Complexity Gaming and Team Dignitas, in conjunction with Sound Blaster, are proud to present a live show hosted by Jason Lake and Michael O`Dell: The Executives: The Business of Gaming.
Each Wednesday at 18:00 GMT (+00:00) your hosts will be joined by news anchor Patrick "Chobopeon" O`Neill to discuss the business side of recent events and interview a chosen individual who is impacting the business side of eSports or gaming in general.
The Executives' goal is to educate the next generation of business leaders and facilitate an open discussion about the opportunities and challenges facing the eSports business today.
Episode 1: Sponsorships 101 - Ryan Schlieper, Product Marketing Manager, Creative SoundBlaster Direct MP3 Episode 2: Corporate Influence on ESports Media - Rod "Slasher" Breslau, eSports journalist Direct MP3 Episode 3: Team Management 101 - Victor "Nazgul" Goossens, co-Founder, Team Liquid Direct MP3 Episode 4: The Business of Being TotalBiscuit - John "TotalBiscuit" Bain, CynicalBrit.com Direct MP3 Episode 5: League Management - David Ting, IGN Pro League (IPL) Direct MP3 Episode 6: Ford & Gaming - Brian McClary, Ford Motor Company Direct MP3 Episode 7: Video Game Streaming - Kevin Lin, COO, Twitch.tv Direct MP3 Episode 8: eSports Business History - Craig Levine, ESEA, ESS & Team 3D Direct MP3 Episode 9: ROI from Sponsorships - Kim Rom, Chief Marketing Officer, Steel Series Direct MP3 Episode 10: Business of FGC (Fighting Game Community) - Ryan "Gootecks" Gutierrez, Cross Counter Direct MP3 Episode 11: Obtaining Sponsorships - Alexander Garfield, CEO, Team EG Direct MP3 Episode 12: The Business of MLG - Sundance DiGiovanni, CEO, Major League Gaming Direct MP3 Episode 13: Questions & Answers Direct MP3 Episode 14: The Business of NASL - Russell Pfister, President, North American Starleague Direct MP3 Episode 15: The Business of Game Development- S2 Games - Brad Bower, Director of Operations Direct MP3 Episode 16: Creating a Player Welcome Packet Direct MP3 Episode 17: Creating a Sponsorship Deck - Curt Carter, Check-Six Gaming, Business Development Direct MP3 Episode 18: Team Curse & The Business of LoL - Donovan Duncan, Curse Gaming Direct MP3 Episode 19: The Business of Being HuskyStarCraft - Mike "Husky" Lamond Direct MP3 Episode 20: Challenges of Founding a Professional Team - Genna Bain, Axiom eSports Direct MP3 Episode 21: Corporate eSports Directors - Morgan Romine, Red5 Studios (FireFall) Direct MP3 Episode 22: Advertising & New Media in Gaming - Ryan Wyatt, Machinima, Inc. Direct MP3 Episode 23: Careers in eSports Journalism - Richard Lewis, Head of eSports Coverage, Heaven Media Direct MP3
Jason "1" Lake, Founder & CEO, Complexity Gaming. @coL_Lake Michael "Odee" O`Dell, Founder & Managing Director, Team Dignitas. @dignitasODEE Simon "Sympatico" Abitbol, Stream Producer. @SympaticoTV
Just listening to the opening comments makes me really excited for this show. Definitely a lot that many people can gain from this, even if you're not on the business side. I hope people give this show a fair shot no matter the background.
alright, the mlg/ipl/gsl comment did it for me. this is the best thing to happen to SC since... i don't even know. i reallly hope this thing works out, cause i feel like everyone in the community should check this out.
But needs more gradients in the background to stay competitive ... On a serious note - Jason had some variance in his sound level/quality, but besides that everyone sounded fine .. at least for me!
On March 01 2012 05:01 mango_destroyer wrote: Nice kick off show, will catch it again (although VODS next time because of work)
Yes, it's definitely something we've considered. We just want to do a couple episodes to figure out the timing and how much time we'd have available for call-ins.
Watched it earlier but am just now getting a chance to chime in. I'm addressing this to coL1.
First off i really like the title graphic - reminds me of a movie that I can't think of right now, plus of course it has your trademark red tie.
My main complaint is that the roles sort of seemed confused, and you were maybe too domineering at times. These might be related and only happened because it was the first show, so if that's the case then you can just ignore this. This was less true in the interview portion of the show, I thought that was quite well balanced, but for the first hour in general you talked too much and odee/chobopeon not enough. You had salient points and weren't repetitive or anything but I just felt the balance was off. I was also sort of confused at chobopeon's role on the show. It seems like he might be the voice not tied to a team, in which case that's ok but he needs to speak up more in that role - what insight he did have, especially from mlg offices, was nice. He might be the moderator, but it seemed like you were really the one taking the lead on that front with him just reading off questions when you said to. That might be a feeling that'll disappear as you guys get the pacing figured out though.
Overall I really enjoyed the show, great guest that answered a lot of the questions that I've always wondered about. Looking forward to the next episodes ^^
On March 01 2012 05:27 Antoine wrote: Watched it earlier but am just now getting a chance to chime in. I'm addressing this to coL1.
First off i really like the title graphic - reminds me of a movie that I can't think of right now, plus of course it has your trademark red tie.
My main complaint is that the roles sort of seemed confused, and you were maybe too domineering at times. These might be related and only happened because it was the first show, so if that's the case then you can just ignore this. This was less true in the interview portion of the show, I thought that was quite well balanced, but for the first hour in general you talked too much and odee/chobopeon not enough. You had salient points and weren't repetitive or anything but I just felt the balance was off. I was also sort of confused at chobopeon's role on the show. It seems like he might be the voice not tied to a team, in which case that's ok but he needs to speak up more in that role - what insight he did have, especially from mlg offices, was nice. He might be the moderator, but it seemed like you were really the one taking the lead on that front with him just reading off questions when you said to. That might be a feeling that'll disappear as you guys get the pacing figured out though.
Overall I really enjoyed the show, great guest that answered a lot of the questions that I've always wondered about. Looking forward to the next episodes ^^
Totally agree with your observations. Thanks very much for them.
