Dan Sturman's guest appearances

Dan Sturman

IT Visionaries

Retail Mavericks

Into the Metaverse

OwlTail

This week Yon welcomes Dan Sturman into the metaverse. Dan is a world class technologist, having spent time leading software and engineering teams and departments at IBM, Google, and Cloudera, before taking on his current role as CTO of Roblox nearly four years ago.  Coming off of all of the news and announcements made at last weekend’s Roblox Developers Conference 2023 (RDC23) it’s an incredible time to get to chat with Dan about all things Roblox and metaverse. During their conversation Yon and Dan discuss the importance of Roblox remaining a turnkey platform, how to enable efficiency in the creator marketplace, the new Roblox Connect feature and what that experience will be like, evolving a platform to match a maturing audience, getting to one billion daily active users, and much more. Chapters:  Defining the Metaverse (01:15)  What Attracted Dan to the Challenge of Building Roblox (04:32)  Differentiating Roblox as a Turnkey Platform (08:15)  Creation and the Building of Business On Top of Roblox (13:12)  Enabling Efficiency in the Creator Marketplace (19:10)  The Importance of Communication and Roblox Connect (22:28)  Expansion onto MetaQuest and Playstation (30:10)  Evolving the Games and Experiences for a Maturing Audience (33:28)  What Needs to be True for Roblox to Get to a Billion DAU (37:35)  Supporting Different Needs for Different Creator Types to Monetize (42:08)  Blockchain and the Future of Interoperability (45:54)  What is Dan Most Excited About for Next Twelve Months (48:22)   To learn more about the Roblox platform, visit their website. Follow Roblox: YouTube | Instagram | Twitter Follow Dan: LinkedIn | Twitter  Learn more about Into the Metaverse and Yon by visiting the website. Follow Yon: LinkedIn | Twitter Learn more about Supersocial by visiting the website.

This week Yon welcomes Dan Sturman into the metaverse. Dan is a world class technologist, having spent time leading software and engineering teams and departments at IBM, Google, and Cloudera, before taking on his current role as CTO of Roblox nearly four years ago.  Coming off of all of the news and announcements made at last weekend’s Roblox Developers Conference 2023 (RDC23) it’s an incredible time to get to chat with Dan about all things Roblox and metaverse. During their conversation Yon and Dan discuss the importance of Roblox remaining a turnkey platform, how to enable efficiency in the creator marketplace, the new Roblox Connect feature and what that experience will be like, evolving a platform to match a maturing audience, getting to one billion daily active users, and much more. Chapters: <ul> <li>Defining the Metaverse (01:15) </li> <li>What Attracted Dan to the Challenge of Building Roblox (04:32) </li> <li>Differentiating Roblox as a Turnkey Platform (08:15) </li> <li>Creation and the Building of Business On Top of Roblox (13:12) </li> <li>Enabling Efficiency in the Creator Marketplace (19:10) </li> <li>The Importance of Communication and Roblox Connect (22:28) </li> <li>Expansion onto MetaQuest and Playstation (30:10) </li> <li>Evolving the Games and Experiences for a Maturing Audience (33:28) </li> <li>What Needs to be True for Roblox to Get to a Billion DAU (37:35) </li> <li>Supporting Different Needs for Different Creator Types to Monetize (42:08) </li> <li>Blockchain and the Future of Interoperability (45:54) </li> <li>What is Dan Most Excited About for Next Twelve Months (48:22) </li> </ul> To learn more about the Roblox platform, visit their <a href="https://corp.roblox.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">website</a>. Follow Roblox: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/Roblox" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">YouTube</a> | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/Roblox/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/Roblox" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> Follow Dan: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielsturman/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/sturman" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> Learn more about Into the Metaverse and Yon by visiting the <a href="https://www.intometamedia.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">website</a>. Follow Yon: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/yonatanrf/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/yonatanrf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> Learn more about Supersocial by visiting the <a href="https://supersocialinc.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">website</a>.

