But that sort of thing I think came from my 12-year-old self, who was so obsessive about games.”

“There’s obviously OKRs and other kinds of things. “Frequently when I’m talking to entrepreneurs, the metaphor that I use to try to unpack a strategy is, what’s your theory of the game? Right? So what game are you playing? What’s your theory of the game? How do you win?” Hoffman says. Fundamentals he still uses when talking to entrepreneurs today. Then there was his passion for Avalon Hill board games that taught him the fundamentals of strategy. He loved the idea of creating a world, and, in some ways, participating in the earliest version of a metaverse where you had to learn how to collaborate with others, go on missions, and solve problems. Had Twitch been around when Reid Hoffman was 12, you may have been able to watch a future billionaire hone his business skills in real-time.Īn avid gamer, Hoffman was obsessed with fantasy role-playing games, such as RuneQuest. Read excerpts from that in-depth conversation below.

We talked with Reid Hoffman about confounding LinkedIn and a founding board member of PayPal, two companies that have helped mold the world as we know it today and combined to sell for more than $27 billion. Our articles highlight key takeaways from each month’s cover feature. Foundr Magazine publishes in-depth interviews with the world’s greatest entrepreneurs.

Reid hoffman amazon