We'll work on our chemistry and I'll definitely try to integrate everyone more next time.
On March 01 2012 05:27 Antoine wrote: Watched it earlier but am just now getting a chance to chime in. I'm addressing this to coL1.
First off i really like the title graphic - reminds me of a movie that I can't think of right now, plus of course it has your trademark red tie.
My main complaint is that the roles sort of seemed confused, and you were maybe too domineering at times. These might be related and only happened because it was the first show, so if that's the case then you can just ignore this. This was less true in the interview portion of the show, I thought that was quite well balanced, but for the first hour in general you talked too much and odee/chobopeon not enough. You had salient points and weren't repetitive or anything but I just felt the balance was off. I was also sort of confused at chobopeon's role on the show. It seems like he might be the voice not tied to a team, in which case that's ok but he needs to speak up more in that role - what insight he did have, especially from mlg offices, was nice. He might be the moderator, but it seemed like you were really the one taking the lead on that front with him just reading off questions when you said to. That might be a feeling that'll disappear as you guys get the pacing figured out though.
Overall I really enjoyed the show, great guest that answered a lot of the questions that I've always wondered about. Looking forward to the next episodes ^^
I can agree with this, I think the roles they had planned are very good, with Odee/Lake kind of being even, both the experts, and more Chobopeon being an interviewer per say going through a list of topics with them. It more just happened that for topics like IPL4/GSTL in Vegas and the Sexual Harassment in FGC Odee hadn't really had a chance to read up on these issues, so Lake had much more to say.
So I guess my feedback will be maybe a little more headroom w/ the planning so that Odee can have done his homework <3.
Some topics that I think would be very interesting to get the business perspective on are;
1) Is there a place for a media conglomerate dedicated to esports? 2) Should the business side take a major role in the grassroots development of future professional gamers, much in the same way businesses are involved with mainstream grassroots sports like basketball, baseball, and football, etc., now or in the near future? 3) For those that are new to the community, could you give some examples on how to become involved and gain networking opportunities with potential partners and/or employers.
Craig Levine had a last minute situation arise and will not join us for Episode 2. Instead, we will be discussing corporate influences over eSports media. Our guest will be Slasher.
First half hour or so (news of the week): to me this is kind of weak. maybe if there were more perspectives given it would be better, it seemed like the guests didn't really say anything at all at this point. if in the future it's patrick running down the news and coL1 and odee giving their perspectives, maybe it would be stronger.
Second half hour or so (nostalgia with slasher): frankly this was really boring. It misses the focus of the show, and i think this show's audience that are interested in that kind of thing probably already know it. in the future if you want to go into guests' background i suggest making it way shorter.
last part of the show (corporate influence on media): fantastic! this is where the show clearly shows its strengths, i can't get enough of it. i looked at the clock when jason said something to the effect of 'so let's get to the topic of the show' and it was 1:56 pm, almost a full hour after the show started.
on the topic of the show, i put most of my comments in the chat. i think a media that wants to sell itself as 100% independent needs to have advertisers, not sponsors. it is of course exceedingly difficult to get advertisement dollars, even compared to sponsorship dollars.
Unfortunately missed most of it.. But definitely interested in learning more bout the business in eSports Looking forward to next week with Nazgul, going to be good!
On March 08 2012 04:42 bluQ wrote: Really nice show. Just wondering why so few ppl watch it.
Viewership will not build itself instantly, there are a lot of other things going on right now. In time the numbers will grow just like Live on Three did, it used to get maybe 1-2k every episode but it had 6k for the most recent episode.
It's a shame the time is so odd cause this has some really valuable content! I just hope the name is able to get out there enough so people can at least watch the vods.
Thanks for the information though - can't wait to tune in next week =)
First time watching the show today. Absolutely enjoyed it. It's a very interesting show with topics that aren't discussed anywhere else in the esports world.
On March 08 2012 04:26 Antoine wrote: Enjoying episode 2.
First half hour or so (news of the week): to me this is kind of weak. maybe if there were more perspectives given it would be better, it seemed like the guests didn't really say anything at all at this point. if in the future it's patrick running down the news and coL1 and odee giving their perspectives, maybe it would be stronger.
Second half hour or so (nostalgia with slasher): frankly this was really boring. It misses the focus of the show, and i think this show's audience that are interested in that kind of thing probably already know it. in the future if you want to go into guests' background i suggest making it way shorter.
last part of the show (corporate influence on media): fantastic! this is where the show clearly shows its strengths, i can't get enough of it. i looked at the clock when jason said something to the effect of 'so let's get to the topic of the show' and it was 1:56 pm, almost a full hour after the show started.
on the topic of the show, i put most of my comments in the chat. i think a media that wants to sell itself as 100% independent needs to have advertisers, not sponsors. it is of course exceedingly difficult to get advertisement dollars, even compared to sponsorship dollars.
i think you've pretty much nailed it. we'll work to get to the meat of the show much faster next time.
I would keep your expectations low on the time slot and the fact that many people aren't really interested in the business side. It comes down to the guests and the meat of the conversation.
There were a lot of dry spots in episode two.
Cut off the fat right away; get right to the lean meat.
Watching some VODs now. This show touches on an aspect of eSports that often goes unnoticed, the large amounts of work that goes on behind the seems to keep the vehicle of eSports going.
Thanks guys, appreciate it! We'll keep refining the show. I think it's important to touch on recent news as we want to keep people viewing recent things from a biz perspective. We'll keep focusing on the meat though.
even though it dosent have that massive appeal (which you touched on in ep 1) I think this will be good as it will allow a much more relistic view of the situation we are currently in atm especially to some of more immature individuals on the forums who tend to jump to conclusions rather than adopting a wait and see approach (which i favour) as usually the facts arent always fully apparent when the incident comes to attention.
On another note to do with episode one and the sponsorship thing I know personally the advertising manager for one of the major banks and one of the things he told me is to never sponsor sports as 1 punch and you've just lost some brand integrity. That is why instead of investing in one of the 4 football codes they sponsor a netball compition which is well watched, low contriversy and generally good public relations aas it shows support of women in sports etc.
