# James LaLonde

> James LaLonde is the Austin-based co-founder and co-CEO of Yodo1 Games, a global game publishing and growth company founded in Beijing in 2011. A sixth-generation Texan who studied economics and Japanese, he built an Asia-focused career through Microsoft, McAfee and Brocade before co-founding Yodo1 with Henry Fong. He is also the author of The Tao of Startups, a longtime startup mentor and the founder of Beijing Pitch Club.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Yodo1 Games
- **Organizations:** Yodo1 Games, The Tao of Startups, Beijing Pitch Club, Yoli, China Accelerator, Microsoft, McAfee, Brocade Communications Systems, University of International Business and Economics
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Arts in Economics; studied Japanese, The University of Texas at Austin
- **Known for:** Co-founded Yodo1 Games, which says it has helped more than 6,000 independent developers and reached more than 3.5 billion players., Built a career operating across Japan, Hong Kong and mainland China before returning to Austin., Wrote The Tao of Startups, first published in English in 2018 and later released in Mandarin Chinese.

## Career timeline

- **1990** — Started at Microsoft; his work included the company's early efforts in Japan.
- **1997-2000** — Held an Asia-Pacific executive role at McAfee.
- **2000-2004** — Worked in worldwide sales leadership at Brocade Communications Systems.
- **2005** — Co-founded RTM Asia, a cross-border consulting business.
- **2011** — Co-founded Yodo1 Games with Henry Fong in Beijing.
- **2015** — Co-founded Yoli, an on-demand language-learning service on WeChat.
- **2018** — Published The Tao of Startups after expanding an eight-minute China Accelerator talk into a book.
- **2019** — Founded Beijing Pitch Club as a weekly place for entrepreneurs to practice and receive direct feedback.
- **2025** — Yodo1 completed the transfer of global publishing and development rights for Transformers: Earth Wars under license from Hasbro.
- **2026** — Yodo1 continued expanding IP collaborations, including a global Lords Mobile and Transformers event with IGG and Hasbro.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Yodo1 Games, which says it has helped more than 6,000 independent developers and reached more than 3.5 billion players.
- Built a career operating across Japan, Hong Kong and mainland China before returning to Austin.
- Wrote The Tao of Startups, first published in English in 2018 and later released in Mandarin Chinese.
- Founded Beijing Pitch Club, which hosted hundreds of in-person pitches before moving online during the pandemic.
- Helped establish a work-from-anywhere operating model for a Yodo1 team spread across more than 30 countries.
- At Yodo1, supported the move from China-focused game publishing into global publishing, monetization, live operations and IP licensing.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Yodo1 announced its first collaboration with Lords Mobile, working with IGG and Hasbro on a global Transformers event.
- **2026-06** — LaLonde marked the tenth anniversary of Transformers: Earth Wars and pointed to Yodo1's takeover of the game and team the previous year.
- **2025-12** — Yodo1 reported that its LiveOps and direct-to-consumer work increased the Transformers: Earth Wars webshop revenue share from 25% to 57% in eight months.
- **2025-08** — Yodo1 completed the transfer of global publishing and development rights for Transformers: Earth Wars under license from Hasbro.

## Links

- Website: https://www.yodo1.com/authors/james-lalonde
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameslalonde

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/james-lalonde
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-27