Ian Seltzer joins us today to share his thoughts on streaming media, the profitability of esports, Venture Capitals, and marketing. 

Ian is a well-round esports strategist and the lead for Business Development at Pierce Yates Ventures. Before his incursion into the VC world, Ian led the content and business side of the top-ranked esports team, Rogue. He also worked at Hulu, Vuguru, and Paramount Digital Entertainment, where he developed, licensed and launched 30 original titles for TV, film, and the web in over 110 countries worldwide.

In this episode, we delve into Ian’s journey in content creation and his visionary interest in streaming media when the industry was just in diapers. We discussed esports as a business per se, and Ian shared his mind on when he sees esports going in the following years. We also talk about the possibilities for VCs in gaming and esports and what companies must figure out to brand themselves in the industry. 

In addition, Ian talked about betting in esports, the independent game market, and more.

Full Episode Breakdown:

1:51 – Ian talks about his relationship with video games.

4:55 – Ian remembers when he saw a change in content consumption and started thinking about streaming media content.

8:49 – Ian talks about the sensations the first time content he created went viral and the opportunities it brought to him.

14:36 – Ian talks about his experiences working for Hulu and Vuguru.

18:13 – Ian talks about how he got into the VC world.

24:24 – Gary and Ian talk about the esports business and its profitability.

28:01 – Ian talks about the struggle of presenting tangible ROI to investors generated by esports teams.

32:42 – Ian shares his thoughts on where he believes esports is heading.

36:42 – Gary and Ian talk about the possibilities in the independent gaming market.

38.54 – Gary and Ian discuss the financial future of esports, and Ian shares some of the possibilities for business development in the space. 

41:58 – Ian talks about esports and betting and the tremendous impact it could have in the industry.