Solid work Jason and others; will try to continue keeping up with the series. I'm going to have to try and find a way to contribute back to the community soon.
Sounds incredibly interesting and actually a great idea for a show. I beg you not to give up if the viewer numbers for this dont reach sky high (because honestly, I think a lot of the casual and even some more hardcore viewers might find the subject matter boring), because there will definitely be a lot of interest from the smaller crowd you do get coming back
Looking forward to hear Nazgul's insights. He is truly an industry veteran, playing competitive BW back in the spacesuit era and working in Esports since.
Looking foward to this weeks episodes . . . really all the episodes. The next 3 weeks should have some amazing content! Such a refreshing show in terms of offering new content. Keep it coming! =D
Really can't say this enough, lots of players talk about the scene in podcasts and interviews and seeing the managers, coaches and sponsors get together to give their point of view is really awesome. Great idea. Great show.
I'm glad they can shed some light on player salaries. They said ~$500 to $1500 USD per month for a mid tier progamer (they argued over the # of progamers out there). And they pointed out that Alex Garfield said he's paid over 6 figures for a SC2 player (ie HuK).
I guess I can somewhat understand the Korean teams trying to prevent outside contact with the teams and the players. Look what happened to Zenex and TSL, these teams are shadows of what they used to be. Zenex used to have Puzzle, Byun, Coca, and Taeja (all 4 of which have been in Code S and Puzzle and Taeja are in Code S currently). TSL also has lost so much talent to other teams.
Great show as usual, your news of the week worked alot better this week(More relevant news if you see whos on the show). I like the discussions going on, but i want to add that i feel Chobopeon still feels out of place in the show
Great show guys, I've become the manager of a team that has 4 sponsors. Listening to this show gives a great spring board to smaller teams trying to become the next dignitas, EG, TL, CoL, etc. Keep up the good work
Great show guys, I like the idea and I like the different personalities you bring to the show. I like all the pillars and I have watched all 3 episodes so far. I have a bit of constructive criticism that you can take as you wish, its a similar problem with a lot of shows. The first speaker problem... the first person to talk on a subject always dominates the subject... in sotg and itg incontrol tends to dominate discussion because he is such a personality and is always willing to answer a question which I find is very similar to Jason Lake.
Basically what I am saying is make sure to throw it around to different people to be first to answer as it seems a lot of questions seem to always go to Jason first. Jason has so much quality to say that he should actually be answering later on to fill in those blanks that people leave out. Chobo it may be your job as more of the host role to direct the conversation more and get the other guests to give more input. Easier said then done I know. Anyways Good luck with the show will continue watching.
Again very nice show really liked that nazgul was on and to see the difference between the "old generation" managing guys and him. All in all again, great show, liked it, good insights, go and watch it!!
Edit: And oooouhhh yeeeaaaaa cynical Britfolks incoming! ♥
On March 15 2012 04:22 Dodgin wrote: Great show once again, some really great insights. Thanks guys!
Excited for TB! I hope he explains the transition from the wow-cataclysm beta videos into what he does now and all that.
He kinda touched that topic in TheGameStation podcast last time but yea would love some more insights.
Really liked the show On a business school atm so this is very interesting. Would love to get into eSports at some point, because it's a huge interest. Thx to Nazgul for being on ^^ Regarding the ford executive, that's going to be interesting, considering eSports isn't their normal target audience so it will be nice to see what he thinks about the scene.
This was a terrific show...Well meaning, influential people answering in depth good behind the scenes questions about the eSports we all love. Not for everyone but for an old (40+) gaming nut like myself that has managed alot of IT techies (similar to Progammers bar the fame (and probably women lol!) in the past was awesome..ty and I wish all of you the best with your teams and this weekly broadcast.
We edit out commercial breaks and then upload. Probably be up in the next 2-3 hours. (Also, the Twitch.tv channel has a VOD.) MP3 will be up in a few minutes.
I like the show guys. Well done. If I can offer a bit of critique it would be that jason simply speaks too much. He naturally likes to talk and rant it seems like. Also he has the moderator role. Nothing bad about that in itself, but feel like it gives too little room for the other people. Give the moderator role to chobopeon and force odee to talk more (he's often very quiet).
Could you ask TB to finish his Shining Force 3 Lets Play? I'm still waiting damnit
just got through watching the first of these. pretty good stuff. dunno when i'll get round to watching the rest, can only really check after work and that's when my internet gets throttled to hell by my godawful isp
I've watched all these so far. Really love em. I love the time of the show too. In between a couple of my classes on Wednesday Listen in on my Iphone, aww yeahh
SC2 has so much better fanbase. For instance, you don't see LoL fans doing grass roots movements like barcrafts! Only sc2 audience is so willing to put the effort into such a massive movement. Our fans are the best =)
Loving the show, didn't realize we were already at episode 4. Looks like I have an episode to watch later!
Great interview with TB, really interesting learning about how analytically TB has approached his efforts in getting revenue from his various passions. I came to find him through SC2 (which is funny, because I was hugely into WoW for a while and never heard of him) and had no idea how wide his reach was.
Would it be possible to do a breakdown with a few bar owners of successful barcrafts and see how they are turning this into something workable, because I would love to hear more ideas about grabbing people's interest who were just walking by and decided to stop and see what all of the fuss was about.
On March 22 2012 03:36 Jampackedeon wrote: Loving the show, didn't realize we were already at episode 4. Looks like I have an episode to watch later!
Great interview with TB, really interesting learning about how analytically TB has approached his efforts in getting revenue from his various passions. I came to find him through SC2 (which is funny, because I was hugely into WoW for a while and never heard of him) and had no idea how wide his reach was.
Would it be possible to do a breakdown with a few bar owners of successful barcrafts and see how they are turning this into something workable, because I would love to hear more ideas about grabbing people's interest who were just walking by and decided to stop and see what all of the fuss was about.
Keep it up!
Thats a really good idea I would love to hear the business side of Barcraft. ONOG comes to mind.
In another note really interesting to hear about the business side of Twitch and Youtupe.
Just saw this show for the first time and colour me impressed. I usually don't like these types of shows but here the questions were good and I also learnt something new.
