Secret Stash

About Secret Stash

The podcast spilling all of gaming's secrets, hosted by Justin Kan and Archie Stonehill from Stash

Publisher

Justin Kan and Archie Stonehill

Category

leisure

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

18 Apr 2024

Latest episode

2 Dec 2025

Latest episodes

12 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   2 Dec 2025

   The Secret to Building a Gaming Nation: Gigi Levy Weiss

   Few people have shaped an entire national gaming ecosystem — but Gigi Levy-Weiss has. Known as the “Godfather of Israeli Gaming,” Levy-Weiss helped kickstart the country’s modern game industry as a founder of Playtika, early investor in Moon Active, and now General Partner at NFX. In this episode of Secret Stash, hosts Justin Kan and Archie Stonehill sit down with Gigi to talk about how he went from Air Force pilot to gaming mogul, the wild origin story of Playtika, and why he believes the next major disruption in games won’t come from content — it’ll come from distribution.

2. 

   19 Nov 2025

   The Secret to Powering Native D2C at SuperPlay: Or Briga & Shai Arnon

   In this episode of Secret Stash, we go behind the scenes with Stash's newest employees, Galleon co-founders Or Briga and Shai Arnon — two serial entrepreneurs who have lived the full spectrum of startup chaos and came out sharper on the other side. Or and Shai pull back the curtain on the gut-check moment when they realized their previous company had hit a wall, why they decided to shut it down on their own terms, and what convinced them to immediately start building together again. They also walk us through the unexpected path that led them deep into the world of native D2C: building APKs from scratch, navigating publisher dependencies, and powering payment flows that now drive hundreds of millions in annual transaction volume for SuperPlay’s hit titles. Along the way, they break down why the industry’s relationship with platforms is shifting, how new rulings opened the floodgates for alternative payments, and why 2026 will belong to studios that embrace native distribution. This is a conversation about resilience, timing, and the bold bets that redefine how games connect with players. If you care about the future of mobile, monetization, or the craft of building products in the trenches, you’ll want to hear this one.

3. 

   16 Sept 2025

   The Secret to Leading the Next Era of D2C: Henry Lowenfels & Spencer Tucker

   In this episode of Secret Stash, we sit down with Stash’s new CEO, Henry Lowenfels, and CPO, Spencer Tucker, for a candid conversation about their journeys through the gaming industry and why they believe direct-to-consumer (D2C) is the future of play. From Scopely’s scrappy early days and the breakout success of titles like Yahtzee With Buddies and Star Trek Fleet Command, to WWE’s pioneering D2C experiments and the rise of hypercasual hits at Homa, Henry and Spencer share hard-won lessons from building some of the industry’s most enduring franchises. They also unpack how the D2C model is evolving, what it takes to build a successful strategy from scratch, and why the next wave of innovation will come from aligning player experience with publisher sustainability. If you’re a game developer, publisher, or just curious about the business of games, this is an inside look you won’t want to miss.

4. 

   23 Apr 2025

   The Secret to Reviving a Game Giant: Frank Gibeau

   If you’ve read one too many headlines about the so-called death of gaming, Frank Gibeau, CEO of Zynga, has a message for you: the doom and gloom is over. In this episode of Secret Stash, Justin Kan and Archie Stonehill sit down with Frank, who cut his teeth as a product marketer at EA in the '90s and later led the company through its mobile transformation, to talk about why he’s more optimistic than ever.Frank shares his lessons from three decades in the trenches - from cartridge-era publishing in 1990’s to rebuilding EA, and steering Zynga into what it is today. From postmortems on Shaq Fu to what it really takes to fix a broken culture and scale a mobile business, this episode is packed with stories, strategy, and an honest look at what’s next for gaming. Be sure to stay til the end to hear Frank's big industry secret! Read the highlights here: http://dev.stash.gg/blog/secret-stash-ep-8-frank-gibeau00:00 - Intro1:40 - Gaming ISN'T dead5:58 - Electronic Arts in the 1990s9:13 - PM is the best job in the world11:04 - Dealing with flops in the 1990s13:55 - Getting a PhD in mobile16:20 - 3 lessons from EA to Zynga16:29 - Hero to zero to hero19:56 - Fixing the company culture25:52 - Fixing the leaky bucket32:30 - M&A for studio talent35:16 - Winning the Turkish market40:21 - Selling Zynga to Take Two48:27 - Going hard on direct-to-consumer56:58 - The impact of AI in gaming1:02:58 - Frank's big industry secret

5. 

