Game Developer is Global Entrepreneur Week speaker

November 14, 2023

When entrepreneur Nick Cash says life is a game, he means it literally.

Cash does spend his days developing games as Vice President of Engineering at Jam City. This video game development company is responsible for games such as Cookie Jam, Panda Pop, Bingo Pop, Disney Emoji Blitz, Hogwarts, and Family Guy games.

But he calls himself a “passionate and curious learner” who has always been involved with games and the business world. He created web sites and games in elementary school, then started his first business while in high school in Cedar Falls, Iowa. As a college student at the University of Northern Iowa, he founded Book Hatchery, LLC.

He joined Jam City in 2016 and quickly rose to the position of vice president. The company is the creative powerhouse behind some of the highest-grossing games, generating over $4 billion in aggregate lifetime bookings and nearly 1.5 billion downloads for hundreds of millions of players around the world. They have studios and talent in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Burbank, Calif., Cedar Falls, Las Vegas, NV., and internationally, in Berlin, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Montreal, and Toronto.

Because of his experience and professional success, the Dakota State University Paulson Cyber Incubator and Entrepreneurial Center invited Cash to campus for Global Entrepreneur Week, Nov. 12-18.The U.S. Department of State created this observance to celebrate entrepreneurs who serve their communities and bolster the American economy.

While at DSU, Cash will meet with members of the DSU Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO) Club, and speak to game design classes. He will also give a presentation titled “Life is a Game” at 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 16 in the Beacom Collaboration space on the DSU campus. The event is open to all students, faculty, staff, and community members.

Food and drink will be provided, and it will be livestreamed for those unable to attend at.