Really liked the show, At first i did not like TB, but that was because i dont understand 60% what he said ... But after that "interview" i did to know him better, and i did know that he make so much thing for e-sport in general, and have other games-related.
Well, still dont like him was a caster, but now i can say that i dont see him was a outsider anymore.
he made an observation that ad rates in the us were relatively lucrative compared to every other country, so you want more american viewers than bulgarian for instance. that anti-bulgarian swine shall pay for his insolence.
he made an observation that ad rates in the us were relatively lucrative compared to every other country, so you want more american viewers than bulgarian for instance. that anti-bulgarian swine shall pay for his insolence.
lol! Hey we recently got our first commercials in twitch.tv, go Unibet.
I really enjoy this show. I've always been interested in the business side of things and this show has been excellent. Looking forward to more episodes!
On March 14 2012 01:16 Jiddra wrote: Great stuff, very interesting. I have got caught up on episode 2 today.
Just one thing, Jason, try to edit your spiels. They tend to be about the same thing, but in 3-4 different ways.
I gotta agree with the above statement. I kinda felt that you were running in circles at times while there was so much potential interesting content to cover. Apart from that, I sincerely love the show and how different it is from any other regular show out there.
Just caught the 4th episode.. it had some great topics. Thank you.
Interesting tho It seemed the guest caster had much more understanding and insight to the topics (first half of show) than the executive hosts. Maybe get TB as a host., he knows his stuff.
On March 24 2012 09:48 Rocor wrote: Just caught the 4th episode.. it had some great topics. Thank you.
Interesting tho It seemed the guest caster had much more understanding and insight to the topics (first half of show) than the executive hosts. Maybe get TB as a host., he knows his stuff.
On March 24 2012 09:48 Rocor wrote: Just caught the 4th episode.. it had some great topics. Thank you.
Interesting tho It seemed the guest caster had much more understanding and insight to the topics (first half of show) than the executive hosts. Maybe get TB as a host., he knows his stuff.
We definitely don't have all the answers and it helps to bring on people who know a lot about different topics
That's the whole point on bringing on guys with different backgrounds. If anything it's a smart idea or else you would get the same old bullcrap time and time again. Pretty sure Jason doesn't want that. This way the show stays fresh.
Good show with TB. Did you guys ask him if he is a one man business or does he have some employees or similar? I was wondering about that but can't remember if that was discussed on the show.
On March 24 2012 21:41 Fatta wrote: Good show with TB. Did you guys ask him if he is a one man business or does he have some employees or similar? I was wondering about that but can't remember if that was discussed on the show.
I've watched all 4 shows so far, and i really enjoyed them. Really interessting topics, stuff you don't normally hear people talk about. So thank you, and keep up the good work.
On March 24 2012 21:41 Fatta wrote: Good show with TB. Did you guys ask him if he is a one man business or does he have some employees or similar? I was wondering about that but can't remember if that was discussed on the show.
My paid employees are.
TotalBiscuit - Chief idiot Genna - Financial management and engagement bookings (interviews, event bookings, also handles travel and hotel arrangements, acts as my agent) Frank - Publisher and Developer relations (is responsible for making contacts with game developers and publishers, acquiring preview code, beta access, review copies and appointments with trade shows) Cristian - Graphic Designer and Channel manager (uploads and tags my videos, cuts my Twitch vods) Peter - Researcher (read emails and provides content for Mailbox, researches topics for podcasts)
Finally caught the last 3 episodes. This show is amazing. The pacing issues that were present in the premier have been taken care of and everything is flowing quite well. The amount of knowledge delivered per episode is astounding; I truly feel that I'm getting a deeper insight to the business side of things, particularly from a team and caster perspective with the last two episodes.
I'm pretty stoked about the next two topics that are lined up - any idea on what will come after?
On March 26 2012 09:26 Reedjr wrote: Finally caught the last 3 episodes. This show is amazing. The pacing issues that were present in the premier have been taken care of and everything is flowing quite well. The amount of knowledge delivered per episode is astounding; I truly feel that I'm getting a deeper insight to the business side of things, particularly from a team and caster perspective with the last two episodes.
I'm pretty stoked about the next two topics that are lined up - any idea on what will come after?
Glad you like it!
Ford is next week but we haven't locked down a guest for the following week yet. We'll keep this post updated as the schedule develops.
Maybe this isn't possible since you keep bringing on new guests, but can you keep the overlap to a minimum? I mean, there was content in your first show that you were still talking about on the third (about VCs in particular). Not all too angry about it, just throwing in some constructive criticism.
On March 28 2012 05:57 chobopeon wrote: anyone with opinions about what to ask ting (or any of the guests) should share them!
Some things I would ask: - How do you judge how much staff/what kind of infrastructure you need to organize a league of a given size. - How high is the initial investment (equipment, staff, etc.) when starting a new league. - What do you think is more marketable (either to fans or to sponsors): an individual league or a team league? - How important is it (especially for larger events like offline finals) to have a schedule that doesn't collide with other large SC2 events. - And since IGN is also running a league for LoL, maybe some numbers for comparison like viewership, growth, marketability, etc. - Three most important things when starting a new league. - How do you estimate the number of viewers of an event beforehand. - What do you think about MLG's PPV model? - What league would you say is the biggest rival in terms of getting the top players/the most viewers? And so on. The partnership with GOM is an interesting topic as well.
Man, it's not even far into the interview and I am already loving this! I've always loved IPL and hearing all these details about the business side of it is really fascinating!
Tune in if you haven't yet, definitely something to be gained for everyone =)
On March 29 2012 03:11 Bagration wrote: Really enjoy this show. Very insightful and informative, but I can't believe there are only 400 viewers right now :|
This show really should have more viewers! granted some of the audio really sucks today =/
On March 29 2012 03:18 Bagration wrote: 2k tickets? Let's see, with $25 per regular ticket, that would be at least $50,000 in revenue, probably more since there will be VIP tickets included.
Nah, man. As he put it they will still be losing money. It's an investment and it will continue to be that way until they grow it properly.
Like he said, having players like HuK on the frontpage of IGN will go a long way.
