Even with a terrific start, many esports and gaming companies fail in the long term not because they don’t deliver premium quality work, but because they don’t prepare themselves to scale. Simon Bennett believes that thinking about how to scale and grow is the “boring part” of running a business, and that’s why people avoid doing it, and it is what ends up swallowing them at the end.

Simon was born in the UK. He is the Co-Owner and CEO at AoE Creative. He is also the Founder & Director at WE ARE SEED Ltd, a company that identifies and grows competitive communities via thoughtful engagement and broadcasts emerging games partnering with game developers. In AoE Creative, Simon and his team manage Call of Duty League social accounts, and Gareth Bale’s esports organization Ellevens, among many others.

In this episode, Simon shares how gaming saved him when he was in a dark place. Members of his War of Warcraft guild told him Blizzard was hiring, and he decided to give it a chance. He didn’t know that they were Blizzard employees, and he got a position as a customer service representative. We had a fantastic conversation about his journey in the industry, the difference between English and American investors, his vision on the importance of a company’s culture, and what, in his opinion, investors should pay more attention to.

To Connect with Simon, visit LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/justsimonbennett/

AoE Creative website: https://aoecreative.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/aoecreative

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aoecreative/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AOECreative/

You can also connect with Marke Lee’s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markellee/

Or with Thomas Hadjuk also on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hajduk-esports/

Full Episode Breakdown:

3:24 – Simon gives the story of how he started working on Blizzard.

6:49 – “Do the esports thing.” Simon talks about his first steps in esports.

11:00 – Simon speaks about his first experience as an agency owner.

16:29 – Simon tells the story of how AoE Creative started.

20:33 – “In AoE, we don’t like the traditional agency model.” Simon talks about AoE Creative’s culture.

25:01 – Simon explains why they prefer to stay with a small group of clients, avoiding being “faceless.”

28:38 – “A CEO should aim to be the most useless person in the company.” Simon explains his vision of a CEO’s role.

32:53 – Simon talks about the significant role of Project Managers at any company.

37:13 – John asks Simon what is the proper way to scale a business. 

41:47 – Simon talks about the “boring” part of a business that can be critical to keeping that business alive and healthy. 

44:07 – Simon talks about the difference between English and American investors.

47:02 – Simon talks a bit about how he and his team do their branding work.

53:01 – Simon shares his thoughts on what to do and what to avoid when looking for investors.

57:08 – Simon talks about the possibilities of hitting the right vision in the US.