Esports Funding, yes its out there
Disclaimer: This is can be interpreted as a hard truth article, if you are having a hard time with your organization or getting started, this is an article to reflect on and learn more about yourself and how you want to be an entrepreneur.
As esports continues to grow rapidly and everyone continuing to get on the “bandwagon”, I still get lots of questions regarding how do I run an organization off no funding or how do I obtain sponsors to get started. Now, this may come off as controversial, but I think there is big lesson to be learned as why not having funding is not an excuse when starting your business in esports. Funding can come from several avenues such as sponsors, outside investors, family, other co-founders, tournament winnings, etc. If you don’t know how to go about getting funding, you better start reading books, get a mentor, and asking questions because its not going to come to you on a silver platter because everyone want’s “in” on esports. Investors only invest if they feel like they will get a return on thier investment. It is so important that if you want to be CEO of your organization, that you understand everything there is to know about running a business and especially an esports organziation.
The Past
During the last 5 years of the esports industry when things really started taking off, organizations were started by the players in a community or group of friends setting. At the time, this was the only feasible way of doing things since esports was still seen as controversial from a career stand point. Having a salary as a player was not realistic. Teams also didn’t have a form of management or experience in business development, teams were simply there to play and not to build brands. Players were in control of organizations and they had a large learning curve for even seeing the potential of what to come along with the factors that goes along with how the industry has developed.
The Present
The times have shifted, now the original team owners are stepping down and assigning a new CEO to the ranks to further organizational decisions to increase revenue, team competitiveness, and sustainability of the organization. Organizations are treated more professional every year and its because the owners are willing to adapt to the change and create new opportunities. Sponsors don’t just give out handouts to anybody, there is a strong reason to why they have sponsored your organization. Now I don’t want to go to deep into this as its not why I am writing this article.
Your drive to open an esports business/organization
Now if you have read What it takes to be an esports entrepreneur you will know where I am going with this conversation. I enjoy encouraging everyone to follow their passions and dreams when it comes to being involved in esports. It’s those that reach out for help and take a leap of faith to post on Reddit about their new idea, that takes guts, because let’s be real, Reddit isn’t always an encouraging place. Now there is a difference between an entrepreneur and wantrepreneur. An entrepreneur will make things happen, they will use their skills to the fullest and do all the research necessary to make things work. A wantrepreneur isn’t ready to take as many risks, they can talk about their idea all day long, but when it comes to executing, you just won’t find them. Anyone venturing into esports either as an owner has to be driven to find all opportunities.
The Entrepreneur
If you are an entrepreneur, you do whatever it takes to create your business into something successful no matter what is stopping you. You see things differently than those around you. When others see obstacles, you see solutions and that is what will matter in the next few years as esports becomes even more saturated and hard to break into. Funding is a huge conversation in esports as it is required by almost every venture you wish to go into if it starting an organization, a tech start-up, a tournament organizer, etc. When you think of entrepreneurs, you look at successful business owners, you know why they are successful? It is because they did something no else could. They looked at the idea in a different way that their competitors and found openings in the market to slip through become something recognized.
An entrepreneur in esports doesn’t create a new organization with the idea that they are going to create the most competitive and recognized brand in all of esports. If you have spent time on r/reddit in the past year, you will know that new organizations say that they will be the next Fnatic or big dynasty. Here is the bad news for you new owners…it doesn’t happen overnight and it doesn’t happen for free. That shouldn’t stop you though, the reasons we see new teams, is that the owners were able to make things happen, they were able to use what they know in a manner that built success over time and didn’t rely just on the players success. Player success is a large part of your organization, it isn’t the only play for you succeed.
You are driven, you rather work on the organization and making things happen then play your favorite game. Entrepreneurs across all industries have a different mindset than others and that is what sets great companies apart from their competitors. When your organization is doing the same things as everyone else and you see that they are not rising to the top…its going to be a good indication you shouldn’t be following in their footsteps. What makes your organization special is going to be the reason why you obtain sponsors, investors, and other sources of funding. Your ability to see the whole picture different than others is just another factor of how you are unique
What you should be thinking
Going into a venture, you should be looking about how you are going to tackle each problem when you come to it. When it comes to funding, you need to explore all your options and choose which one is beneficial to your ventures structure and goals. Those organizations that are still around today or the ones that seem to be successful are there because they took risks and made good decisions both financially and strategically. They used the funds they had to the best of their ability to recruit top-notch players to play in the events that competed in. Unless you have big dollars, you don’t just start out in the LCS, or the Pro Leagues. You inch your way up from online to LAN to invitations to amateurs leagues to the pros. If you are willing to strategically make the correct moves one at a time and use your finances to the highest value, you will then end up with a strong venture.
Conclusion
Keep your head up, look for opportunities and if you don’t see any, MAKE THEM! Even if you have to volunteer for an organization to make those connections, do what you have to show off your ability to be dedicated to the success of you business. Esports isn’t just a fun thing to do anymore with your friends, if you want to be serious about starting an organization, than you need to show it and be willing to do whatever is necessary.
