Lenovo and Microsoft.

Dan Gould was formerly VP Technology at Tinder, where he led data and AI efforts while building revenue from zero to over $1 billion.

Previously, Dan was co-founder of Newroo which was acquired in 2006 by Fox Interactive Media/NewsCorp. He then served as VP Technology at the Fox Audience Network as it grew from zero to the world’s 5th-largest ad network.

In 1999, he founded Corridor, inventing what is arguably the first modern social network. He was previously a researcher at the National Institutes of Health and at the Brown University Computer Graphics Group. He has consulted for a variety of companies, including Cyberkinetics, which developed the first Brain-Computer Interface. He has won various awards in CS and served advisory boards including Hyatt Hotels.