   27 Jan 2025

   The Secret to Building Forever Franchises: Owen Mahoney

   Gaming isn’t about blockbuster budgets or flashy graphics - it’s about fun. And somewhere along the way, we’ve forgotten that. In this episode of Secret Stash, hosts Justin Kan and Archie Stonehill sit down with former Nexon CEO Owen Mahoney to unpack what’s gone sideways in the gaming industry and how to fix it. Here’s what you’ll hear: ⭐ How game development costs are driving up licensing deals ⭐ Why fun is losing out to graphics fidelity in a battle no one asked for ⭐ The ultimate debate between distribution vs. product ⭐ Owen’s two favorite M&A deals at EA (and the one mistake everyone should avoid) ⭐ How to build forever franchises instead of wannabe blockbusters Owen calls it like he sees it, and the result is a refreshingly honest take on what gaming can and should be. Read the highlights here: https://dev.stash.gg/blog/secret-stash-ep-7-owen-mahoney 0:00 - Intro 1:41 - Getting into gaming 3:14 - What EA did right 7:30 - Licensing and development costs 13:08 - Poor man’s Hollywood 20:15 - Distribution vs product 25:05 - Nexon is misunderstood 32:08 - EA’s 2 best M&A deals 37:41 - The biggest M&A mistake 41:31 - Forever franchises

6. 

   27 Dec 2024

   The Secret to Building Passionate Game Communities

   Most games would kill for a community like Plarium’s RAID: Shadow Legends - and the team behind Hellhades has a lot to do with that. What started out as a hobby YouTube channel, is now a massive community with more than 225,000 followers as well as the go-to website for RAID news, guides, and interactive tools. Recently, the Hellhades team decided to turn the world of game development. They founded the studio Fateless and in 10 quick weeks, raised $6M from their community. In this episode of Secret Stash, hosts Archie Stonehill and Justin Kan sit down with the Fateless team - Simon Lockerby, Sham Saleh, and Dan Francis - and discuss: 👉 The origins of HellHades and its growth into a massive community hub 👉 How a YouTube channel turned into a game studio with a $6M raise 👉 Strategies for building a passionate gaming community 👉 How direct-to-consumer is are reshaping communities Read the highlights here: https://dev.stash.gg/blog/secret-stash-ep-6-fateless

7. 

   15 Aug 2024

   The Secret to Building a Social Gaming Empire: Justin Waldron

   At age 19, Justin Waldron built an app that would go on to have the biggest IPO since Google. That company was Zynga, and it completely changed the way the world played games. Listen now for behind-the-scenes stories that shaped an era of social gaming, as well as Justin Waldron’s own secret for scaling up Zynga and setting it apart from the competition. In this episode of Secret Stash, co-hosts Archie Stonehill and Justin Kan sit down with Justin Waldron to talk through: 👉 origins of Zynga and the edge they found in the market 👉 the innovative business model that helped Zynga win 👉 the company’s love/hate relationship with Facebook 👉 rise and fall of social gaming (and who’s to blame for the fall) Read the highlights here: https://dev.stash.gg/blog/secret-stash-ep-4-matt-ball 0:00 - Intro 1:21 - Justin’s first Facebook app 3:45 - Building Zynga Poker 6:10 - Facebook’s missing puzzle piece 9:00 - Browser power 11:46 - The winning freemium model 20:35 - Scaling horizontally 28:33 - A culture of experimentation 33:57 - Love/hate with Facebook 36:57 - The rise of mobile 38:49 - Apple as a gatekeeper 42:17 - Amazing corp dev 43:47 - Scaling organically 48:09 - The fall of social gaming 59:36 - Telegram’s killing it 1:0922 - Crypto Subscribe now to be the first to listen to new Secret Stash episodes! Stash is the first of its kind direct-to-consumer platform for games. Learn more about Stash here: https://dev.stash.gg/ (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbHNBWm50TS1tX29LcktCbl9CY2g0cjgyUlVOZ3xBQ3Jtc0ttMVRBVTNlel9nZVNRU2lXMVVIMkc5LWVSdUlKd1JhSWtKY2p6dDVERFZhZkpTNjJJTnIxelZPN3VWcmRKUTFMMnU4aWhZcW03X2lxemtmQmotN3R4Q3ZwMS11WE1zWTVtLXpWb2Nwek1HVzdOc1NFVQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fdev.stash.gg%2F&v=w4IWktNgfPE)

8. 

