In the world of gaming, the term “1-UP” refers to an extra life or an

opportunity to continue playing, even after failing. It’s a chance to

learn from past mistakes, adapt, and come back stronger.

That’s what I offer you.

  • “Give a good idea to a mediocre team, they will screw it up; give a mediocre idea to a great team, they will either fix it or throw it away and come up with something that works.”

    - Ed Catmull, Pixar Founder

  • “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: We did it ourselves.”

    - Lao Tzu

  • “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say: Thank you! In between the leader is a servant.”

    - Max Depree

  • “A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame, and a little less than his share of the credit.”

    - John Maxwell

  • “Become the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily; even if you had no title or position.”

    - Brian Tracy

  • “Earn your leadership every day.”

    - Michael Jordan

  • “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.”

    - Jack Welch

  • "Great leaders find ways to connect with their people and help them fulfil their potential."

    - Steven J. Stowell

  • "If you think you are leading and turn around to see no one following, then you are just taking a walk."

    - Benjamin Hooks

  • "Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work."

    - Vince Lombardi

  • "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader."

    - John Quincy Adams

  • "To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved."

    - George MacDonald

  • "Leadership: The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it."

    - Dwight D. Eisenhower

  • "He who does not trust enough, will not be trusted."

    - Lao Tzu

  • "The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them."

    - Ernest Hemingway

  • "Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better."

    - Bill Bradley

  • “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”

    – Theodore Roosevelt

Erik Goossens

I am an INSEAD Certified Leadership Coach & Mentor with 25 years of entrepreneurial experience in games and the tech industry at large. My mission is to empower professionals to level up their leadership skills so they can facilitate their teams to do their best work.

  • Zylom, by pioneering the try-before-you-buy model for PC-Downloadable Casual Games, established itself as the market leader in Europe. The company, funded solely by its founders, did not rely on venture capital. It achieved break-even status in 2003 and became profitable in 2004, leading to its acquisition by Real Networks Inc. in 2006.

    Being a member of the founding team, my responsibilities encompassed all aspects of product development, including games. At Zylom, our focus was on developing, licensing, and publishing casual games specifically for the European market.

    RealNetworks Agrees to Buy Dutch Games Developer Zylom - WSJ

  • In my role within the worldwide games group, I oversaw the global development, publishing, and licensing of games for RNWK’s casual gaming platforms. Operating from Seattle, I also directed the integration of several acquisitions made during that time, including the integration and management of Real Games' Latin American assets located in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

    At the time, Real Networks Inc. was a multifaceted company listed on Nasdaq, comprising three entertainment divisions (music, video, and games), each underpinned by a comprehensive technology stack. My reporting was directly to the company's overall leadership team.

  • The interactive whiteboard is an incredibly valuable tool in the classroom. Many teachers, however, find them difficult and time-consuming to use. That's why we, in close cooperation with teachers, developed Gynzy. A web-based program that allows teachers to get the most out of their interactive whiteboards.

    Gynzy is headquartered in The Netherlands and has a US office in New York City. The total Gynzy team consists of 60 highly motivated and entrepreneurial employees.

    Find out more at www.gynzy.com/en and try our software for free!

  • I rejoined GameHouse as the Chief of Games, where, in collaboration with all teams, we successfully pivoted the company from a traditional PC games business to a multi-studio mobile free-to-play model. My responsibilities included:

    ➤ Developing and implementing a new strategy to transition from PC to Mobile Games.
    ➤ Steering the shift from Premium to Free-to-Play games.
    ➤ Recruiting and placing talent for the establishment of new Game Studios in The Netherlands and various Spanish cities, including Barcelona, Alicante, and Madrid.
    ➤ Launching a series of narrative-driven mobile games, including titles like Delicious World, Delicious Bed & Breakfast, and the Amber's Airline Series.
    ➤ Forming partnerships with numerous European studios to jointly create narrative mobile games.

    Goodbye, GameHouse.