# Max Child

> Max Child is the San Francisco-based co-founder and CEO of Weekend, formerly Volley, which builds voice-controlled games for televisions, smart speakers and mobile devices. A Harvard economics graduate and former Harvard Crimson president, he worked in consulting, restaurant journalism and iOS development before building games with his former roommate James Wilsterman.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Weekend (formerly Volley)
- **Organizations:** Weekend (formerly Volley), The Harvard Crimson, The Infatuation, Boston Consulting Group, Cerebral Valley
- **Education:** A.B., Economics, Harvard University, Attended; did not graduate, Stanford Graduate School of Business
- **Known for:** Co-founded the voice-game business behind Song Quiz and licensed television game-show adaptations., Led Volley through its Winter 2018 Y Combinator batch and later Series C financing., Helped create the Cerebral Valley AI Summit.

## Career timeline

- **2009** — President of The Harvard Crimson.
- **Before 2016** — Worked at Boston Consulting Group, attended Stanford business school, and worked as a restaurant writer and iOS developer.
- **2016** — Co-founded Volley with James Wilsterman.
- **2017** — An Alexa birthday gift prompted the shift from chat games to voice games, Child later recalled.
- **2018** — Volley joined Y Combinator’s Winter batch; Song Quiz and Yes Sire ranked first and second among Alexa games in April.
- **2022** — Volley acquired Matchbox.io, creator of Question of the Day.
- **2023** — Helped host the first Cerebral Valley AI Summit with Wilsterman and Eric Newcomer.
- **2024** — Volley announced a $55 million Series C co-led by M12 and Lightspeed.
- **2025** — Announced Samsung and LG launches in December.
- **2026** — Announced the Weekend name on February 24.

## Achievements

- Co-founded the voice-game business behind Song Quiz and licensed television game-show adaptations.
- Led Volley through its Winter 2018 Y Combinator batch and later Series C financing.
- Helped create the Cerebral Valley AI Summit.

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Appeared on the NFX Podcast to discuss Weekend, conversational gaming and TV distribution.
- **2026-02** — Announced that Volley was becoming Weekend on February 24.
- **2025-12** — Announced Samsung and LG launches and reported availability on more than 80% of U.S. smart TVs.

## Links

- Website: https://mlchild.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mlchild
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/mlchild

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/max-child
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23