What do you think I've been saying since day 1? You have to make it about the players. It's all about brand recognition too.
Unfortunately missed most of it Really looking forward to the vod! The bit I did catch seemed really interesting, really like IPL so it's going to be good.
On March 29 2012 03:18 Bagration wrote: 2k tickets? Let's see, with $25 per regular ticket, that would be at least $50,000 in revenue, probably more since there will be VIP tickets included.
Nah, man. As he put it they will still be losing money. It's an investment and it will continue to be that way until they grow it properly.
Like he said, having players like HuK on the frontpage of IGN will go a long way.
What do you think I've been saying since day 1? You have to make it about the players. It's all about brand recognition too.
Of course, that would not even come close to covering all the costs. IPL 3 supposedly cost nearly $1 million if I remember correctly from an interview that Ting did shortly after IPL 3. IPL 4 could cost even more.
But having a packed audience for IPL 4 is definitely nice, as one of the few issues with IPL 3 was the lack of audience. I wonder how many HD passes they will be able to sell.
On March 29 2012 04:01 chobopeon wrote: apologies about the audio issues. thems the breaks. anyways, feedback?
Show was good to me. I'm curious as to what he was saying during his mic breaking but I'm not sure if you guys can get that kind of thing
heh, i was curious too. he'd cut out and skip and have feedback for me too in skype so i was left wondering about what he was saying on occasion. ended up well all things considered.
On March 29 2012 04:01 chobopeon wrote: apologies about the audio issues. thems the breaks. anyways, feedback?
Show was good to me. I'm curious as to what he was saying during his mic breaking but I'm not sure if you guys can get that kind of thing
heh, i was curious too. he'd cut out and skip and have feedback for me too in skype so i was left wondering about what he was saying on occasion. ended up well all things considered.
I agree
The audio was definitely annoying and made me had to really pay attention to get everything he was saying, but despite all that, this was definitely my favorite episode yet.
David was just so candid and i felt he did a good job of giving his answers in a way that everyone can understand what he means. He was never afraid to answer a question and he just dove right into it - i loved it. Made for a very entertaining show!
Big thanks again to what you guys are doing. Are you able to give any more insight into what next week's episode is about? Does Ford have any involevment in esports?
anyone any idea why episode 3 wouldn't play on my car radio? All the rest play just fine except the 3rd one. They all have same file format, don't they?
David was a fantastic guest who was awesomely transparent. Great episode content wise.
I was really fatigued from trying to understand everything through the horrible audio though. Do you guys call the guest ahead of time and make everything is good? Was he on wifi rather than wired or something? He may as well have been calling from the Moon.
We did a sound/video check before the show and it was fine. Sadly the wifi connection didn't hold up very well but the information David shared definitely makes the episode worth watching.
Can we expect more episodes of The Executives now? These first 4 (still haven't seeen the 5th one) were so very interesting and informative it would be a treat to get one of these maybe once every 2 weeks but for a longer amount of time. Providing you feel like you have enough things to talk about of course ^^
I really enjoyed the episode and I liked that fact that David pointed out that a spot on front page of IGN is worth(and costs) a ton of money. I got really annoyed when IPL 1, 2 & 3 came out and everyone was asking why it wasn't on the front page, main headline. But people seem to be more aware now a days and not making as many silly demands/questions.
Try to convince guests to temporarily run a wired connection across their living room floor or whatever, no matter how good they think their wireless is. I've seen SO many shows where the same thing happens and they guest is always on wifi.
On March 31 2012 01:51 Emix_Squall wrote: Can we expect more episodes of The Executives now? These first 4 (still haven't seeen the 5th one) were so very interesting and informative it would be a treat to get one of these maybe once every 2 weeks but for a longer amount of time. Providing you feel like you have enough things to talk about of course ^^
Yes we plan on running the show for the foreseeable future.
Is there a way you guys could get on some of the lesser known league managers? ESV, Playhem, and such. I am starting up my own league (working as we speek) and these podcasts have been so insanely helpful, and I thank you for every ounce of work you guys have put into this! :D If I ever meet you guys at an MLG a beer will be on my tab for you guys XD
Also, an idea would be to do ether a callin question session, and ideally do a couple pulled from twitter, since a lot of guys, such as myself, are watching to vods or listening to MP3s because they can't toon into the live show. Would be awesome to get some community questions answered, and a twitter feedin would also be an easy way to block silly questions like "how much did you make last year" and such.
Again, I absolutely LOVE what you're doing! Keep up the awesome work :D
On April 04 2012 01:52 compLexityGaming wrote: Tomorrow we have a representative from Ford Motor Company. Hopefully people are able to tune in so we can show him eSports is a viable investment.
Wow, this deserves its own thread. That is pretty huge.
This is pretty huge, if a representative from Ford comes on the show. People need to hype this up and give these guys a good impression of the enthusiasm of the SC2 scene.
On April 04 2012 01:52 compLexityGaming wrote: Tomorrow we have a representative from Ford Motor Company. Hopefully people are able to tune in so we can show him eSports is a viable investment.
Wow, this deserves its own thread. That is pretty huge.
I would like to know if companies are concerned about community backlash from sponsorship. Let's say Ford sponsors an event, and it wasn't worth it for them, so they drop support, there's going to be community backlash and their whole sponsorship may end up doing more harm than good in this kind of passionate, pitchforking community.
On April 04 2012 07:53 Ruscour wrote: I would like to know if companies are concerned about community backlash from sponsorship. Let's say Ford sponsors an event, and it wasn't worth it for them, so they drop support, there's going to be community backlash and their whole sponsorship may end up doing more harm than good in this kind of passionate, pitchforking community.
On April 04 2012 07:53 Ruscour wrote: I would like to know if companies are concerned about community backlash from sponsorship. Let's say Ford sponsors an event, and it wasn't worth it for them, so they drop support, there's going to be community backlash and their whole sponsorship may end up doing more harm than good in this kind of passionate, pitchforking community.
has that ever happened before?
He might be referring to when SteelSeries stopped sponsoring Grubby and Reddit blew up with a few posts hating on SteelSeries. I wouldn't say the sponsorship did more harm than good though, most reasonable people understood why they had to drop support for Grubby.
