Paul Murphy – Build for markets you understand

My guest today is Paul Murphy. Paul is a General Partner at Northzone , the venture capital firm that has backed iconic European companies like Spotify and Klarna. Paul’s background – especially when it comes to international expansion – is incredible.  At Northzone, Paul has backed companies like TIER and Hopin (which has truly become the breakout company of 2020). We discuss the international growth paths of both of these companies in the episode. Prior to Northzone, Paul founded and was CEO of mobile games company Dots. There is a ton to learn from the trajectory of Dots, which was recently acquired by Take Two Interactive for almost $200m. The company has a a fascinating story of international ups and downs. We talk about lessons learned from trying to expand into China, the role strategic investors like Tencent can play in a company’s growth, and what he would do differently if trying to build a global gaming company today. I also want to give a shout out to Vincent, Paul’s colleague at Northzone, for making the intro today.  To read the full transcript and my key takeaways, head to venturedesktop.substack.com.