Speed Is Time To Evidence: Matt Curtis on Building Speed Into Games

In this episode of *Speed*, Matt Curtis joins host Keith Lucas to redefine what speed actually means: not raw execution velocity, but the time between a decision and the evidence that validates it. He shares the three habits behind it — clean data, cheap mistakes, and experience as a compression algorithm — and explains why small teams die of distraction while big ones die of dependencies. Speed: Moving Fast Towards What Matters is a six-episode limited series featuring six startup founders and operators who exemplify personal speed and have wrestled with it organizationally — exploring the systematic principles of speed and the critical tactics that make it sustainable as you scale. **In this episode** **00:00** – Welcome to Speed & introducing Matt Curtis **05:51** – Redefining speed: the time from decision to evidence **06:08** – Three levers for speed: clean data, cheap mistakes, and experience as a compression algorithm **10:25** – "Fail fast, fail often": removing ego from iteration **11:29** – Small teams vs. big teams: distraction vs. dependencies **13:52** – GREE's "slow is steady, steady is fast" and the limits of focus **15:51** – Vision + iteration: the one-two punch that built Roblox **19:31** – Splendid Games: how Roblox development has changed in 10 years **23:58** – Where AI fits into Splendid Games' workflow **26:13** – Is speed vs. quality really a trade-off? **29:27** – Quality as an accumulation of evidence, not perfectionism **31:51** – How Matt recovers: work hard, rest hard **The Guest: Matt Curtis** Matt Curtis has spent 15+ years at the intersection of games, platforms, and the communities that power them. Now he's getting back into his passion: building. He recently co-founded Splendid Games, a new game development studio focused on Roblox, which just wrapped its closed alpha, and he advises select companies navigating the creator economy and platform ecosystems. Previously, Matt spent six years as VP of Developer Relations at Roblox, and before that a decade at Zynga, GREE, and Kabam leading titles that collectively generated over $1B in revenue, including Words with Friends 2, CSR2 Racing, Zynga Poker, and The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth. **Connect with Matt:** - linkedin.com/in/matthewcurtisroblox - https://www.splendidgames.gg/ **The Host: Keith Lucas** Keith Lucas joined Roblox as employee #7 and later served as CPO and CTO, leading product, engineering, and operations as the company scaled. He went on to serve as COO of Instrumental and now advises leaders across AI, gaming, creator platforms, and enterprise technology. He is also the author of *IMPACT* and host of *Speed*. **Connect with Keith:** - linkedin.com/in/kvlucas - https://keithvlucas.com/ **Get the book:** *Impact* — https://keithvlucas.com/impact/ **Contact us:** [speed@keithvlucas.com](mailto:speed@keithvlucas.com) **CREDITS** Produced by : Leah Barnum Social Media: Julia Guagliardi - www.stillwaters-creative.com Editor: Jon Keur - www.wayfarerecording.com Content Designer: Natalie Leroux  - www.studioeightyseven.com Studio lighting/Setup - www.175productions.com