Joy Sticks (Part One): How a Global Leader is Revolutionizing Mentorship in Gaming

Hello and welcome to the first episode of the sixth year of The Academy of Esports podcast!

I’m your host, James O’Hagan, the Vice-President of Education and Innovation at LeagueSpot, and an educator for over two decades. Thank you for joining us for Part One of what is surely going to be one of my favorite conversations in this podcast’s history, as the subject is a dear friend and source of constant joy to all who know them. 

Amir Satvat is the global head of startup operations at Amazon Web Services. Prior to this, they served as principal publishing producer and, prior to that, both business development and strategy lead at Amazon Games. Going back even further, they served as COO for AWS’ Inside Sales and Demand Generation Businesses and spent over a decade in the tech and healthcare sectors in a variety of roles across strategy, operations, and business development. Amir earned their MBA and Master’s in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and his MPA in Public Policy from New York University.

While amassing such an impressive list of accomplishments, Amir always had one goal in mind since childhood: work in gaming. We challenge you to find a more dedicated lifelong gamer! Amir has played over 2,200 titles in their life and their favorite video games series include Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Monkey Island, and The Witcher. (The first game they ever played was Asteroids on the Atari 2600!)

It took 15 years in the professional world to achieve their dream role at age 37. Today, the advice they learned– as well as the respect they have earned– make Amir one of the most influential voices in the space. Today, in addition to their “day job,” Amir operates one of the most important video games LinkedIn communities on earth with nearly 32,000 followers, more than half of whom work in the games industry.

It is a responsibility they take seriously. When the slew of job cuts hit gaming, Amir bundled a lifetime of professional experiences and connections into one extraordinary project: 

The Games Jobs Workbook. It is a resource that has now been viewed over 500,000 times since March, connected dozens upon dozens of job seekers with new careers, and launched a virtual mentorship program that is unprecedented in this space.

Google Docs: lnkd.in/etkUuecj

Dropbox: lnkd.in/eGJasnNR

I cannot urge you strongly enough to follow Amir’s LinkedIn page for non-stop wisdom like this:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/mailbag-your-ama-questions-from-march-2023-amir-satvat/?trackingId=thAEPQqnKOWZk3XIF60%2Bzg%3D%3D

In this first installment, we dive into career advice, actionable plans for job seekers in gaming, and the importance of self-care in the midst of an industry that keeps moving 24/7. 

The content has such value for those of you in and beyond the gaming industry– but more than that, Amir’s is the face, the voice, the words you didn’t even realize you needed when you woke up this morning. You’re witnessing pure sincerity and kindness in action.

Join us next week for Part Two with Amir when– in an Academy of Esports first– we add OPERA to the mix!

Enjoy, consider hitting “Subscribe,” and please make time to play in some way this week!

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Subscribe/Connect to Amir:

⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirsatvat/⁠

⁠https://youtube.com/c/amirsatvat⁠

Amir’s Games Jobs Workbook:

Google Docs: ⁠lnkd.in/etkUuecj⁠

Dropbox: ⁠lnkd.in/eGJasnNR⁠

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