GameOn's Journey From B2C to B2B & Going Public | Matt Bailey, Founder & CEO of GameOn

Welcome to Miami. We are on our founder Journey mission to Miami this week and we're talking to Matt Bailey of GameOn, an actual launch ventures portfolio company. We're going to talk about Matt's journey from Australia to New York to now Miami and building a B2C company that had to transition to a B2B company during COVID and guess what, he also took his company public during that time as well. And so they're doing extremely well. They've got a number of M&As under.

Their belt and they're continu to grow.

Listen in on Matt's journey of building game on in Miami.

Three, two, one.

Welcome to another episode of founder Journey. I'm in beautiful Miami today meeting with Matt Bailey, CEO and founder of GameOn, one of our launch VC portfolio companies. Matt, thank you for joining us.

Thank you. Welcome to Miami.

Yeah, beautiful sunny Miami. Tell me about GameOn.

GameOn is a game technology provider. We're working with sportsbooks, teams, leagues, TV networks in a B2B capacity. So a 100% B2B business. And we're building things like prediction games, fantasy games that plug into their environment, into their mobile apps, into their websites and fueling engagement and revenue for them. So examples of our partners, NBC Universal, MXPL Player and Times Internet in India, all the way to even NFT projects like Chibi Dinos for all of them, again, we're providing game layers, game technology like fantasy and prediction games. That's what we do.

So you really the technology behind the success of these NFT drops, these games that are happening, you're the underlying layer that makes it happen.

Exactly, exactly. We're the product and technical partner from end to end. So we're not just providing an SDK that they can go and build with. And we like to think of it like if Dapper Labs went to the NBA and said, here are the tools, go and build topshot, would they have? Probably not. So we want to be that product and technical partner from end to end and that's what we do for our partners. Awesome.

And you're publicly traded. You're a victory square portfolio company as well. And that journey must have been pretty challenging. But fill us in on your journey. What took you from Matt Bailey living in Australia to Matt Bailey CEO of a public company here in North America?

It's been a really fun and winding journey. So grew up in Australia, just south of Sydney. Went straight from university where I studied sports business. I worked for a year right after that in the broadcast world, but literally at my desk booked a one way ticket to New York, quit my job at 23 and just boarded a one way flight. I just knew I wanted to work in the major leagues. That was the motivation, the inspiration at that time. U.S. north American sport. I want to go do that. And I got there. It was very difficult at first to break in. I didn't have a lot of experience. So I did what every other Australian would do. I started a rugby team in Brooklyn and that was my blank canvas. It was my, you know, I could, I started the brand, I sold sponsorship, I did everything from a business standpoint that ultimately landed me a job at the Brooklyn Nets or the parent company. And I was there for a few years, loved it. You know, the team was horrible at the time, but I got to turn up to a beautiful arena, watch professional sports.

So how much of that endeavor to build the rugby team led to that job at the Nets? Is it like hey, they saw what you're doing or it just gave you the confidence to.

Yeah, I think I was a differentiator on my resume so I didn't have a lot of experience. I had one year selling ads in broadcast in Australia. So I think it enabled me to put something on the resume and stand out and got me in the room. And then once I'm in the room, you know, I feel confident once I'm there. But getting in the room there are, you know, applying for these jobs at major leagues. There's tens and hundreds of resumes to compete with. So I think it was a differentiator. That team still exists today. We've won a US USARL championship a few years ago, the Brooklyn Kings. So it still exists. But yeah, I mean after that I worked in music festival world for a little bit but I had an aspiration to build something of my own. And that's when Game on started about four years ago. We were first just a free to play prediction app that you could download on The App Store B2C, make free predictions on games and win a real cash prize. We kind of wanted to be a part of the sports betting wave that was happening across North America. I came from a place.

What year was this?