EP.66: Into the Metaverse with Dan Sturman - CTO, Roblox

So many tech companies take a slash and burn approach in order to get their product to market as quickly as possible. Dan Sturman, CTO at Roblox, shares why Roblox takes a much more deliberate approach concerning its platform that is the foundation for many different worlds.Tune in to learn:How did Roblox start out as a world-builder? (02:19)Why does Roblox use physics as a creative baseline? (04:59)Why is Roblox building its own cloud? (10:16)How can Roblox apply to education? (15:11)What’s the future of Roblox and the market? (20:05)How does Roblox recruit innovatively? (26:46)How does Roblox deal with security, privacy, and protecting users? (30:33)Mentions:RobloxRoblox’s Corporate SiteIT Visionaries is brought to you by The Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level with in-depth research and trends right in your inbox. Subscribe to a newsletter tailored to your role at Salesforce.com/newsletter.Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

So many tech companies take a slash and burn approach in order to get their product to market as quickly as possible. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielsturman/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dan Sturman</a>, CTO at <a href="https://www.roblox.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Roblox</a>, shares why Roblox takes a much more deliberate approach concerning its platform that is the foundation for many different worlds.Tune in to learn:<ul><li>How did Roblox start out as a world-builder? (02:19)</li><li>Why does Roblox use physics as a creative baseline? (04:59)</li><li>Why is Roblox building its own cloud? (10:16)</li><li>How can Roblox apply to education? (15:11)</li><li>What’s the future of Roblox and the market? (20:05)</li><li>How does Roblox recruit innovatively? (26:46)</li><li>How does Roblox deal with security, privacy, and protecting users? (30:33)</li></ul>Mentions:<ul><li><a href="https://www.roblox.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Roblox</a></li><li><a href="https://corp.roblox.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Roblox’s Corporate Site</a></li></ul>IT Visionaries is brought to you by The Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level with in-depth research and trends right in your inbox. Subscribe to a newsletter tailored to your role at <a href="https://sforce.co/3CdK8Ss" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Salesforce.com/newsletter</a>.<a href="http://Mission.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mission.org</a> is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at <a href="https://mission.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">mission.org</a>.

More Than Playing Games: Building a Democratizing Platform With Dan Sturman, CTO of Roblox

Dan is a CPG Industry professional with Experience in Headquarter Support, Product Development, Category/Brand Strategies, Retailer Dedicated Sales Support, Account Management, Team Development, and Coaching. In his 10+ years with Nestle USA, he has worked closely with almost every major grocer and mass retailer in the US including Walmart, Target, Albertson’s/Safeway, Publix, HEB, and Meijer. Dan’s passion lies in his leading and developing the future leaders in the CPG industry on how to think differently and always keep one eye focused on what the next big trend or consumer disruption in the industry will be. He also strives to consistently help retailers elevate their thinking above the day to day category management, and take action on national trends within the confines of their retail brand, and strategy. As a father of 2, he enjoys spending time with his wife and kids, is a self-proclaimed foodie, sports junkie, and travel aficionado.What you will learn from this podcast:• What next-generation shoppers are looking for on the supermarket and grocery store shelves. Dan advises on how category management should prepare for this change.• How can category management professionals get better at predicting in a world of constant change? Dan sheds light on the shopper behavior during the Super Bowl. What happens if there are no games or the game happens at a different scheduled date and time? What alternative product categories will be impacted and need to be considered? How does this impact no social gathering and tailgating at the football game? What other "stay-at-home" products will be demanded instead? How does it impact food spoilage? Dan answers all of these questions.• How companies prepare for key events, competition moves, and retail reaction. Hint: "war games" scenarios. Is there a way to see the impact of each scenario? As a side note, HIVERY Curate can allow users to easy model these scenarios in the AI engine to present the impact at category, SKU or brand levels or by distribution such as by cluster store or store-specific levels.• Dan shares useful tactics and insights on how CPG manufactures and retailers can enhance shopper expectations and maintain retailer relationships. Dan talks through a fascinating story about how intelligence on shoppers can transform your sales. Make sure you listen to the "Target store and sales of multi-serve meals" story.• How CPGs and retailers can address the "The Paradox of Choice" and why sometimes less is actually more.• How data science can help with better predictions by looking at the relationship with seasonal events such as hurricane season and impact on category assortment. • How forecasting is currently done. Generally, there are several different business groups involved. It all starts with the account team who are closest to the customer. They factor in key events such as promotions and allow other internal teams (i.e. demand planning and supply chain) to add their view. This can be a very intense and time consuming process but generally works well until an event that has not been planned occurs. Responding to change can be an extreme challenge. As a side note again, HIVERY Curate helps. Rapid scenario planning can be conducted to quickly inform new strategy and articulate it to all stakeholder groups.• Dan finally covers what he believes the future of category management is. With the increase in online purchasing, Dan talks to us about the need to have an optimized omnichannel strategy. While shopper convenience (i.e. delivery, in-store pick-up, curbside pick-up) and choice are good, it leads to additional costs. Dan shares a few real examples (Walmart, Kroger) and discusses best practices.

