When Madison video game studio Lost Boys Interactive took flight in 2017, it had a plan for its corporate culture that pointed the way for its growth and success today.
The plan was to be generous with employees, meet their needs and plant the seed for the teamwork that is central to its creative mission.
“We intentionally avoided independent contractors as a large part of our workforce,” said Shaun Nivens, the company’s CEO. “It was important for us to provide benefits and stability. We did not want to burden people with that kind of worry.”
Today, Lost Boys has 354 employees scattered across 36 states and plans to add another 300 staffers. The company experienced 1,255% revenue growth between 2020 and 2022.
Lost Boys — which was acquired by Gearbox, an interactive entertainment developer last April — also has a strong benefits package, including generous health insurance benefits.
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“We added health benefits as soon as we could,” Nivens said. “We almost had to train our brokers that we don’t want to save money as much as we want an incredibly good benefits package for our employees. And it’s the same package that we give ourselves.”
Nivens added: “I feel like everyone can do better work if they’re not worried about their finances or their health.”
Lost Boys also offers 16 weeks of paid parental leave for mothers and fathers. Because its workforce is national, it also provides help in times of natural disasters.
For example, when Texas’s power grid collapsed during frigid weather in 2021, Lost Boys gave employees there $1,000 each for emergency spending. “When you’re a multi-million-dollar business, a few thousand dollars doesn’t matter,” he said.
Nivens has a simple view of employee benefits.
“I believe generosity and prosperity are left and right hands. You don’t see prosperity if you don’t keep a generous mindset,” he said.
