Boyden s presents discussions with business and thought leaders from organizations across the globe. The series focuses on topical issues that offer executives, political leaders and the media insight into current trends in business and talent management in the global marketplace. This issue features Jeff Karp, Executive Vice President, Mobile and Social Games, at GSN Digital. He discusses how social casinos are bringing in new gamers as consumers, leadership lessons learned from Electronic Arts and Zynga, why competitive tennis shaped his management makeup, and how F-A-T analysis can be used to predict whether a new hire will be successful. Jeff Karp Jeff Karp has been Executive Vice President, Mobile and Social Games, at GSN Digital since September 2012. In this role, he oversees the virtual currency business across GSN Digital s mobile, social and online gaming platforms. Previously, Mr. Karp was Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer at Zynga. Prior to that, he was Executive Vice President, Play Label, for Electronic Arts, where he had global responsibility for Play Label s highly successful franchises, including The Sims, SimCity and Harry Potter. He held previous executive positions with Electronic Arts including Chief Revenue Officer, Games Label, and Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Americas. Mr. Karp received a bachelor s degree in communication and business from Arizona State University. Boyden: What attracted you to lead GSN s mobile and social platforms? Karp: At a macro level, gaming is going through a very dynamic and substantial transition. As I looked out there in the gaming environment, I saw GSN as that unpolished gem. It has strong momentum in the virtual casino space, which is one of the fastest growing segments in gaming itself. GSN has also just started crossplatform play, and we have an amazing ability to create games on the Facebook canvas as well as on mobile phones, tablets and GSN.com. We already had some strong brand partnerships in place, such as Wheel of Fortune. The other thing that was exciting to me is that GSN had strong financial backing and support from DIRECTV and Sony Pictures Entertainment. That all said, we re still in a start-up scrappy mode, but with great assets and gems in place. We have the ability to have a really long run in a very dynamic marketplace. The last thing that was highly appealing to me was our ability to leverage TV through our GSN TV network. Right now you haven t seen a lot of people optimize games on TV, but secondary screens could be another entertainment breakthrough in the near future. Having a sister TV company that speaks to 75 million plus households in North America is appealing and creates a further runway for GSN games.
p. 2 Boyden: While the revenue model is still maturing, have online casinos been an entertainment outlet for people who traditionally have not been gamers? And what s the future of online casinos? Karp: I think one of the things we ve done right, from the inception of our business, is approach social games through a portal strategy. Other gaming companies typically have one game and one app and the experience beyond that game ends. We ve created what I like to call a virtual Dave and Buster s [restaurant chain featuring sports and games] in the sky. GSN Casino is a suite of casino games that is not only updated with new content but new games. Our social casino portal is a virtual playground of your favorite games that is constantly evolving as a result of innovation, entertainment value and player feedback. Boyden: What are some of the games that are growing in popularity? Karp: Social casino, which includes virtual slots games like Deal or No Deal Slots and Wheel of Fortune Slots; BINGO games like Video Bingo and Wheel of Fortune BINGO; as well as card games like Video Poker are very successful in gaming. What these games have in common is that they are highly accessible, recognizable and offer quick bursts of fun. They are bringing in a whole new audience that didn t perhaps think of themselves as gamers before. They create a new form of active entertainment that provides snack-size fun and escapism for our players. Boyden: How do social networks such as Facebook play into your market strategy? Karp: Online social networks have a huge role to play in expanding our international focus. The great thing about a social network like Facebook is that it instantly connects you with a billion players across the globe. I know there is the perception that Facebook is flat and declining, but I would actually argue and advocate that we are just at the tip of the opportunity that social networks like Facebook provide. It also provides us the opportunity for our players to socialize their favorite games, their achievements and chat with their friends. It creates a common language and social currency between you and your friends. Whether it s mobile or Facebook or any other social platform I think the ability to appeal to an abundant and large global audience is pretty inspiring. It gives us opportunities to expand online gaming into the daily lives of players throughout the world. Boyden: What s your view on market saturation in your industry? Do you anticipate a reverse trend? Karp: I don t really see a lot of saturation. I think there are a lot of people going after similar genres, but I would argue that there are a lot of proven genres out there that have yet to make a dramatic impact on social gaming. I worked firsthand on EA SPORTS Need for Speed racing as well as Battlefield and Medal of Honor first-person/third-person shooter games. They
