Matt Widdoes and Joshua Lu, one of the mobile gaming minds behind hits like Words With Friends, discuss the evolution of the mobile experience, mobile business growth insights, and strategies for mobile gaming virality. Josh, a partner at a16z Games and GM of SPEEDRUN, shares insights from his current positions and past experiences at Zynga and Blizzard. Matt and Josh get into how to foster effective team collaboration, construct successful viral game launch strategies, and where mobile gaming is headed in the future.

Key Takeaways:

  • Unified Goals in Cross-functional Collaboration: How to set shared goals across teams that maximize impact and engagement
  • Teaching and Understanding Different Functions:  Why mutual understanding among team members is essential for collective success
  • AI in Gaming: Explore the evolving role of AI in reducing production costs and enhancing user experience
  • Startup Team Building: Understanding critical investment factors in early-stage gaming startups
  • The Future of Mobile Gaming: Inside the continued potential for innovation in the mobile gaming market.

Book a complimentary consultation with one of our experts
to learn how MAVAN can help your business grow.

Let’s Talk

Want more growth insights?

Thank you! form is submitted

[hubspot type=”form” portal=”20951211″ id=”9c538ed2-fb12-45f1-a573-ad7953c058cc”]

Related Content

  • Widescreen MAVAN featured graphic on a deep navy-to-black gradient with coral red radial accent lines. Bold white headline reads 'WHAT CAN YOUR PRODUCT LEARN FROM GAMES?' A central coral red engagement-loop diagram connects four circular nodes — 'TRIGGER,' 'ACTION,' 'REWARD,' and 'INVESTMENT' — with arrows showing the cycle and a glow on the 'REWARD' node. A headshot of Dan Barnes sits on the left above 'Insights from Dan Barnes, President, MAVAN,' and a headshot of Matt Widdoes sits on the right above 'Insights from Matt Widdoes, CEO, MAVAN.' A bottom tagline reads 'Build the loop into the core. Run it like a live game.' The coral 'MAVAN' logo appears bottom right. Visualizes the article's thesis that non-gaming products can apply gaming's engagement-loop mechanics to drive retention.

    How Can SaaS and Consumer Products Improve Retention?

    SaaS and consumer brands need to take a page out of gaming’s retention playbook. Games keep players for years by treating launch as the starting line, building an engagement loop into the product’s core, and continuously deploying content and rewards. Non-gaming products can apply the same live-operations approach to turn retention into their cheapest source of growth.

    Read More
  • Featured infographic from MAVAN titled "Why Is Your Startup's Growth Stalling? It's probably not what you think." Side-by-side comparison of two growth operating models on a deep navy-to-black background. Left diagram, labeled FRAGMENTED in coral red, shows five disconnected white nodes — Paid, Creative, Data, Product, and Lifecycle — loosely scattered and joined by thin dashed lines, illustrating a fragmented growth function. A coral red arrow points from left to right. Right diagram, labeled INTEGRATED in white, shows the same five nodes arranged in a clean pentagon, every node connected by solid coral red lines to a central hub labeled ONE OWNER, illustrating an integrated growth pod with one accountable leader. Bottom tagline reads "Fix the operating model, not the tactics." MAVAN logo bottom right. Visualizes the article's core thesis that venture-backed startups stall from structural fragmentation, not bad tactics.

    Why Is Your Startup’s Growth Stalling? Here’s The Fix.

    Growth-stage startups don’t usually stall because the team isn’t working hard enough. They stall because hard work gets distributed across too many disconnected efforts, and nobody owns the system that ties them together. The fix isn’t more ad spend or more specialists — it’s integrating what you already have.

    Read More
  • Featured infographic answering the question "What's the best growth strategy for a startup?" with three interlocking gears labeled POD, DATA, and CADENCE — MAVAN's integrated growth operating model for venture-backed startups. Each gear is annotated with its core principle: the POD gear represents one cross-functional team with one accountable lead, the DATA gear represents one source of truth shared by finance, product, and the board, and the CADENCE gear represents one 90-day window with three constraints and a weekly working session. A closing tagline reads "Integrate before you spend — the three pieces only compound when they lock together," underscoring MAVAN's thesis that startup growth compounds when the operating model is integrated rather than fragmented across vendors.

    What’s The Best Growth Strategy For A Startup In 2026?

    The best growth strategy for a venture-backed startup in 2026 is to integrate before you spend. Fragmented teams, tools, and data silently inflate CAC even when every individual channel looks healthy. Fix the operating model — one accountable pod, one source of truth, one 90-day cadence — and the wins start compounding instead of canceling each other out. Channels do not break unit economics. Lack of measurement discipline does.

    Read More
View More