“Entrepreneurship is an emotional rollercoaster, COVID is a new twist” — GamerSafer founder Maria Tamellini
We’ve spent more than a month social distancing in the Bay Area and life has changed beyond recognition. We’re all still struggling to learn how to adapt as many of us are stuck at home 24/7.
Working in the heart of Silicon Valley and being a community builder in this entrepreneurial ecosystem, I wondered how entrepreneurs in the Bay Area are dealing with the effects of COVID-19.
To find out, I asked a group of early-stage founders from different industries and backgrounds a series of questions about their personal stories and challenges, what motivates them to keep going during these uncertain times, and what they are hopeful about in the future. To read more of their stories, please check out the Samsung NEXT Medium channel.
The entrepreneur to be featured today is Maria Oliveira Tamellini, co-founder and COO of GamerSafer, which provides tools for online games to protect players and communities from online crimes, disruptive behaviors, and fraud. She is a change-maker originally from Brazil and led a successful Corporate Social Responsibility consultancy company for many years. She is also a UC Berkeley SkyDeck alumna, a Board Member of Latinas In Tech, and a proud mom of three kids.
- What does the current situation mean for you as an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley?
As startup founders, we have to test, learn, and iterate fast to succeed, but the coronavirus outbreak brought this to the next level.
We had to adapt even more quickly to a new scenario of online relationship-building, investments, and operations to keep the business going. The impossibility of meeting customers face to face (all events were canceled), service providers, and partners going through constant changes and internal work adjustments are just a few examples.
The resources that government, VCs, banks, foundations are putting together to support entrepreneurs are fantastic (and a little overwhelming at this point).
2. How are you dealing with the situation on a personal level?
I’ve been working from home for a long time, so for me, this wasn’t something totally new. But I met a new level of challenges doing this while managing kids, taking care of the people working with us while keeping the business going with all the uncertainty that’s still going on.
In the first week of shelter in place, I remember not being able to meditate for even 3 minutes. There were so much anxiety and fear of the unknown in my head. A few weeks later, I’m feeling much better. I know I can’t control the external world, but I can control the effect it has on my life.
Meditation and journaling are helping to silence my mind and to embrace constant changes on a daily basis. I also notice the importance of having a supportive community around me, my business, my family.
3. How does this situation change your perspectives? — for worse and for better
We (GamerSafer) work with the online gaming industry to deliver safer experiences to players. With the COVID-19 outbreak, there was a 75% increase in online gaming traffic in the US alone (according to The Hollywood Reporter). China already reported a significant increase in online gaming fraud cases, and other countries are expected to face the same challenges.
Our solution and value proposition are now more relevant than ever before.
4. What motivates you to keep going?
Entrepreneurship is an emotional rollercoaster, COVID is a new twist in this path, but our mission is meaningful and gives us the strength to keep fighting.
5. What are you currently doing to help?
I’m supporting my local community with resources and information that they lack, from masks to tools for online meetings or business advice. I’m part of an effort to support Latina entrepreneurs that is about to be quicked off by Latinas in Tech.
I realized that helping others and building stronger communities is the best antidote for uncertain times like this.
6. What are you hopeful about in the future?
As a society, I hope we learn how fragile we are individually and how strong we can be together, supporting each other.
I hope this becomes a new mindset; we have many other challenges to tackle collectively. As a company, we hope this unique moment of reflection and increasing online interactions brings more awareness for the challenges we tackle and accelerates the adoption of safety-driven solutions like ours.
I’ll be sharing more founder responses over the coming days. If you are an early-stage entrepreneur in Silicon Valley and you want to share your story to inspire others, we would love to hear from you! Please feel free to reach out to me directly at fernanda@samsungnext.com.
