The Tool Desk
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Goldman’s fund and Greycroft were related, but separate
In a 2018 GamesBeat interview, Goldman was described as a Greycroft venture partner and manager of the GC VR Gaming Tracker Fund, a seed-stage fund focused on games, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and esports. He said the tracker fund was independent of Greycroft’s core funds. Greycroft was a limited partner and close business partner, not the same fund. Goldman also described himself as a managing partner at Skybound. These are roles reported at the time, not confirmation of his current positions. GamesBeat, 2018
The fund’s launch-era scale was reported by the Los Angeles Business Journal in 2017: $15.6 million in commitments, more than 20 seed-stage investments, and reported investment amounts from $50,000 to $500,000 each. Those figures describe the fund at launch; they do not establish its current size, investment policy or performance.
Why invest across games, esports, AR and VR?
Goldman’s answer was that gaming could support opportunities beyond the companies that make games. Studios create the content; other businesses can supply creative tools, new formats, distribution, monetization or audience measurement. In his 2018 interview, he discussed VR creativity and music experiences, esports broadcasts and analytics, streaming, monetization, and AR authoring. Those examples show the breadth of his thesis at that time, not a claim that each category had equal prospects or returns.
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| Category or role | Value it could add in Goldman’s 2018 examples | Illustrative company named in the interview |
|---|---|---|
| Game studios and content | Create the experiences that give the wider gaming ecosystem something to distribute and monetize. | No specific studio example is needed to state the broader thesis. |
| VR creativity and music | Let users create or experience interactive content in VR. | Mindshow (interactive VR creativity); TheWave VR (music experiences in VR). |
| Esports analytics and participation | Measure audiences and help brands participate in esports. | FanAI. |
| AR authoring | Help creators build AR experiences. | Camera IQ. |
| Distribution and monetization | Help content reach audiences and generate business value. | The interview discussed these functions as opportunities, without naming a single example for every function. |
The company names are historical examples from the interview; they do not establish whether those businesses still operate or remain in the fund’s portfolio.
What Goldman said a gaming startup needs
Goldman was discussing seed-stage investing, where product concepts and markets can be uncertain. He argued that a founder cannot substitute hype for evidence. As he put it, “You can’t hype your way to an A and B round.” He also said, “Ultimately you need fundamentals,” including users, engagement and eventually monetization. GamesBeat interview
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- Users: Is anyone adopting the product?
- Engagement: Do people return or spend meaningful time with it?
- Monetization: Is there a plausible way to turn that engagement into revenue?
- Financing path: Can the company make enough progress to attract later-stage investment?
In the same interview, Goldman said he had made “30 or so investments.” That was his approximate personal count at the time, not a verified present-day portfolio total.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How his emphasis shifted toward studios by 2019
In a 2019 TechCrunch roundup, Goldman described videogaming as “the largest and most exciting part of the entertainment and media landscape.” He especially emphasized game-development studios, arguing that value is created there and drives the wider ecosystem. He also pointed to new distribution platforms and subscription services as factors that made content more valuable. TechCrunch, 2019
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This complements rather than erases the 2018 interest in tools and adjacent formats: studios supply the content, while platforms and supporting companies can help it reach audiences and produce business value. These were Goldman’s dated investment views, not evidence of current market conditions or a forecast of returns.
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What this thesis does—and does not—establish
- It explains why Goldman considered multiple parts of interactive entertainment investable: the opportunity could span content creation, tools, distribution, measurement and monetization.
- It indicates the business proof he wanted from seed-stage founders, rather than a preference for novelty alone.
- It does not show that VR, AR, esports or any other category produced superior returns, nor does it establish the fund’s current status, portfolio or performance.
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