Dan is a CPG Industry professional with Experience in Headquarter Support, Product Development, Category/Brand Strategies, Retailer Dedicated Sales Support, Account Management, Team Development, and Coaching. In his 10+ years with Nestle USA, he has worked closely with almost every major grocer and mass retailer in the US including Walmart, Target, Albertson’s/Safeway, Publix, HEB, and Meijer. Dan’s passion lies in his leading and developing the future leaders in the CPG industry on how to think differently and always keep one eye focused on what the next big trend or consumer disruption in the industry will be. He also strives to consistently help retailers elevate their thinking above the day to day category management, and take action on national trends within the confines of their retail brand, and strategy. As a father of 2, he enjoys spending time with his wife and kids, is a self-proclaimed foodie, sports junkie, and travel aficionado. What you will learn from this podcast: • What next-generation shoppers are looking for on the supermarket and grocery store shelves. Dan advises on how category management should prepare for this change. • How can category management professionals get better at predicting in a world of constant change? Dan sheds light on the shopper behavior during the Super Bowl. What happens if there are no games or the game happens at a different scheduled date and time? What alternative product categories will be impacted and need to be considered? How does this impact no social gathering and tailgating at the football game? What other "stay-at-home" products will be demanded instead? How does it impact food spoilage? Dan answers all of these questions. • How companies prepare for key events, competition moves, and retail reaction. Hint: "war games" scenarios. Is there a way to see the impact of each scenario? As a side note, HIVERY Curate can allow users to easy model these scenarios in the AI engine to present the impact at category, SKU or brand levels or by distribution such as by cluster store or store-specific levels. • Dan shares useful tactics and insights on how CPG manufactures and retailers can enhance shopper expectations and maintain retailer relationships. Dan talks through a fascinating story about how intelligence on shoppers can transform your sales. Make sure you listen to the "Target store and sales of multi-serve meals" story. • How CPGs and retailers can address the "The Paradox of Choice" and why sometimes less is actually more. • How data science can help with better predictions by looking at the relationship with seasonal events such as hurricane season and impact on category assortment. • How forecasting is currently done. Generally, there are several different business groups involved. It all starts with the account team who are closest to the customer. They factor in key events such as promotions and allow other internal teams (i.e. demand planning and supply chain) to add their view. This can be a very intense and time consuming process but generally works well until an event that has not been planned occurs. Responding to change can be an extreme challenge. As a side note again, HIVERY Curate helps. Rapid scenario planning can be conducted to quickly inform new strategy and articulate it to all stakeholder groups. • Dan finally covers what he believes the future of category management is. With the increase in online purchasing, Dan talks to us about the need to have an optimized omnichannel strategy. While shopper convenience (i.e. delivery, in-store pick-up, curbside pick-up) and choice are good, it leads to additional costs. Dan shares a few real examples (Walmart, Kroger) and discusses best practices.