On April 04 2012 07:53 Ruscour wrote: I would like to know if companies are concerned about community backlash from sponsorship. Let's say Ford sponsors an event, and it wasn't worth it for them, so they drop support, there's going to be community backlash and their whole sponsorship may end up doing more harm than good in this kind of passionate, pitchforking community.
has that ever happened before?
He might be referring to when SteelSeries stopped sponsoring Grubby and Reddit blew up with a few posts hating on SteelSeries. I wouldn't say the sponsorship did more harm than good though, most reasonable people understood why they had to drop support for Grubby.
It didn't help that the SteelSeries guy got really mad at the community, but this community (read: reddit) is very easily lead along to believe whatever a wall of text tells them, and a lot of undeserving people/companies have been pitchforked.
Reasonable people don't contact sponsors and plan boycotts. But there are people who do; people are too passionate for their own good.
I wish I could watch this episode live, but I will be busy I will definitely watch the vod, I love the show and am really excited to see what the guy from Ford has to say.
On April 05 2012 03:33 jlake02 wrote: Thanks for watching! *PLEASE* consider tweeting @brianmcclary and @ford to encourage them to support eSports. Thanks!
I tuned in halfway, so I'm not sure if you missed it but I tweeted it at brian too - fan loyalty with the heavy investment that people in e-sports have with it means that you're creating a bond with your consumers. The best example for this is the Old Spice commercials - they don't even sell in my area but thanks to MLG I have them imprinted as 'A for awesome'. It's not some mobile phone ad where you press 'click to skip' without paying attention.
On April 05 2012 03:33 jlake02 wrote: Thanks for watching! *PLEASE* consider tweeting @brianmcclary and @ford to encourage them to support eSports. Thanks!
Really sorry I missed it. Will re-watch as soon as time permits, and want to thank you once more for setting this up and keeping it going - for me it is the only SC2/e-sports related talk show really worth tuning in for. xxx
Hey guys great show! Hopefully you guys can manage to keep it going! I fear that there aren't enough people/topics to keep it going on a weekly basis. But either way ill keep tunning in
I love how Brian called out the loaded question considering he's a digital media guy when the topic of television came up, lol.
With regards to his response. It's nice that we can see stream numbers in real time; however, those numbers are just as misleading. I usually have way more than one stream opened at a time and I'm usually always doing something else as I work from home.
I tend to mute a lot of them as well, so those figures are up to intrepretation as well.
Ill miss my dosage of the executives this week - was always the most enjoyable part of my wednesday afternoon XD Looking forward to next week though; i'll definitely be tuning in!
Today's show features guest Craig "Torbull" Levine, a founding father of USA eSports. We'll discuss his projects and focus on "The History of eSports Business."
I love this show but could Chobopeon please diversify whom he asks a question a bit more? Most of the time he asks a question and then continues to ask Jason what he thinks about it. Although Jason is very well spoken on most subjects I would like it very much to hear others answer questions and when necessary have Jason add to it. Now it's quite often Jason who answers and the others just agree without adding new stuff. Unfortunately it diminishes the liveliness of the show.
This also has to do with who the guest is as obviously not everybody is very wellspoken but it should be Chobopeons job to tease more from the "shyer" guests.
That said I would like to emphasize again that I love the show so please keep going!
Don't know if it's appropriate for you guys to talk about here, but are you going to touch on the debate that rose around Destiny? Maybe from a sponsors angle, what they expect from teams that they sponsor or similar, does stuff like this affect them?
Edit:
Ah, apparently they touched on this a few moments ago, I just tuned in :-)
Been listening to the first 2 episodes and I must say I love it! Really good notes for me as manager to get some pro tips! Looking forward to the rest of the episodes!
On May 03 2012 02:25 Golden Ghost wrote: I love this show but could Chobopeon please diversify whom he asks a question a bit more? Most of the time he asks a question and then continues to ask Jason what he thinks about it. Although Jason is very well spoken on most subjects I would like it very much to hear others answer questions and when necessary have Jason add to it. Now it's quite often Jason who answers and the others just agree without adding new stuff. Unfortunately it diminishes the liveliness of the show.
This also has to do with who the guest is as obviously not everybody is very wellspoken but it should be Chobopeons job to tease more from the "shyer" guests.
That said I would like to emphasize again that I love the show so please keep going!
Incontrol is right, this is a great show (as said on the EGMC tonight), haven't been able to catch them all but the ones I've seen have been really interesting. Keep it up guys!
Please, bring on day9 and talk about red bull battlegrounds. Make a similar interview as you guys did with Ting and IPL as both tournaments/events are relatively new to the ever growing e-sports scene. Q: What separates Red Bull from other brands within e-sports?
On May 08 2012 06:07 archonOOid wrote: Please, bring on day9 and talk about red bull battlegrounds. Make a similar interview as you guys did with Ting and IPL as both tournaments/events are relatively new to the ever growing e-sports scene. Q: What separates Red Bull from other brands within e-sports?
I've reached out to Day9 but he won't respond. :/ Guess he's not interested sadly.
Tomorrow's episode features Gootecks and we'll be discussing "Business in the FGC (Fighting Game Community)"
I'm not really a fan of coL on a personal level but this show alone made me respect the organisation a lot more than every flashy korean player they could hire. It tells a lot about how they conduct business and per association how their sponsors are doing business too.
Maybe it wasn't the primary goal but I think such a serious show can appeal to more mature gamer who are inclined to make decisions based on how the brand is worth at an ethical level. Seeing how Mr. Lake and Rom behaved and how they expressed their judgement carefully tells me a lot more about their ethic values than the work ethic of Killer (for exemple). You could maybe talk about that in a future show though I guess it's only a minor side effect.
PS : This show makes me wanna enter a big company after my master and work my ass off to get them into competitive gaming
I'm really enjoying this show. I've been listening to it while walking around and the amount of straight talk that actually takes place is really refreshing.
Just finished watching episode no. 10 and it really was a great show. Nice insights into the Fighting community.