p. 3 are all proven genres and games that have yet to come over to social games. We know there are tens of millions of players and billions of dollars being spent on these genres, yet they have still not broken through social gaming in a significant way. One would argue that social gaming is still in its infancy. I believe gaming will bifurcate in two directions. Console games will become more like high production movies, with two plus years in development and $50 million plus budgets that will continue to prosper to hundreds of millions of fans. Social games will be more like TV months in development with constant iterations that will appeal to billions of players. I believe both will continue to evolve and be driving forces in the entertainment industry. Boyden: There s a ubiquitous buzz about multichannel marketing today. What opportunities and challenges are you faced with in this regard? Karp: Our goal is to be platform agnostic. You could argue that there are things we do in our everyday lives that we could start to gamify and have fun with. Whether it s something as simple as how many people are following you on Twitter to how many friends you have on Facebook, in certain regards you could argue that we have created games out of those things already. Our marketing is more aligned to the momentum of social currency rather than to a specific game. You will continue to see a trend where people just make fun entertainment out of the everyday things they do. Boyden: Will virtual currency continue to lead business in gaming? Right now, virtual currency is the leading driver of revenues. I believe in the near future, probably in about two years, advertising will become bigger than virtual currency. Brands and gaming companies will continue to evolve by providing new reward mechanics and incentives that will enhance players entertainment experiences. Players will ultimately win, as they will be rewarded for interacting with brands through game progression, collectible items and/ or enhanced experiences. Boyden: Do you see this as more compelling to GSN in the future? Karp: I don t think it s just compelling to GSN, but to the industry overall. There are a lot of games that can be enhanced by integrating brands into them. For example, when I worked on Need for Speed, the more you could create a sense of realism in the game, the more it would enhance the player s experience. When we integrated 7-Eleven or Burger King, or any real-life brands into the game, it enhanced the entertainment experience. Additionally, when I was working on Farmville we integrated an insurance company brand into the gaming experience. Normally, your crops would wither in Farmville but the insurance company gave the players the insurance so your crops wouldn t wither the next day.
p. 4 Boyden: What leadership lessons did you take away from your time at Zynga and EA? Karp: Overall, I focus on a few key initiatives. First, to me the success of a company is dependent on its people. I look at how I can create a fun and inspiring environment and make people feel like they are part of something special. The second piece is building a team that feels empowered. To me, it s about creating an environment that people feel good about, and a clear roadmap with a compelling vision and strategy, which will help the team understand where they are going and how they can contribute. Once you set that roadmap, then people have clarity about what they are trying to achieve, and clear KPIs, in turn, empower the team to do their best. Lastly, in the creative world, culture is highly imperative. So the third piece is, I try to maintain a clear respect for the culture and find a balance between the company s cultural history and where it is headed in the future. If your people believe, they will be willing to run through walls for you because they are just inspired day in and day out. Boyden: So, looking forward to going to work on Mondays is key? Karp: That s kind of been my own personal litmus test. I look for an environment that encourages you to be highly collaborative. You also want to find the balance between being tough but fair. It s about that coach or teacher in your life that got the most out of you and at times made you little bit frustrated, but you always knew that they were being candid and fair. And they got more out of you than anybody else, or than even you thought you could give. I kind of use the analogy of what people would think about me at the dinner table. I think it s important to have that perspective of the people you work for, and what they d think about you. Were you fair? Were you honest? Did you help develop them? Did you get the most out of them? Those are things I look at when I am working with my teams, and understanding that when people look back at the time they worked with me, that it s important they feel that that part of their career was successful and they felt good about it. Then, it s a combined win for both of us. Boyden: What do you look for in managers and your direct reports? Karp: I call it F-A-T. When I evaluate talent, I use the acronym F-A-T, which is the following: Are they the right fit? Do they have the right attitude? And are they talented? There are a lot of people who are highly talented in the world. If somebody is the right fit for your culture, they are going to fit right in. But, every time you add one new person to your team it slightly changes the dynamics of your culture and your team. The first thing I look for is determining the right fit for the culture. Then I determine if the candidate has the can-do attitude and passion, and if people will want to work with them.