This was 2018. Came from Australia where I grew up with a very mature betting market. So we wanted to be a part of the free to play funnel. We didn't want to compete with the, you know, the regulation, but also the money that guys like DraftKings and FanDuel had. And that's what we started off doing. We got to 20, 30,000 monthly active users we were growing, and then Covid hit and no sports. So the little revenue we were generating went to zero. All of our users pretty much went to zero. No money in the bank. Me personally hadn't paid myself for a year. I had racked up maybe 50,000 in credit card debt just to live to pay the rent. And I remember that was rock bottom when I needed to pay our one developer to keep the lights on. And I cash advanced the last amount of my credit card, my personal credit card, to pay him. And then I was like, we need to generate revenue. So we thought about white labeling for time. The first, first time. And repurposing our technology for someone. And the first to say they'll do it is NBC Universal and the Real Housewives. And we built the official prediction game, $60,000 in the bank. And I was like, wow, that was transactional. Then we sold another one, then we sold another one, then we sold another. And we. And then that was right around when we were going public. And in that time, over the last two years or so, we fully transitioned to that B2B business. We, which is through the tough times of COVID was a really shining light to come out of it.

And that's one of those traits of an entrepreneur is you have to be malleable. You have to be able to shift and pivot. We heard that, we were pivot so many times, but it actually is a harsh reality of being a startup entrepreneur. You have to be able to read the market, read the opportunities around you, and see where you can pivot your company towards success.

And it's often our instinct to. To fight waves and fight like Covid was a massive wave that hit so many industries, almost everybody. And your instinct to kind of fight that and still try and make whatever is happening work. But if you can ride that wave and those opportunities and go and be open and flexible, that's what we did.

And when you did that pivot and you started seeing the opportunity with Universal, NBC Universal, how did you get the second one? Was it still through NBC or were you able to take that case study and showcase somebody else?

It was the case study and being able to show, we're doing this now. This is our business. And we went all in, all of our decks, our website, everything reflected it. And yeah, then the next was actually MX Player, another broadcast streamer out of India that are actually bigger than NBC Universal with they have 1 billion downloads. They're bigger than Netflix in India. And we did cricket with them. Then that grew to cricket, tennis, soccer, and Kabaddi a sport there. Now we're close to wrapping up something else with them. So, yeah, finding those using case studies is good, but then finding companies that you can kind of grow your tentacles within has been a real. Can be a real gold mine if you, if you do it right.

And from an entrepreneur's perspective, seeing money hit the bank can always be a great motivator as well.

Yeah. And just, you know, from a B2C standpoint, to scale that business model, you need millions of people playing and then to see that money coming quickly. And that being my background as well. Sales, that's what I've done in the past with the Nets and whatnot. So it was a more comfortable role for me to play as well. So we're still, you know, we're still scaling customers and revenue in that way, and it was always the best decision we ever made. That's awesome.

So your journey as an entrepreneur hasn't been conventional. Like, you didn't go to school knowing that you want to be an entrepreneur. It's just something you knew was in your gut. But what is this something that you wish you had known about the journey of being an entrepreneur that you want to share with our audience? What should other entrepreneurs know about the journey?

I think just being aware and the common feedback that everyone hears is that there's no such thing as an overnight success, which is very true. Most overnight successes, that or years in the making, sometimes decades. But actually understanding that it's quite the opposite. It's hard. It's tough. There are times when you don't pay yourself for months and months and months a year. There's credit card debt that you'll get into. So I think understanding the level of pain tolerance you need for startup life or for being an entrepreneur, I wish I knew earlier. I learned it all through experience, and I built that pain tolerance and I probably took the long way a couple of times. But I mean, it's hard. It's hard to know that before you actually go through it as well. So while I wish I kind of was ready for that, for that pain that happens along the way, you really can't be until you experience it as well.

Yeah. And I guess that, like maxing out your credit cards, you're. You're putting other people ahead of yourself. Like I said you did, you knew you had to pay your developers. You might have rent to pay or get, need to get grocery, but some food on the table. But like, without the developer, you. You. You would be even worse off.

So you kind of have that. You have that belief still in the back of your mind.

Yeah.

