Interview

From Kabam SVP to DOD Media CEO: Mike DeLaet on sharing his smarts

One door shuts, open another

From Kabam SVP to DOD Media CEO: Mike DeLaet on sharing his smarts

It's often the case the ending of a company opens new opportunities for some of its staff.

That’s certainly been the case for Mike DeLaet.

After four years as SVP of Worldwide Business Development & Licensing at Kabam (Glu Mobile prior to that), the acquisition of parts of Kabam by Netmarble and Fox has provided the impetus to start his own company, DOD Media Group.

Recently joined by ex-Next Radio executive Eric Williams, the pair are looking to make their mark advising companies across a wide range of business services.

“We founded DOD Media Group to help developers scale and grow their business beyond the traditional means such as paid user acquisition campaigns or pure organic downloads from the various app stores,” DeLaet comments.

“Between Eric and I, we’ve driven over one billion downloads of the various mobile apps and games. When working on big products you learn a lot about what works and what doesn't. Failing is all part of that learning process.”

World’s an oyster

In particular, DeLaet says there are two key areas developers should be focusing on.

Everything is evolving very fast to a purely digital environment.
Mike DeLaet

The most obvious is launching higher quality content, which encompasses everything from a better user interface and user experience to retention and monetisation.

He also thinks developers need to work harder when it comes to gaining discovery via the digital distribution platforms which are their lifeblood when it comes to getting users.

“We believe developers can dramatically improve the discovery of their content to consumers via partnerships with the platforms such as the App Store, Google Play, Amazon Appstore etc,” he says.

DeLaet worked on Kabam's biggest hit Marvel: Contest of Champions

Yet, despite its background in mobile, DOD Media is also looking to work with developers across console marketplaces such as PlayStation Store, Xbox Store and Steam.

“Years ago, we would have never touched consoles given the retail nature of the business; however, everything is evolving very fast to a purely digital environment,” DeLaet notes.

“This allows us to scale to new platforms.”

Everyone's invited

He won’t talk about clients yet, but says DOD Media is working with “with everyone from indie developers up to multi-billion dollar companies to grow their businesses on mobile, console and PC”, with opportunities including the resurgence of paid apps thanks to the App Store’s new curation, as well as the rise of augmented reality.

But aside from such trends, he says the goal for DOD Media is more fundamental.

“A lot of developers are struggling to make money. Our ultimate goal is to help our developer partners grow their businesses and become major players in this digital ecosystem.”

You can find out more about DOD Media Group via its website.

Contributing Editor

A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.