As CEO of Series Entertainment, a rapidly growing AI-powered game technology company, Pany Haritatos approaches each day like he’s stepping into the ring: braced for complexity, driven by conviction, and fueled by a love for the craft.

Pany’s career spans roles across the evolution of games and platforms: he’s founded and sold three studios, led major gaming divisions at public companies, and led as Head of Games at Snap and CEO of Kongregate. But it wasn’t until he started experimenting with AI himself that he felt the pull to build something completely new. “It was so very clear that AI was about to explode in capabilities,” he says. “But so many people in the industry thought it was hype. I knew I had to start a company so I could spend my days working with this exciting new technology.”

Pany founded Series in 2023 with the bet that AI would not just enhance entertainment, it would also reshape how people engage with it. Since then, Series has developed a proprietary suite of generative AI models and tools, now deployed inside Choices, the chart-topping story game platform it acquired in 2024.

But Choices is just the beginning. Series has already launched a wave of successful IP-based games in partnership with Netflix and is hard at work on a slate of new titles. The company closed its Series A in late 2024 with backing from a16z, Dell, Netflix—and BITKRAFT Ventures.

“We’re re-defining how fans discover and engage with content—from games built on the latest AI, to personalized digital content hubs,” Pany explains. “We’re creating experiences that weren’t possible yesterday.”

Pany knew the AI wave would wash ashore. He felt the inflection point before many others did. “When I saw how powerful the davinci OpenAI models were, it was clear we were about to start accelerating through the model capability curve,” he says. From that moment, it became less a question of if Series would work and more a matter of execution.

“Every start up journey requires the start up overcome a series of sequential challenges, each of which will end the company if not overcome. We call them ‘killgates,’” Pany says. One of the most intense moments came during a compressed 60-day stretch in 2024, when Series was simultaneously acquiring companies, closing strategic partnerships, and expanding from a single project to many. “We didn’t have the systems or team in place to handle that hypergrowth. It strained every part of the company. The days were long, and it was a heavy load for everyone. We got through it though!”

Series runs as a fully remote company. “We’ve figured out how to turn that into an asset,” says Pany. “We’re lucky to work with some of the best talent in the world because of systems we’ve built to support a multi-time zone, multi-country company.” Pany says, they didn’t become that for free. 

Series invested early in onboarding systems and talent management tools to help ensure the team could thrive across time zones. That investment paid off with access to experienced talent around the world and a team built for scale. But with Pany’s experience comes a word of advice: “You have to be really intentional with who you hire, especially with junior talent or deeply collaborative projects.”

For Pany, the hardest part of being a founder isn’t the hours, the decisions, or even the pressure. It’s the weight of trust.

“A lot is riding on your ability to make difficult decisions with imperfect information. You have a deep responsibility to the folks who have decided to join you on this journey—your teammates who trust you with their time, and your investors who trust you with their capital. My only fear is that I cannot live up to the trust that those folks have placed in me.”

He admits he probably works too much. “I should spend more time touching grass, getting exercise and eating well,” he jokes. “But it’s so rewarding. There’s never been a more exciting time to be a creative technologist.”

Series is growing fast and building ambitiously. Its next games aim to push the boundaries of what’s possible with AI-driven storytelling and interactive design. But Pany isn’t looking for easy wins. His advice to prospective founders? Don’t do it—unless you can’t not.

“My number one piece of advice for most people wanting to start a company is ‘don’t!’ The folks that do are basically crazy. You don’t want to compete with them unless you are willing to devote your every effort to being successful. Even if you do almost everything correctly, you are still more likely to fail than not.”

And yet, he built Series anyway. Because for founders like Pany, the risk is worth it.

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