At that rock bottom time, actually I, I googled, I googled bankruptcy. I, I just thought, do I just go back to Australia and never come back to the US and just then that. Then I'll never see that debt again. So like I actually thought, thought about it. But even at those times, you kind of have that unwavering belief in the back of your head. And I actually think it's the most important quality of a founder. You know, different people have different paths. But for me, the most important quality was that unwavering belief and just knowing that it will work out, the pain tolerance and then ultimately that you find a way and we found our way now to keep going, which is the B2B route. But if, yeah, this, that if I didn't have that pain tolerance or I didn't have that belief to keep, just keep sticking it out, I would have quit. So.

And during that time when you were near rock bottom, googling bankruptcy, did you have like a support network? Were there other people that you could lean on and bounce ideas off of?

A little bit, yeah. It's nice to other entrepreneurs or founders in my network, a few of them I'd be close to. Darius is one who, you know, you.

Know, been on founder journey as well.

Season two, I believe so. Like other founders who are the only ones who can kind of understand it. Similar to like, you know, if someone, if you're experiencing depression, speaking to someone else who intimately knows what that's like to help you. It's the same here as a founder and going through. You can't. You can to a degree, talk to your loved one or your, in my case, my fiance or my parents or my sister. But you get the most comfort and reassurance out of talking to people who are in the same position. So I did seek out founders that I could talk to about that and we ended up ultimately helping each other through it.

Yeah. One of my lines is misery loves company. Nobody understands the misery that entrepreneur goes through than another entrepreneur.

Exactly. Yeah.

Beth, this has been awesome conversation. Thanks for sharing your story with us.

No worries.

We're in beautiful Miami. You're headquartered here in Miami. Tell us, what's the magic about Miami? Lots of people moved here during the pandemic. Lots of noise about NFTs and crypto and. And the mayor here is just unreal. Mayor Francis Suarez, tell us from your perspective what's so magical about Miami.

So what I love about Miami is, you know, it's Just a great place to live. You know, from a, from a lifestyle standpoint, the weather, the, the food, the hospitality is great. But what I love seeing here is that, you know, and I liken it to, to just startups, startups. So if 10 years ago, when startups might not have been the sexiest thing, there were certain cities that you could go to and feel right, that you're in the right place, like New York, like San Francisco, where if you told people about your startup, they'd support you and be like, wow, that's cool. There are other cities that they would think you're a little bit weird. Like, why are you doing that? Go work for a corporation. Just stay on the safe route. This is the place to be. Now for Web3. You talk about your Web3 project team, your NFT collection, be it an artist or you're an entrepreneur or whatever, people embrace it and they, they help you, they're supporting it. In some other cities they might not be, you know, they kind of, why are you doing that? What is an nft? They don't get it, they, they don't believe in it. So this is kind of what, what it was like, you know, for startups in certain cities 10 years ago. Now for Web3, people are really supporting it all the way at the, you know, at the mayor level. So this is kind of a really exciting place to be. And it's not short term either. You know, it's not, it's not individuals that, that are coming here just during the pandemic, it's businesses that are coming here, it's startups that are coming, investors are moving here, they're here for the long term. So that's what I'm really excited about.

Yeah, and I can definitely attest to that because I've had number of meetings while I'm here. And Web two companies, traditional businesses, if in other jurisdictions, we talk to them about NFTs and crypto, they give you a stink eye and they're like, I don't know about that here. They're like, yeah, we want to explore it. It may not be the solution for us, but we would be stupid not to explore it ourselves. And so everybody's very open and receptive to it. So definitely a very welcoming community, 100%. Matt, it's been great talking to you. GameOn, what's the URL?

GameOn app. That's where you can check out everything about us. Also, to other founders out there, like I said, I've had support along the way, so if anyone wants to reach out. My virtual dog is always open. MattGameOn app. Happy to chat anytime.

He's on LinkedIn, he's on Twitter.

Yeah.

You know where to find him. Thanks, Matt.

Awesome.