p. 5 And purposely I put talent as third. Even with a high level of talent and ability to learn, if candidates don t have the right fit and the right attitude, it will be an uphill climb to be successful. I have worked with some highly talented people who are brilliant, but they just can t navigate the workplace effectively because people don t want to follow them. I have also worked with people who stand out based on their ability to inspire the team in totality. People would run through walls for them. They get the most out of everybody around them. That s my F-A-T. Boyden: Since your job revolves around games, do you manage to play for fun and delineate from work? Karp: I have to take my career in two different stages. I started my career in the sporting goods world, where I grew up playing competitive tennis. I was ranked both nationally and internationally and participated in the Olympic Trials. My passion for the sport helped me land a job in the tennis industry, where I spent the first 10 plus years of my career. I took my competitive spirit and learnings in tennis and brought them over to my sports industry career. During my time in the tennis industry, I had a hard time delineating work from fun. I would go onto the tennis court with my friends and start doing market share analysis. I d look at the end of the tennis court and at the other four courts, and I d say, OK, we have 30 percent market share here because we had 10 people playing with Wilson rackets. I couldn t get away from the analysis side of things, even on the court. Today, I have learned how to have more of a balance and am very fortunate that I work in an industry I have a great passion for. It aligns with my enthusiasm for pop culture and how it can drive gaming, where I am able to connect with people and players to enhance their fun and joy. It s funny, when I was at Wilson Sporting Goods, we used to say we sold hope. When you buy that racket, you hope to become a better tennis player. Even my kids, they think all I do is play games all day. They don t really think it s a job. There is a business end to what we do, but that s all in the fun of it as well. Boyden: You have an impressive track record in building some of the most popular businesses at both Zynga and EA. What career advice would you give an aspiring manager trying to move up the ranks in these competitive times? Karp: I ve always used this filter: Find opportunities that you are passionate about. As soon as a job becomes a job, you shouldn t do it. If a job is your passion, then I think you are much more likely to be successful. Don t think you are above doing anything in the beginning. Continue to be a sponge. Learn as much as you can. I would also recommend trying to find some people to be mentors to you. Reach out to people either in the same field or even outside your field who can give you candid advice along the way. Don t just align with like-minded people, but also get different points of view from people who have different per-
p. 6 spectives. It might take an engineer, an artist, and people from all across the board to give you their points of view in order to help you make what you think are the best decisions. In my case, I had a key moment about 15 years ago. I was working with an executive coach. I used to feel like I had to win every discussion, but I learned that s not the best attribute in the world. The point I learned is that it s important to manage people who are your peers as well as manage people above you. The light bulb went off for me a while back that it s just as important to think about managing the people who manage you as it is about managing the people you oversee. Your job, believe it or not, is to manage your boss just as much as he is managing you to make sure you guys are always aligned and in step and in tune together. We would like to thank Dan Grassi of Boyden Atlanta for making this edition of Boyden s possible. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of Boyden; only those of Mr. Karp. For Mr. Grassi s insight into the current executive markets in the gaming, multimedia and digital entertainment sectors, please continue to the Boyden View section. I think everybody should be accessible and everybody is instrumental to the success of the company. It doesn t matter if you are in customer support or the VP of Marketing. Everybody has a role. It s a collaborative effort. It s accountability for all of us to challenge one another. I always tell people it s okay to be critical. It s not okay to be cynical. To me, critical people are always challenging the status quo, but in a productive way. Cynical people are people who just point fingers, and are just complainers. I love people who are critical because they re hoping to get us to a better place.
p. 7 The Boyden View: The Never-Ending War for Talent in Silicon Valley Daniel Grassi Daniel Grassi is the Managing Director of Boyden Atlanta The quest for top talent in Silicon Valley never subsided even during the recent recession. Are the same drivers still in place for the near future? The quest for talent in Silicon Valley is still very competitive. The difference today is that ROI is extremely important. You need to back up your experience with proven business results. In digital entertainment, in which functions is competition for executives the most intense? Competition for executives in digital entertainment is most intense for general management, marketing and business development. each other, especially where each of them excel. Is talent itself more valued in digital entertainment, compared to traditional industries such as industrial and consumer products? Not necessarily. Talent is valued in any company or industry. The difficulty in interactive/digital entertainment is that there are so many platforms to interact with the consumer, you need to find talent that understands all the connection points. How do cultures compare between Silicon Valley and traditional Hollywood in what companies are looking for in a leader? It s difficult to compare cultures. When looking for a leader companies focus on ability to manage, delegate, and attract talent. The executive who can build, motivate and engage his/her team will be in high demand. Have the executive attributes that clients seek actually become more similar in Silicon Valley- and Hollywood- connected concerns as digital entertainment subsectors continue to converge? Yes, we re seeing a merger of cultures in some key areas. Both Silicon Valley and Hollywood have learned from