I don't know if you already know but on the youtube channel this episode is missing. It gives the message that the show was deleted by the user. However the link here in this thread worked normally so you probably need to relink the episode on the youtube channel or something.
This show is great and so nice and different to any other content out at the moment. I would find a show with 2GD as would be interested in seeing what goes on behind the troll Hes worked in different areas in terms of games / genres / events that I think he would have a lot to talk about. Don't think anyone from the FPS community has been on either and would be interested to hear his take on Quake VS Halo. Also bring Mingles.
On May 11 2012 07:47 Alexj wrote: Please fix the MP3 RSS feed, the link is not embedded correctly (podcast clients don't see it)
I've made a few modifications to the feed that might correct your issue, though it validates fine and should be working in most, if not all podcast clients.
I think maybe Catz & the new root business-side-guy together would be interesting. Catz can talk about what he's learned from col and first time around with root. The new guy can talk plans/ask you guys tips maybe. Just skip anything related to destiny though, we've heard it all.
Great show, keep it up. If I have any criticism, it's that you are VERY scared of asking hard questions. It's always full of "well, i know you can't go into details but.." and after a half answer it's "ok". I get that you're not an investigative journalism show, but would still like to see it a bit more..... probative. Please grill sundance a bit. Especially about mlg/kespa players getting to play in ipl/nasl. If he thinks there's room for more than mlg (ipl/nasl again) in NA in the long run.
fxoboss, artosis, scoots (yeah i know you just had garfield, but scoots is just awesome), raistlin, xeris etc are some of the others i'd love to hear from^^
I think carmac would be an interesting guest- time zones and scheduling aside. Especially because (I think) he is not exactly employed by IEM, but rather acts as an contractor with his event agency. A pretty unique position and business model
On May 27 2012 07:13 Dustus wrote: was there a show this week? looked and no vod yet. If there wasnt is there any indication on when the next one will be?
No "Executives" today. Our guest had to reschedule last minute. Next week is @MLGSundance talking Anaheim and more.
Just watched episode 11. Very good show guys. If you can keep up this quality I take my hat of to you. Good mix of critical questions and small talk. I also liked how I thought Odee was mixing in the discussion a bit more. It definitely added some dynamic to the discussion. Definitely in my top 3 at this moment with Team Management 101 (Nazgul was very insightful and you guys had a very good dynamic going I thought) and Business of FGC (very nice to hear something e-sport related from outside the RTS community).
Watching episode 12 with Sundance now and it's fantastic! A very good build up episode for MLG Anaheim. Hopefully more people start to watch considering it is an awesome series and with unique guests you don't see every day.
In what areas should teams start to look into in terms of revenue streams? What separates your team (to both team owners) from any other team out there, in short, what's your identity?
I'd like to hear some thoughts on how important it is to get players into the tsl compared with sending them to other tournaments. Obviously a big fan favorite tournament and one of the few big tours out there you actually have to qualify for. I imagine the exposure of a tsl is pretty big both for the player and for the team. Should teams be pushing their players to play in every single qualifier so they can possibly qualify on points even if they dont win one etc?
Not sure who next guest is, but if it's someone suitable discuss value of tsl up against other things maybe? Think that would be very interesting to hear.
Anyway, Canadians are loud period. I'm sure you can draw a correlation to it being the first major in Canada for SC2 but they will always be loud and we got a lot of pride in our Nation. We will always sing the National Anthem when it's played.
Tomorrow's episode is entitled: "Creating a Player Welcome Packet."
This one is primarily focused on younger managers who are working to build an organization (most likely a team).
Both Odee and myself will be sharing actual player packets from our organizations. If you're a new manager this episode is for you! It's our true hope and desire that you can learn something from the show and in turn make your organization that much better.
Appreciate you sharing those player welcome packets with us, thanks - and thanks for another good episode! Do you have any plans to look at players who operate without a team, working with personal sponsorship? I guess Grubby would be an example.
Episode 16 was extremely informative and was invaluable as a prospective team manager. I really appreciate that you guys were willing to share your welcome packets. I understand they may not be super confidential, but hey, helping foster that initial relationship between yourself/team and the player is crucial.
You mentioned that your sales decks for sponsors would be something very confidential, on the other hand. This is what I've always been the most curious about though and there's really no way to get any information on them without having previous experience, as far as I'm aware. I know you guys did an episode on gaining sponsorships, etc, but would you be willing to do an episode all about the decks you create to give out to sponsors, similar to this episode? Again, I understand those are confidential and you may not want to share yours, but giving out any information you possibly can about creating a deck, would be also invaluable.
Perhaps talk a disbanded team CEO into releasing his deck and then explaining what went into creating one? If not, just having a discussion about how you went about creating your first decks. I'm assuming once you've got the first one under your belt, you can get feedback from the sponsor about it later on, and you can improve that, the problem is really just getting that first one done.
Thanks and keep up the good work! As someone looking to partake in the business side of things, this show is extremely helpful.
On August 10 2012 09:30 Sixen wrote: You mentioned that your sales decks for sponsors would be something very confidential, on the other hand. This is what I've always been the most curious about though and there's really no way to get any information on them without having previous experience, as far as I'm aware. I know you guys did an episode on gaining sponsorships, etc, but would you be willing to do an episode all about the decks you create to give out to sponsors, similar to this episode? Again, I understand those are confidential and you may not want to share yours, but giving out any information you possibly can about creating a deck, would be also invaluable.
Perhaps talk a disbanded team CEO into releasing his deck and then explaining what went into creating one? If not, just having a discussion about how you went about creating your first decks. I'm assuming once you've got the first one under your belt, you can get feedback from the sponsor about it later on, and you can improve that, the problem is really just getting that first one done.
I've done a few for some charity events and some eSports ones as well, but a sponsorship deck generally consists of:
- An introduction of your organization/event (about/history) - Specific demographic information relevant to the potential sponsor about your market - Information on why a company should sponsor (listing your organization/event's recent activities, growth, market, etc...) - List of sponsorship packages (listing cost, and what the sponsorship affords the sponsor) - A list and information about your current sponsors - Contact information
I'm sure you could probably Google for sponsorship decks or proposals and find some to work off of. Even so, in a future episode, rather than provide details, I'm sure Lake or Odee could provide a generalization of the information that is contained within theirs. We really would not need to know specifics.
