In this article, we will provide our community more detailed information about our co-CEOs, Nicolas and David, their beginnings in games and as a team, how Ultra was formed, and more details about our executive team.
Having two CEOs is certainly unique, and sets us apart from other companies. Nicolas Gilot and David Hanson are long-time friends that met for the first time when sharing a ride to a video game competition, years before e-sports hit the mainstream. They immediately became friends and recognized early on they had complementary talents; their tech and management skill sets combined with their ability to envision pragmatic solutions contributed to building a powerful business relationship. Several years later, they built their first company, followed by a second and a third one, a string of great IT companies, each having successfully released great products.
The first company they built together as Co-CEOs, Youcall, was a SEO company that specialized in getting websites listed on the first page of Google search algorithmically with virtually no human intervention. As a result, they were able to provide first page Google placement for their clients 100% of the time.
Their passion for games being a big part of their DNA, they used the financial success from Youcall to test making mobile games. They realised that China was a growing market and decided to move to Beijing to start their studio, Color Stone. They released 2 games in 4 months totaling over 100,000 unit sales. With the confirmation of their ability to make games, they founded PixelBeam, this time focussing on creating a First Person Shooter game for the PC market. They were working on “Storm United” when the company was acquired by Kingsoft (also known as “China’s Microsoft”), which was founded by Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun.
As early as 2011, David began following Bitcoin. He acquired his first BTC on Bitcointalk with PayPal, while MtGox was just starting. He also mined bitcoins when it was still possible through CPUs:
He understood that a revolution was starting, and it was something that would impact all industries including games. Smart contracts were still a conceptual idea and Blockchain was in its infancy, but the potential was there. David shared the idea with Nicolas, and in 2014, when ETH came out, they knew that Ultra would be the next company they would create together.
It all boiled down to one shared vision: Better to disrupt your industry than getting disrupted.
While learning everything they could about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, Nicolas and David continued to work together and started a $100+ million dollar console project for the Chinese market in cooperation with AMD. This experience cleared a path for Ultra, a PC game distribution platform that would heavily leverage blockchain technology.
Nicolas and David started the Ultra white paper and began to put together robust technologies that could distribute video games to millions of users while innovating through powerful features only possible with Blockchain. Their goal was and still is to create an ecosystem where everyone participating in adding value to the platform is rewarded with tokens.
With early contributors and the underlying tech needs defined, Ultra gradually came out of their controlled stealth mode. The project’s unique vision was powerful and the team quickly grew by attracting many famous world level executives and talent from some of the largest companies in the world including Apple, Microsoft and Google.
Edward Moalem CSO
One of the first executive team members was Edward Moalem in the role of Chief Strategy Officer. Edward has a long history in games, working as the Senior Manager of Consumer Games at Apple, reporting directly to Steve Jobs, he also launched the Mac gaming market and was instrumental in proving that games would be a money-making line item for the hardware giant. He also brokered dozens of deals in and out of China, Korea and other Asian countries.
During a career ranging from starting multiple companies to licensing hit titles such as World of Tanks, and working for giants such as Apple and Google, Edward understands what’s required to be successful. And blockchain by itself isn’t enough.
“After 28 years, I was going to leave the games industry but one meeting with Ultra changed that,” says Edward of his decision to become the company’s chief strategy officer. The reason was simple. “This technology makes games better.”
“Before joining Ultra, I’d looked at similar blockchain-based platforms and didn’t find them exciting,” he comments. “Ultra’s approach is different; it’s so much more; more dramatic, more disruptive.”
Moalem’s role is signing up the games and content Ultra will distribute. “Content is key and I know our offering is going to be compelling for gamers,” he says. “Once you sign up, you won’t want to leave.”
Michael Dunn CTO
Right after Edward joined, Michael Dunn signed on as well. Hired as the Chief Technology Officer, his impressive history as the CTO of large companies gives him essential experience for the role. Michael has also advised dozens of startups specializing on those that are looking to paradigm shift via emerging technologies, most recently those leveraging Blockchain for both its enabling and disruptive potentials. So when he was introduced to Ultra, he immediately recognized the impact it would have on the market.
“I’ve seen both sides; worked for big companies like Dell and Time Warner, and with very promising startups too,” says Mike. “For me, what Ultra is doing with blockchain will be both a revolutionary data construct and a foundational cryptocurrency service enabling us to provide a great user experience.”
“This is one reason Ultra is based on the EOSIO protocol, which is highly flexible and offers very fast transactions at minimal cost. “It’s important because it allows us to tokenize any part of Ultra’s UX,” he continues. “We’re enabling much more than just buying and selling games. As a platform Ultra will reward gamers for actions ranging from beta testing and bug hunting to interacting with ads, social sharing and more. It’s a shared value system that enriches the entire Ultra ecosystem — gamers and developers. That’s our advantage over the competition.”
Julien Marron CFO
When identifying key roles for they would need to fill, Nicolas and David would need a Chief Financial Officer familiar with the games industry and with financial markets around the world. They needed someone able to cope with the challenges of an industry which requires creativity as much as it requires knowledge of accounting principles and legal rules.
This made Julien Marron, former CFO of Wargaming and former International Controller at Ubisoft, the perfect choice. Julien was uniquely situated for Ultra because of his experience recruiting and training financial leads in new regions as well as setting up new offices around the world for Ubisoft. While at Wargaming, he also implemented Cost Accounting tools, improved cash flow management and working capital needs, skills he would use again for Ultra.
Julien heard what Nicolas and David had planned, he was impressed immediately by how truly innovative the product was.
“The market is evolving towards more freedom for the buyers and for the content creators.” he said. “People do not want to be trapped inside a given format or organization. From the developer’s point of view, we have a push back against the regular platform fees and big players as they do not enable some quality games to emerge, because they don’t reach the critical masses. From the player’s point of view, there is a desire to get cash back from games with second hand resale possibilities as well being rewarded for their activity on a platform. Ultra provides these things and more.”
In summary, Ultra’s executive team is incredibly strong in expertise. In particular, Nicolas has proven his strong business development and fund-raising skills, while David consistently delivers his disruptive vision and technical know-how to make things happen. All signs points once again that their combination makes a winning team.
Currently Ultra is 45 employees strong. The Biz Dev team is located in California and the Development team is primarily headquartered in Paris. Ultra expects to double its workforce by the end of 2019.
About Ultra
Ultra is the first entertainment platform providing all key games industry services under a single roof, accessible through a single login.
Built around our PC games distribution store, Ultra Games, our platform will provide access to countless centralized and decentralized services: Discover, buy, play and sell your games and in-game items, watch live-streaming feeds, interact with your favorite influencers, participate in contests, compete in tournaments, and much more.
Ultra has been built to provide endless value for players, a fair playing ground for developers, and a whole new world of opportunities for the games industry.
For more information, visit ultra.io and onultra.io and follow along on Twitter, YouTube, Telegram, and Discord.
