Happy New Year!!! Rather than make predictions, which I find as valuable as reading tarot cards, I wanted to look back at some of my favorite posts from last year. Below is a list of the ones I felt were most useful:
- LTV: The Lifeblood of Your Business My first in a series of posts about lifetime value (LTV), the most important metric any company (from games to bricks and mortar) should focus on.
- Using probability to build a game portfolio likely to succeed One of my first posts of 2013 but one potentially very important to game companies. It discusses how to structure your portfolio to maximize return while reducing risk.
- Growth tactics for mobile game and social media companies The key tenets to building a successful growth and user acquisition plan.
- Don’t charge for your app, please, at least if you want to make money One of my most important posts of the year and one that is even more relevant today, the fact that the Free-to-Play model is much better for developers than the paid app model.
- Why would anyone buy a virtual good On Quora and in the news, people always seem to question the value of virtual goods or the sanity of those who buy them. This post is important for understanding your player’s motivations.
- Two words crucial to success A short post on how the words “Thank You” can make your business more successful.
- The importance of the assist or why it is good to be Shane Battier How important the little things are to success.
- Uncertainty and LTV Part of my LTV series, focusing on Nate Silver’s discussion of uncertainty.
- The real takeaway from Hasbro’s acquisition of Backflip More important than the analysis of the deal, I touched on the implications for other game companies.
- Six lies about entrepreneurs Misperceptions about entrepreneurs and what leads to their success.
- Turning your customers into your venture capital The best way to finance your game company.
- The importance of on-boarding A post on a very neglected part of HR and recruiting, bringing new hires on board optimally.
- How to build a great company you can sell My post on what you need to do to create a company that will have a successful exit.
- The secret to creating a hit game Why simplicity is the most important, and hardest element, of a super success.
- Happy Endings The other key to creating a hit game: Ending each session on a high.
- Avoid the false negative A discussion of the trap of drawing false conclusions from not particularly relevant information.
- Know your competitors A look at the importance of competitive intelligence to your business.
- Asia looms large for social casino games My first post on the casino and social casino space and how Asia is likely to overtake North America in importance.
- The dangers of fast following Why fast following is no longer a smart strategy for game companies.
- Zero revenue should not be a badge of honor A post close to my heart on why it is important to build a business that makes money.
- Unlocking the value from your social games player graph data This post may turn out to be the most important of the year, how you can use your user’s data to create a company worth orders of magnitude more than just the basic business.
I would love to hear which posts you thought were useful and what you would like me to write about this year.
The Business of Social Games and Casino 
I like it. Thanks Lloyd.
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