   19 Jul 2024

   The Secret to the Metaverse: Matthew Ball

   Matt Ball literally wrote the book on the metaverse - with a new update out in late July. So who better to chat all things metaverse and distribution with? In the last several years, Matt has become known as one of the most astute writers and thinkers about the nature of business, innovation, IP, and the deep structural factors that shape the entertainment and gaming industry. He also had a frontseat to the streaming wars during his time at Accenture and Prime Video. Finally, we get a clear concise understanding of what the metaverse is (and no, it’s not just VR and NFTs). In this episode of Secret Stash, co-hosts Justin Kan and Archie Stonehill sit down with Matt Ball and discuss 👉 streaming war winners and losers (sorry, Hulu) 👉 why big tech companies never hugely invested in games 👉 what the metaverse actually 👉 and the impact Apple and Google had on mobile and gaming Read the highlights here: https://dev.stash.gg/blog/secret-stash-episode-4-matt-ball-reveals-the-secret-to-the-metaverse 0:00 - Intro 1:55 - Wildfire fighter 3:25 - Moving to business 5:00 - The OTT streaming opportunity 8:45 - Meet Liam Bullock 12:33 - The economics of streaming 15:43 - The streaming war and Hulu’s failure 23:36 - Amazon and the video opportunity 30:08 - Why not gaming? 34:05 - The origin of the metaverse 36:12 - Fortnite isn’t unique 38:39 - What is the metaverse? 42:32 - Interoperability and standards 48:28 - Why hasn’t mobile opened? 56:32 - Changing tides 1:00:00 - The power of disconnecting 1:02:45 - A better world 1:05:00 - Games vs. social 1:07:46 - Matt’s secret Subscribe now to be the first to listen to new Secret Stash episodes! Stash is the first of its kind direct-to-consumer platform for games. Learn more about Stash here: https://dev.stash.gg/

9. 

   18 Jun 2024

   The Secret to Being a 5-Time Founder & Esports Champ: Dennis Fong

   The gaming industry overemphasizes gameplay so much, we often don’t often stop to think about the impact community has on our love for the game. The matchmaking, friend finding, and social interactions play a huge part in a game’s success and gamers’ overall experience. Since his teenage years, Dennis Fong has been all about improving the gamer experience in every way outside the actual gameplay itself - from esports to social, chat, streaming, and toxicity. In fact, by age 19, Dennis had not only earned the title as the world’s first esports champion, but also became CEO of a 100-person gaming media company. Since then, he’s gone on to found four additional businesses, all of which have majorly impacted the gaming industry as we know it - thanks to his many innovations in community and social. In this episode of Secret Stash, co-hosts Justin Kan and Archie Stonehill sit down with Dennis and walk through a raw chronology of his career (and life) - from young esports champion in 1996 to five-time CEO in 2024. Read the highlights here: dev.stash.gg/blog/secret-stash-ep-3-dennis-fong (https://dev.stash.gg/blog/secret-stash-ep-1-mitch-lasky-reveals-the-secret-to-gaming-gtm) 0:00 - Intro 2:33 - Dennis’ start in esports 4:14 - The famous Wall Street Journal article 7:38 - Family reactions 9:05 - Winning a Ferrari 12:25 - The birth of esports 14:52 - Who’s Thresh? 15:39 - Esport rivalries 18:37 - Organic communities 22:20 - Fatality takes over 25:19 - Critical mechanics 28:05 - Struggles of a young founder 33:59 - Spinning out Lithium 39:10 - Xfire innovations 48:06 - Raptor 50:13 - GGWP and anti-toxicity 1:04:45 - Distribution 1:07:08 - RIP Avicii Hit the Subscribe button wherever you listen to your podcasts! Stash is the first of its kind direct-to-consumer platform for games. Learn more about Stash here: https://dev.stash.gg/ (https://dev.stash.gg/)

10. 

    14 May 2024

    The Secret to Finding Your Co-Founder: Justin Kan, Robin Chan, Dan Borstelmann

    It was 2007 and Robin Chan was running the mobile data business at Verizon while Justin Kan was rolling out JustinTV’s first prototype - a camera strapped to his head (literally). It was the perfect meetcute: Justin needed inexpensive mobile data to livestream his day-to-day and Robin had access to tons of it (In fact, Robin was the first one to put YouTube on a cell phone!). Turns out the deal didn’t go as planned though, and the two went their separate ways. Then nearly fifteen years later, in 2021 they reconnected, teamed up as co-founders, and created their investment fund Goat Capital. Since then, they’ve founded and invested in dozens of companies - including Stash. In this episode of Secret Stash, co-host Archie Stonehill and Stash co-founders - Justin Kan, Robin Chan, and Dan Borstelmann - share stories on each stage of gaming entrepreneurship: - how the founding team got together and why it’s stuck - creating hypotheses and knowing when to change gears - doubling down on macro market trends - establishing a defensible product strategy - executing on product excellence Read the highlights here: https://dev.stash.gg/blog/secret-stash-ep-2-justin-kan-shares-the-secret-to-finding-your-co-founder 0:00 - Meet the Stash co-founders 2:02 - How Justin and Robin met 8:21 - Justin gets arrested 10:11 - Justin and Robin reconnect 11:07 - Bringing on Dan 12:18 - Two types of product people 15:34 - Promoting Dan to co-founder 17:40 - Different career paths 20:18 - Justin’s job as a stockroom attendant 22:07 - Complementary skill sets are key 26:57 - How to find a good partner 29:17 - Pivoting JustinTV and tips 31:24 - Pivoting Fractal 36:41 - Macro vs micro investments 40:32 - How JustinTV beat out a competitive market 53:28 - Swapping entrepreneur secrets Hit the Subscribe button wherever you listen to your podcasts! Stash is the first of its kind direct-to-consumer platform for games. Learn more about Stash here: https://dev.stash.gg/

