Ep 95: From Launching Angry Birds Space with NASA to Throwing Parties in Decentraland | Marja Konttinen (Marketing Director, Decentraland) - a podcast by Ling Yah

It’s not normal to make yourself redundant, right? 😳

It’s hard enough applying for a job 😩, going through 5-8 rounds of interview 🤢before settling into your new role & figuring out how everything works.

And what it takes to reach the top. 🧐

It’s also not normal to work with NASA to launch a new product (Angry Birds Space🐦 !!) & have an astronaut 👨‍🚀 talk about it live from the International Space Station 🌚.

🎉And yet, that’s exactly what Marja Konttinen has been up to. 

Marja Konttinen is the current Marketing Director at Decentraland - yes, the place that hosts all those fancy avatar-attending Metaverse Fashion & Art Festivals 🎊 . Where virtual plots (pixels, really) have sold for millions 💸.

So what’s Marja’s story?

Well for starters, Marja has had a very varied career. Which is explained by her approach to work:

“My whole career has been this fun adventure where I like saying yes to opportunities and when that opportunity comes, I will definitely go for it.”

Her first job in the games industry = beta test Hitman Bloodmoney. 

Aka playing games all day to uncover bugs & determine the functioning of the gameplay.

Aka literally playing to earn money! 👾

That kickstarted her 15-year journey in the games industry.

A particular highlight we touched on was her stint as Marketing Director at Rovio Entertainment.

Her first job?

Call NASA. 😍

Because Rovio was about to launch Angry Birds Space. It was going to be HUGE, everyone wanted a slice of it, and Marja was at the eye of the storm🌪.

Now Marja’s at Decentraland. She’s spearheading its marketing efforts but is quick to say that her ultimate goal is to make herself redundant. Which ties back to the ethos of decentralisation (weird as it sounds!).

Her dream: that the Decentraland DAO runs the entire operations by themselves as a collective. 

So we of course talk about that. 

What are those challenges? What is the true value of virtual land? And what does it really take to throw a great virtual party?

✨Welcome to STIMY Ep 95!✨

Highlights:

• 2.56 Being artistic
• 4:47 Saying yes to opportunities
• 7:36 Lessons learned from the gaming industry
• 9:24 Working with gaming developers
• 10:51 Becoming the Marketing Director at Rovio Entertainment
• 12:12 Good partnerships are a gut feeling
• 13:23 Spearheading the launch of Angry Birds Space & NASA Collaboration
• 17:17 Planning the launch
• 17:56 Biggest challenge in the gaming industry
• 18:44 How do you build community?
• 20:34 Making herself redundant as the marketing director at Decentraland
• 23:34 How Decentraland’s DAO works
• 27:30 Challenges in removing herself as a marketing director
• 28:51 Why pick Decentraland over everyone else?
• 32:16 What is the true value of virtual land?
• 35:23 How companies can fully utilise virtual land
• 40:04 Renting, not buying
• 41:44 Behind-the-scenes of throwing a virtual party
• 43:26 What do people always forget to do when planning a virtual party?
• 44:32 Web3 metrics of success 
• 46:05 How companies can get started in web3

📍Show notes: www.sothisismywhy.com/95 

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