Britton Hennessy

CEO and Co-Founder at AI solutions for game studios and community-driven teams.

[Karri Saarinen @karrisaarinen]

We keep hearing about 10x or 100x productivity gains in engineering and knowledge work.

But outside the model labs, I haven’t seen the corresponding 10-100x revenue growth across the market or increase in quality.

So where is the productivity going?

[David Senra @davidsenra]

The Man Behind Grand Theft Auto VI and a $45 Billion Media Empire: Strauss Zelnick

Strauss Zelnick has been one of the most powerful people in media for decades, and most people still don't know his name. He took over Take-Two Interactive while the company was under criminal investigation and was 6 months from bankruptcy. It had one product that made money (GTA); everything else was unprofitable. Since then, Take-Two has gone from a $700 million disaster to a $45 billion empire built on Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead, and NBA 2K. His management philosophy fits on a napkin: hire the best creative talent on Earth, don't interfere, and run a rational company. He's been doing that for more than 4 decades. This conversation was awesome.

0:00 Hostile Takeover With No Money
1:29 Becoming the New Media Guy
3:58 Lessons From Entertainment History
9:44 Why Hollywood Feared Games
11:52 Fox Turnaround and Barry Diller
20:54 Rupert Murdoch and High Stakes Calm
26:20 Taking the Leap to Crystal Dynamics
38:04 Bootstrapping Without Capital
43:57 Carl Icahn Connection
47:01 Take Two Proxy Coup
56:36 Turnaround Cost Cutting Playbook
1:01:37 Leading Creative Geniuses
1:06:24 Rationality Beats Magic
1:07:54 Borderlands Bet
1:09:28 GTA Timelines Pressure
1:11:22 Specific Goals Visualization
1:21:34 Service Leadership Mindset
1:31:52 Media vs. Entertainment
1:34:22 AI Productivity Reality
1:36:08 Why Hits Surprise

Includes paid partnerships.

[Britton Hennessy @brithennessy]

@rogie @figma Clicking on my profile pic to follow me around! Game changer for virtual meetings with Figma first-timers.

[Britton Hennessy @brithennessy]

@trevorgrogers This is why we hire mostly jr designers. It’s much more effective for us to find intuitive designers who can see a ticket and design a solution as fast as possible.

Bottlenecking your engineerings with process-heavy designers is costly.

[Britton Hennessy @brithennessy]

Finally got the trucks out to explore some BLM land.

Casually had to pull over for a convoy of tanks.

[Britton Hennessy @brithennessy]

@jasonfenske13 It really is an engineering marvel. Amazing vehicle!

But using 10,000lbs to transport 200lbs of human is the complete opposite of 'green' or 'efficient.'

[Britton Hennessy @brithennessy]

So you’re telling me I just have to sit here and wait an entire year to watch another episode of #Severance?!

[Britton Hennessy @brithennessy]

@jasonfenske13 I’m always surprised there aren’t more EV fleet vehicles.

Precise and routine service areas.
Daily drop off zones.
Dramatically reduced maintenance schedules.

Seems like a perfect fit.

[Britton Hennessy @brithennessy]

If the Boise housing market crashed 30% tomorrow, that would bring us back to... 2020 prices.

This market is absolute madness for first-time home buyers.

[Britton Hennessy @brithennessy]

Virtually all testing sites in the Treasure Valley are booked out through Wednesday.

Idaho is about to be absolutely ravaged by COVID-19.

[Britton Hennessy @brithennessy]

@flarup @Mikkel_Hartmann Small form factor is the best! The top hat will definitely help. I had to remove the dust filters on my DA2.

But now runs AOE and Halo all day long without breaking 72 degrees.

[Britton Hennessy @brithennessy]

@meowrissssa Anybody with talent is most certainly looking at jobs in Seattle, San Diego, Austin, and Denver wondering why they continue to make sacrifices to be in Boise when they can earn much more and live a similar lifestyle.

[Britton Hennessy @brithennessy]

@meowrissssa The income difference between remote-tech jobs and your local jobs is growing so dramatically here. It seems every day there are more stories of people working great, professional jobs but are leaving because the income is simply not enough.

[Inspired by Iceland @iceland]

Some said an open-world experience this immersive wasn’t possible. But it’s already here. And you don’t even need silly VR headsets.

Introducing, ✨Icelandverse✨
#icelandverse

[Treefort Music Fest @treefortfest]

First wave of artists playing #Treefort10 is HERE & they’re makin’ a splash 💦 Dive into some familiar names, fresh faces and SO. MUCH. MORE!!! So, grab your headphones 🎧, slap on our playlist + get ready for the 10th celebration of Treefort Music Fest ⏩ https://t.co/kPsO6sRi2v

[Britton Hennessy @brithennessy]

Upstairs neighbors moved out. Back-to-back 25% increases in their rent. Welcome to Boise.

[Britton Hennessy @brithennessy]

10 years from now, we're going to look back and wonder how we just stood by as social media ruined the mental health of an entire generation.

https://t.co/Ze5vIcF9jW

[Britton Hennessy @brithennessy]

There is absolutely no way that the headlights in the new F150 are DOT approved.