11. 

    18 Apr 2024

    Welcome to Secret Stash

    Welcome to Secret Stash, the podcast spilling all the industry's secrets! Meet your hosts: Justin Kan, co-founder of Stash and previously co-founder at Twitch Archie Stonehill, head of product at Stash Before you jump into the first episode, where we have an incredible first guest, we wanted to share a bit about who we are, why we decided to make this podcast, and what you can expect from us. So why are we calling this podcast Secret Stash? We want to give you, our listeners, access to really deep, almost private conversations, stories, and insights with some of the most brilliant minds in gaming and tech. We want you to feel like you’re in the room with us, talking about topics that really matter and conversations that are usually discussed behind closed doors. We’re going to dig into what people were thinking when they made certain decisions and what they really think now. We’re going to use Secret Stash to talk about everything related to Stash's mission - which is to give game developers more control. The way we see it, there have always been platforms getting in the middle of gamers and developers - first the consoles, then Steam, then the app stores. They control nearly everything a developer is allowed to do - from taking a 30% fee from IAPs, to limiting user tracking, etc. At Stash, we’re trying to build toward a future in which developers can be their own platforms for the first time - by delivering really great direct-to-consumer experiences. So on the podcast, we’ll talk about things like the driving forces behind major success stories, changing platform dynamics, new gaming tech, antitrust regulations, and more. No matter the episode, you’ll always come away having learned something new you can take back to your studio. See you in episode 1! Hit the Subscribe button wherever you listen to your podcasts! Stash is the first of its kind direct-to-consumer platform for games. Learn more about Stash here: https://dev.stash.gg/ (https://dev.stash.gg/)

12. 

    18 Apr 2024

    The Secret to GTM in Games: Mitch Lasky

    Welcome to Secret Stash's first-ever podcast episode, hosted by Justin Kan and  Archie Stonehill. Today's guest - legendary investor Mitch Lasky! Since the mid 1990s, Mitch Lasky has been building and investing in some of the biggest game companies in the world. He was one of the first, if not the first, investor to take game developers seriously as a venture-backable business. He helped build Activision, was CEO of Jamdat (one of the first mobile game studios, which he took public before selling to Electronic Arts for $680M), and was an early investor at Riot Games, helping turn League of Legends from a rough wireframe to the sensation it is today. Suffice to say, Mitch has been around the block and has some secrets to share - specifically the importance of GTM and how to innovate in it. While the game industry is quick to attribute some of the biggest successes to groundbreaking product and design, Mitch says there’s more to the equation - that distribution and GTM is arguably the most important element. Read the highlights here: dev.stash.gg/blog/secret-stash-ep-1-mitch-lasky-reveals-the-secret-to-gaming-gtm (https://dev.stash.gg/blog/secret-stash-ep-1-mitch-lasky-reveals-the-secret-to-gaming-gtm) 0:00 - Meet Mitch Lasky 1:45 - Mitch reveals why he didn't invest in Twitch 5:56 - Some business models are gross 12:06 - How Riot innovated their GTM 17:37 - Mitch's practical advice on GTM 21:13 - Regulations are opening up mobile and Steam 26:04 - Is AAA bad at direct-to-consumer? 28:57 - There's room for innovation in funding 35:02 - How thatgamecompany and Jenova Chen innovated GTM 40:09 - The AAA business model is gross too 41:51 - Looking ahead 48:13 - Mitch's biggest secret from his Riot days Hit the Subscribe button wherever you listen to your podcasts! Stash is the first of its kind direct-to-consumer platform for games. Learn more about Stash here: https://dev.stash.gg/ (https://dev.stash.gg/)

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

63,920

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Spotify

3.7 / 5

3 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 28 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

13

Social presence

0

YouTube

76

Engagement

32

Contact Secret Stash

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.