On August 11 2012 02:55 divito wrote: I've done a few for some charity events and some eSports ones as well, but a sponsorship deck generally consists of:
- An introduction of your organization/event (about/history) - Specific demographic information relevant to the potential sponsor about your market - Information on why a company should sponsor (listing your organization/event's recent activities, growth, market, etc...) - List of sponsorship packages (listing cost, and what the sponsorship affords the sponsor) - A list and information about your current sponsors - Contact information
I'm sure you could probably Google for sponsorship decks or proposals and find some to work off of. Even so, in a future episode, rather than provide details, I'm sure Lake or Odee could provide a generalization of the information that is contained within theirs. We really would not need to know specifics.
Cool, thanks! And yes, this is exactly what I was saying. They likely wouldn't want to show theirs anyway, but if they could simply generalize what it consists of, and perhaps how to go about getting the first one under your belt, that'd make for a great episode.
Not sure why your last previous episode with regards to Sponsorship Decks didn't get anymore comments/views but considering that I found it to be probably the most informative, helpful, and important video not only in this series but in the world of e-Sports management itself. Pretty incredible job so far guys, I'm on my second notebook purely dedicated to your show!
Edit: Additional thanks for having the episodes available via podcast, it makes listening to much easier at times.
I generally like your episodes, but yesterday, when I stumbled upon the stream, I think I watched for about 20 seconds , in which Husky compared himself to Bill Gates then lamented about actually losing money when he is casting tournaments instead of uploading videos - ego alert- . Sorry, but that's as much as I could take! The best of luck in the future
On October 04 2012 17:34 Leru wrote: I generally like your episodes, but yesterday, when I stumbled upon the stream, I think I watched for about 20 seconds , in which Husky compared himself to Bill Gates then lamented about actually losing money when he is casting tournaments instead of uploading videos - ego alert- . Sorry, but that's as much as I could take! The best of luck in the future
Out of context Husky might have seemed like an egomaniac but watching the entire video he didn't seem that way at all. The show is rather interesting though it was a bit hard to get into the first episode I watched. I feel like the same topic is iterated upon and dragged on too long at times. The first episode I watched of TB the current events could have been cut down to 10-15 minutes for example. Overall I find the episodes entertaining and the only reason I almost didn't continue watching episodes was because at parts the topics felt dragged on too long. Best of luck with future content!
Another highly recommended episode. Smart lady. Behind every great woman there is a man.
In terms of contractor's versus employees. It really comes down to the talent pool you have. If you recruit player's who are low maintenance and tend to do things on their own then great, but every player has a different set of needs and perceived needs when it comes to coaching and direction.
On the topic of travel. That's why I would like to see an actual Summit so the organizers can work together to fix the overabundance of tournaments and conflicts. It would be a lot easier on the teams. -_-
Going after other team's players is tampering and it's illegal in professional sports and in many industries. Good thing this industry isn't there yet.
Not to say tampering doesn't happen in every business because it does and if there is evidence against you. You bet your ass lawsuits and settlements are on the agenda.
If the industry gets big enough. It can happen but by that time we'll see policy against such practices.
With regards to bidding wars,
Players have to ask themselves what they want to get out of their pro gaming career. It's easy to take the money and run, but they should also consider the work environment and what else the team has to offer at the same time.
What other resources do they have to offer? How well do you mesh with the other players on the team? Terms and conditions? Etc.
Difference between Western teams and KeSPA anyone?
Team Complexity, Team Dignitas, Team CompLexity, etc.
Samsung Khan, SK Telecom, CJ Entus, hm.
There's the difference between small businesses and mega corporations.
We're already seeing guys like Razor step up by sponsoring teams and individual players. I wonder what happens when they decide to setup their own team instead of writing off checks to all the other teams.
You need thick skin no matter what business you go in.
If you're working with people. Yup, thick skin got to go through it all.
Just wanted to take a minute to thank you guys for doing this show. It's incredibly useful and helpful for a young person like myself looking to enter and make a footprint in the world of eSports. I hope you continue with the show as it's an invaluable resource for the continued growth in this space.
I wouldn’t say one was better than the other but that’s beside the point anyway. It’s good that people got to hear several ideas and now it’s up to them to make their own opinion. To be honest I was glad Slasher got criticised like that because Lo3 made me allergic to his ideas and I find myself skip ahead more and more.
I would be interested to learn about the financial accounting & tax side of Esports (being an accountant myself).
With having teams and sponsorship money, surely each organization would have controls over how the money is distributed and such. Obviously it's guarded information, but looking at the financial statements of a team or an Esports company would be very interesting indeed.
On January 24 2013 08:51 TheMannerMule wrote: I would be interested to learn about the financial accounting & tax side of Esports (being an accountant myself).
With having teams and sponsorship money, surely each organization would have controls over how the money is distributed and such. Obviously it's guarded information, but looking at the financial statements of a team or an Esports company would be very interesting indeed.
Actually, this would be a cool episode... Covering the more businessy side of business (heh?), accounting, finances, legal documents, etc.
In addition, an episode with Tumba (of eSports Management Group) would be awesome as well, to talk about agencies and representation in eSports.
On January 24 2013 09:23 Roarer wrote: Can the show be a bit more regular, I think that is seriously hurting your viewership.
IIRC, in one of the first few episodes, Jason mentioned they weren't necessarily going to do an episode weekly, they would simply do episodes based on topics and people they could get, rather than just giving filler/fluff content.
I just setup a reddit for eSports Business, feel free to subscribe and contribute. A plug on the show would be extremely invaluable, as I'm sure you're aware, the value of the network grows exponentially with the total number of individuals within it.
I'm usually a fan of the show... but Jason Lake... you must actually listen to the answers given by the guests before you say absolutely and move on to the next question. You are actually allowed to ask critical questions or ask for the question you in fact asked to be answered instead of something else. This can be done without coming close to anything related to investigative journalism, so dont worry.
EPT![[image loading]](http://www.complexitygaming.com/uploads/news/news_133052790995.png)
