Why I Study Elden Ring as Much as I Study Chanel

I live in a world of two, seemingly contradictory, obsessions.

My first love, the one that took me to Parsons, is fashion. It’s a world of aesthetics, of impeccable design, of heritage, and of building a brand through a singular, unwavering point of view. It’s the study of form.

My second love, the one I rarely talk about, is deep, complex, open-world video games. I’ve spent hundreds of hours in the ancient Greece of Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, the haunted landscapes of The Witcher, the neon-soaked streets of Cyberpunk 2077, and the golden forests of Skyrim.

For a long time, I saw these as two separate parts of my brain. One was the chic, strategic founder; the other was the secret gamer. But I’ve come to realize this isn't a contradiction at all. It is the very core of my philosophy as a founder.

My passion for both worlds is fueled by the same thing: an obsession with world-building. And it’s why I believe the "ugly tech" era is over.

My Frustration with "Ugly Tech" is Born from Experience

I have a low tolerance for ugly, clunky apps. I find joyless software and uninspired tech brands to be a catastrophic failure of imagination. Why? Because I’ve lived in beautifully built worlds.

When I explore the feudal Japan of Ghost of Tsushima or the post-apocalyptic Boston of Fallout, I’m not just playing a game; I’m studying a complete universe. These are masterpieces of user experience, atmospheric design, and intricate systems. The game development teams behind them are not just engineers; they are artists, historians, and architects.

They prove, on a multi-million-dollar scale, that it is entirely possible to build a deeply functional, complex system that is also breathtakingly beautiful and emotionally resonant. This is the "Tech Chic" ideal.

From Cheat Codes to Elden Ring, A Founder's Journey

My evolution as a gamer mirrors my evolution as an entrepreneur. I’ll be honest: for years, I relied on cheat codes. I’d hit a wall in a game—whether it was strategy in Heroes of Might and Magic (I scored my brother so many points because I unlocked all the achievements, oops) or a terrifying horde in Dying Light—and my first instinct was to find a shortcut… or just play on easy mode. It was a symptom of a mindset that hadn't yet learned to embrace the struggle. I didn't fully believe in my own ability to overcome the challenge as it was designed.

Then, Elden Ring happened.

Elden Ring is a masterpiece, but it is an uncompromising one. It doesn't hold your hand. It respects you enough to let you fail, spectacularly, dozens of times. There are no easy cheat codes. There is only the process. You die. You learn the pattern. You adapt your strategy. You level up your skills. You try again.

This game fundamentally rewired my brain. It taught me the profound, meditative value of the "Hero's Journey." It’s the single greatest training simulator for the founder mindset, which is a daily loop of failure, adaptation, and resilience.

The Future is "Tech Chic" The Power of a World

This brings it all together. The next generation of great founders, the ones who will build brands that last, will be world-builders. They will need the aesthetic discipline of a fashion house and the systems-thinking of a game developer.

This is why Elden Ring is so brilliant. The game development didn't just stop at the code. They built a world so deep, so full of mystery and beauty, that a massive, passionate community formed around it—co-creating the lore, sharing strategies, and evangelizing the brand on their behalf.

This is the holy grail for any company.

When we build "Tech Chic," we are doing the same thing. We are rejecting the "ugly but it works" mentality. We are proving that a great brand, like a great game, must be a complete, immersive, and beautiful world. It must have an unshakeable aesthetic (Chanel) and an addictive, brilliant system (Elden Ring).

My two "contradictory" passions aren't contradictory at all. They are the two halves of a single blueprint for building the future.