Building a company from the ground up is an exciting journey that involves grit, patience, and countless hours of commitment. No matter the type of company you're building, there are also always valuable tips and insights that all aspiring founders can learn from. The Gaming Founders Podcast is a great example of this, where the hosts, Kevin Zhang (Partner at Upfront) and Eden Chen (CEO of Pragma) chat with founders that have shaped the gaming industry.

While the show interviews gaming veterans, they all had relevant advice that could be applied to any entrepreneur building a startup - take a look at the seven we gathered below!

1. Try New Hobbies to Help You Recharge and Find New Inspiration

Trent Oster is the CEO of Beamdog, a Canadian video game developer and one of the six original founders of BioWare. He shares that finding a hobby can help sustain your mental and physical health in the long run, adding that starting a company isn’t a “9-5 deal” and it’s actually a “24/7 deal.”

Check out Trent’s episode here.

2. Go Fast and Make the Best of What You Have

Alex Seropian is the founder of several video game companies including Bungie, Wideload Games, and Industrial Toys. He shares that making hard decisions is part of the entrepreneurial journey and it’s not about making the “perfect” decision, but rather making the best out of the situation you’re given:

Check out Alex’s episode here.

3. Make Time for Yourself to Exercise

Emily Greer is the co-founder and CEO of Double Loop Games and co-founder of Kongregate. The one thing she emphasized is the importance of exercise, and wishes she prioritized it more in her life while founding her previous company:

Check out Emily’s episode here.

4. Live in the Moment - It Doesn’t Last Forever

Louis Castle is best known as the co-founder of Westwood Studios (also known for creating the Command & Conquer franchise) and is currently the SVP of Product Development at Deviation Games. His advice to founders is to enjoy the process and live in the moment:

Check out Louis’ episode here.

5. Take Care of Yourself First

Maureen Fan is the CEO and co-founder of Baobab Studios, the 9x Emmy-winning interactive animation studio and former VP at Zynga. She advises entrepreneurs to treat their journey as “a marathon, not a sprint” and to also take care of yourself in addition to those around you:

Check out Maureen’s episode here.

6. Planning Too Much Too Early Can Be a Waste of Time

Uri Marchand is the co-founder and CEO of Overwolf, an all-in-one platform for creating, sharing and monetizing in-game apps and mods. He shared that in a startup environment, plans can change quickly and often so it’s best to avoid planning too far ahead:

Check out Uri’s episode here.

7. Focus on Your Own Goals

Joost van Dreunen is an NYU professor and author, as well as the former CEO & Co-Founder of SuperData Research. He advises founders to not worry about what everyone else is doing and focus on your own goals:

Check out Joost's episode here.

In each episode of the Gaming Founders Podcast, Kevin and Eden invite founders to dive into their origin stories and share the tactics that helped them survive and thrive. New episodes are released on a bi-weekly basis, so be sure to subscribe and check out the show on your favorite podcast platform - including Spotify, Apple Podcast, SoundCloud, and YouTube.