Last month, I was in San Francisco for the a16z Speedrun Demo Day — surrounded by brilliant Substack writers, top founders, and sharp investors.
I had the chance to meet so many great friends:
* Great opportunity to meet Andrew Chen and Kevin Kelly
* Hung out with writer friends Guillermo and Ruben
* Met Devansh, founder of Artificial Intelligence Made Simple
* Spoke with Alex Xu, founder of @bytebytego
* Caught up with my longtime friend Marvin Liao from The Hard Fork
* Took Waymo for the first time (yes, I geeked out)
* Thanks to Ryan for this wonderful invitation!
And just last week, I had the opportunity to sit down and record a deep conversation about a16z Speedrun with Josh Lu.
Here’s what I learned — and what founders everywhere can take away.
A Career Like a Speedrun
Josh described his own journey like a video game speedrun – skipping unnecessary steps, learning on the fly, going fast, and iterating. From Yahoo intern to product manager to investor, he’s always been building fast.
"Speedrun is a great metaphor for the founder journey — you don’t stop to collect all the coins, you just go." – Josh
Unlearning Is a Superpower
Whether it was MySpace games, Facebook virality, or mobile hits, Josh learned one thing over and over: the best product people unlearn fast.
The games industry evolves constantly. What worked last year won’t work now. Great PMs drop outdated assumptions quickly.
This is true far beyond games. In startups, what made you win early might hold you back later.
What Makes a Great Product Manager?
Josh’s top two traits:
* Intellectual humility – Can you unlearn quickly and change your mind?
* Love for the product – The best PMs deeply use the product and generate most of the bug reports themselves.
Blank slates often outperform pedigreed hires — if they’re hungry and curious.
Data Beats Intuition (But Only If You Can Get It)
In free-to-play games, data is everywhere. In AAA games, it’s scarce. Josh became more data-driven by watching his assumptions fail — repeatedly.
“My taste in games didn’t match what real players actually liked. I learned to trust the numbers.”
The lesson for founders: intuition is great for starting, but validating with real usage is what builds winners.
Founder Selection in VC Is Different
In Speedrun, most startups are at the idea stage. No traction. Sometimes no game yet.
That’s why Josh focuses almost entirely on the founder:
* Are they resilient?
* Do they have a reason to build this?
* Are they thinking beyond product into company-building?
"You can’t fake resilience in a 15-minute pitch. It shows up fast."
Startup Istanbul is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
AI in Gaming = Compression of Cost
Josh shared how his last game at Blizzard — Diablo Immortal — cost $250M to make. But with today’s AI tools?
That same level of experience may soon cost $150M… then less. AI helps studios do more with less — better assets, faster iteration, cheaper production.
Great for players. Great for small studios. The bar is rising, but so is access.
No-Code Gaming Is Coming
Josh believes non-coders with great vision will increasingly build amazing games, thanks to tools like Roblox, Discord-native games, and UGC platforms.
The skill set of the next generation of game builders? Vision, persistence, creativity — not necessarily code.
Turkey: A Rising Gaming Hub
Josh has personally worked with 3 Turkish gaming startups in Speedrun. He points to role models like Peak Games and Rollic as catalysts for Turkey’s startup flywheel.
"Turkish founders are ambitious, creative, and humble. They’re not afraid to copy what works — and that’s a strength."
What Speedrun Looks for
* Founder-market fit
* Product obsession
* Clear problem definition
* Early signs of resilience
Bonus points if you’ve validated something — even tiny.
Speedrun is IRL in California. Cohorts are small. Network is powerful.
Final Takeaway
Whether you’re building a game or a startup — the mindset is the same:
* Stay curious.
* Move fast.
* Learn from others.
* Be willing to change.
Speedrun isn’t just a program. It’s a mindset.
Thanks to Josh for sharing so generously. You can learn more at Speedrun
Thanks for reading Startup Istanbul! This post is public so feel free to share it.
Get full access to Startup Istanbul at
newsletter.startupistanbul.com/subscribe
