Mitch Lasky Explained

Mitch Lasky
Birth Name:Mitchell Harold Lasky[1]
Birth Date:18 January 1962
Birth Place:Los Angeles, California
Alma Mater:Harvard College, University of Virginia School of Law
Occupation:Venture Capitalist
Employer:General Partner at Benchmark
Spouse:[2]
Children:2, including Quadeca

Mitchell Harold "Mitch" Lasky (born January 18, 1962) is a general partner at the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Benchmark and a former entrepreneur and video game executive.

Education and early career

Lasky received a B.A. degree in History and Literature from Harvard College and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.[3]

Early in his career, Lasky practiced law at the Los Angeles firm Irell & Manella, where he worked on various technology-related intellectual property cases.[4] In 1993, he joined The Walt Disney Company.[5] He left Disney in 1994 to launch a massively multiplayer online game company, Serum Entertainment Software.

Lasky subsequently spent five years at video game publisher Activision, including a stint as executive vice president of Worldwide Studios,[6] helping to launch Quake 3, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and Spider-Man.

In 2000,[7] he joined mobile games company JAMDAT as CEO,[8] and took the company public in 2004.[9] Electronic Arts acquired JAMDAT for $680 million in 2006. Lasky served as executive vice president of mobile and online games at Electronic Arts from 2006 to 2007, after the JAMDAT acquisition.[10]

Benchmark

Lasky joined Benchmark in 2007 as a general partner.[11] He focuses on identifying investment opportunities in mobile, games, digital privacy and identity, and online education. He has led the firm’s investments in and serves on the boards of Snapchat, Ubiquity6,[12] CyanogenMod, Engine Yard, Gaia, Riot Games, PlayFab,[13] Vivox, Grockit, Gaikai, RedRobot, Meteor Entertainment, thatgamecompany, and NaturalMotion.[14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

In June 2012, VentureBeat asked Lasky about the current state of the gaming industry. Lasky replied:

We have seen disruptions come on a regular basis, like when we have a console transition. But I have never seen four major disruptions come all at the same time. We have disruptions in platforms, business models, content, and distribution. It’s the most exciting time I’ve ever seen.

Personal life

Mitch Lasky is the father of musician and YouTuber Benjamin "Quadeca" Lasky.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mitchell H Lasky in 'California Birth Index, 1905-1995'. May 10, 2021. familysearch.org.
  2. Web site: Mitchell Harold Lasky and Cecilia Maria Barajas in 'Virginia, Marriage Certificates, 1936-1988'. May 10, 2021. familysearch.org.
  3. Web site: Board of Directors. Company. Gaikai. 23 August 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120902084846/http://www.gaikai.com/board. 2 September 2012.
  4. Web site: Mitchell Lasky J.D.. https://web.archive.org/web/20130728233337/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=7960873&privcapId=19153&previousCapId=19153&previousTitle=Benchmark%20Capital. dead. July 28, 2013. Executive Profile. Bloomberg Businessweek. 24 August 2012.
  5. News: Takahashi. Dean. Benchmark's Mitch Lasky: Game publishers will evolve or die (interview). 23 August 2012. Venture Beat. 17 July 2012.
  6. Web site: Printable Biography of Mitch Lasky. Biographies. All American Speakers. 23 August 2012.
  7. Web site: Mitch Lasky. Speaker Bio. Dice Summit. 23 August 2012.
  8. News: Elliott. Phil. Mitch Lasky speaks out against "state regulation" of videogames. 23 August 2012. Games Industry International. 10 July 2008.
  9. News: Good Reception for Cellphone Game Maker IPO . . Reuters . 28 . 2004-09-29 . 2024-06-12 . Newspapers.com.
  10. News: Remo. Chris. Former EA Exec Lasky: 'EA Is In The Wrong Business'. 23 August 2012. Gamasutra. 13 January 2010.
  11. News: Lasky steps down at EA, joins VC firm. 23 August 2012. RCR Wireless. 20 March 2007.
  12. Web site: AR startup Ubiquity6 lands $27M Series B to build a more user-friendly augmented reality . TechCrunch. 14 August 2018 .
  13. Web site: Eric. Johnson. Benchmark Leads $7.4 Million Round in Live Games Platform PlayFab. www.recode.com. 27 February 2015 . 16 March 2015.
  14. News: Schonfeld. Erick. Benchmark Bets on Ruby on Rails With $3.5 Million Investment in Engine Yard. 23 August 2012. TechCrunch. 11 January 2008.
  15. News: Williams. Mike. Benchmark's Mitch Lasky: The value of publishers "isn't clear". 23 August 2012. Games Industry International. 18 July 2012.
  16. Web site: Mitch Lasky. VentureBeat Profiles. VentureBeat. 23 August 2012.
  17. News: Takahashi. Dean. Red Robot Labs raises $8.5M for location-based mobile gaming. 23 August 2012. VentureBeat. 14 September 2011.
  18. News: Gallagher. Billy. Snapchat Raises $13.5M Series A Led By Benchmark, Now Sees 60M Snaps Sent Per Day. 23 February 2013. TechCrunch. 8 February 2013.
  19. News: Cutler. Kim-Mai. Cyanogen Mod Raises $7M To Find A Direct-To-Consumer Route For Android Firmware. 27 September 2013. TechCrunch. 18 September 2013.
  20. Web site: Team. Web site. Cyanogen. 27 September 2013.

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