Building an Esports Business That Actually Makes Money - Jonas Gundersen, Fusion Esports Group / Astralis

So now you've obviously gone chips in with the Australis acquisition.

So what were some of the things – that were you know were really important for one for that acquisition and then what were some of your first moves to like you know to correct those foundations to sort of yes the hype is great but we need the data we need this you know we need the support where you know you're competing against you know football clubs and basketball clubs as much as you are you know uh youtube and and and other entertainers what was your what were some of your first moves with australis

I'd say the first step was after leaving NIP, right? Ninja's in pajamas.

We went public on NASDAQ in New York, right? I was sort of hovering around what I wanted to do.

And my main belief that I come back to was just that, okay, esports and gaming in general... is massive.

And I love it, first of all, right? But also, it's just, it's going to keep growing.

And for me, it's way more than just a competitive esports or something like that.

It's a cultural cohort of people that are there, people like us, that grew up on gaming, right? We grew up in a different way than the old generation.

So we understand, hey, we have different ways of thinking, different ways of building businesses, different way of leading, different way of living our lives.

You know, I think the popular word for the boomers out there now is neurodivergence, right? Everything is neurodivergent.

For us, I don't think neurodivergence is a thing.

It's just a matter of fact that we are just very different people.

We're completely fine with that.

We're going to build structures in that.

And that, to me, is the future of where we're heading.

You could call it gamification or whatever you want in business.

But for me, it's way bigger than that.

So it's like, I'm staying in this space for sure.

I want to build something in that sort of trajectory, right? So the second part was that one of the hugest components of this esports winter was that everyone sort of realized it's not a VC market.

The investors, et cetera, understood this is not venture capital proven.

That means that, you know, risk-willing investment went like this.

And what that also means is that distressed assets are going to happen inevitably, right? Which doesn't have to be a bad thing per se.

Of course, in emerging markets, someone will fold.

But it's an opportunity in many ways.

Say like, oh, that means you can bundle up maybe potential assets, buy it on the cheap, turn it around, right-size it, figure out the organization, and we can ride the next wave.

So now you've obviously gone chips in with the Australis acquisition.

So what were some of the things – that were you know were really important for one for that acquisition and then what were some of your first moves to like you know to correct those foundations to sort of yes the hype is great but we need the data we need this you know we need the support where you know you're competing against you know football clubs and basketball clubs as much as you are you know uh youtube and and and other entertainers what was your what were some of your first moves with australis

I'd say the first step was after leaving NIP, right? Ninja's in pajamas.

We went public on NASDAQ in New York, right? I was sort of hovering around what I wanted to do.

And my main belief that I come back to was just that, okay, esports and gaming in general... is massive.

And I love it, first of all, right? But also, it's just, it's going to keep growing.

And for me, it's way more than just a competitive esports or something like that.

It's a cultural cohort of people that are there, people like us, that grew up on gaming, right? We grew up in a different way than the old generation.

So we understand, hey, we have different ways of thinking, different ways of building businesses, different way of leading, different way of living our lives.

You know, I think the popular word for the boomers out there now is neurodivergence, right? Everything is neurodivergent.

For us, I don't think neurodivergence is a thing.

It's just a matter of fact that we are just very different people.

We're completely fine with that.

We're going to build structures in that.

And that, to me, is the future of where we're heading.

You could call it gamification or whatever you want in business.

But for me, it's way bigger than that.

So it's like, I'm staying in this space for sure.

I want to build something in that sort of trajectory, right? So the second part was that one of the hugest components of this esports winter was that everyone sort of realized it's not a VC market.

The investors, et cetera, understood this is not venture capital proven.

That means that, you know, risk-willing investment went like this.

And what that also means is that distressed assets are going to happen inevitably, right? Which doesn't have to be a bad thing per se.

Of course, in emerging markets, someone will fold.

But it's an opportunity in many ways.

Say like, oh, that means you can bundle up maybe potential assets, buy it on the cheap, turn it around, right-size it, figure out the organization, and we can ride the next wave.