Co-founder & CPO at Quago
Dan Blechner
I’m the Co-founder and CPO of Quago, shaping our product strategy and technology to help gaming studios detect in-game cheating and UA fraud at scale. Before Quago, I founded Volleto, where I focused on bridging online and offline experiences through data-driven automation and real-time insights. With a background in product development, large-scale systems, and behavioral analytics, I build solutions that empower gaming studios to protect their revenue and players.
Questions & Answers
What's a memorable 'aha' moment you've had while building your startup?
My most memorable 'aha' moment came when we fully mapped out how commercial cheating operations function as sophisticated businesses within games. From the beginning, we developed our sensor-based approach knowing that commercial cheaters are profit-driven entities. What really clicked was when we started visualizing the complete ecosystem of these operations—the connections between accounts, their organizational structure, and how they adapt to countermeasures. This clarity was game-changing. By understanding these networks holistically, we could help studios see the full picture rather than just individual cheating instances. It's like seeing the entire chess board instead of just individual pieces. Seeing this comprehensive view transform how gaming companies approach cheat management - that's when I knew we were delivering something truly valuable that would change how the industry handles this challenge.
What's the story behind your company?
Quago started with a simple realization: Traditional cheat detection methods weren’t enough. As cheaters became more sophisticated, gaming studios struggled to understand the problem fully and take effective action. We knew there was a better way. By analyzing sensor data and player connectivity, we uncover behavioral patterns that other tools miss. So, we built Quago - not just as another anti-cheat solution but as a way for studios to understand how cheaters operate and take confident action. As we worked with studios, we saw the same challenges in UA fraud - fake players inflating campaigns, distorting data, and wasting ad spend. The same technology that detects cheaters also reveals fraud in UA campaigns, helping studios focus on real players and real growth. From day one, our goal has been to help studios see what others don’t and stay ahead of the challenge, no matter how cheating and fraud evolve.
