Entrepreneurship is like sports…you can always improve and always have that constant push and competitiveness

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TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
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[00:00] SPEAKER_02: Welcome to Canada's podcast.
[00:05] SPEAKER_02: Hi everyone, I'm Phil Bliss, Founder of Canada's Podcast.
[00:08] SPEAKER_02: Today coming to you from Toronto.
[00:11] SPEAKER_02: I'm going to meet Conrad Waseller.
[00:14] SPEAKER_02: Conrad was very excited when he first saw the Intellect stream Masters
[00:18] SPEAKER_02: professional gaming competition in Poland.
[00:22] SPEAKER_02: It was a serious sporting event.
[00:24] SPEAKER_02: A pack stadium, tens of thousands of e-sports fans
[00:28] SPEAKER_02: and after a successful career in the CFL, he felt at home.
[00:34] SPEAKER_02: After four years in the CFL playing corner back at the BC Lions,
[00:39] SPEAKER_02: Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal Allowets, Conrad focused on e-gaming.
[00:46] SPEAKER_02: So it came up with a big idea for this sector, which has grown into a successful
[00:50] SPEAKER_02: public company on the TSX.
[00:54] SPEAKER_02: ESC Entertainment is a media and technology company focused on providing
[00:58] SPEAKER_02: anything a gaming studio would need to promote, enhance and sell games to the world.
[01:05] SPEAKER_02: Since 2019, the company has grown from its core group of friends
[01:11] SPEAKER_02: to 150 employees worldwide.
[01:16] SPEAKER_02: So let's talk to Conrad and find out how he got there.
[01:21] SPEAKER_02: Conrad, welcome to Canada's podcast.
[01:25] SPEAKER_02: First for me to have an XCFL player on, which is cool.
[01:33] SPEAKER_02: So before we get too deep into our conversation, tell us a bit about yourself,
[01:40] SPEAKER_02: what you've done, what you're doing now and how you got here.
[01:45] SPEAKER_02: Not flying in, but at least the entrepreneurial journey.
[01:51] SPEAKER_02: And the personal journey, because it's really interesting, the personal journey as well.
[01:56] SPEAKER_00: Well, first and foremost, thanks for having me on, excited to be on and to share the story.
[02:02] SPEAKER_00: Maybe I'll just start with a little bit of the personal side and kind of build up
[02:07] SPEAKER_00: to where we are now.
[02:10] SPEAKER_00: I'm very proud to be Polish, so I come from an immigrant family.
[02:15] SPEAKER_00: With two brothers and a sister, so a big family who immigrated from Poland.
[02:21] SPEAKER_00: The work ethic was instilled very early in my life.
[02:26] SPEAKER_00: From my family, we really had nothing and we fought for everything we had from day one.
[02:32] SPEAKER_00: That work ethic really made me the athlete that I was.
[02:37] SPEAKER_00: So I got into sports at a very young age, fell in love with football.
[02:41] SPEAKER_00: That led to a full ride scholarship to the University of British Columbia.
[02:45] SPEAKER_00: And then from there, I was lucky enough to fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming a professional football player
[02:52] SPEAKER_00: in the Canadian Football League, where I played for more than four years on three different teams.
[02:58] SPEAKER_00: So that was kind of my journey of sports.
[03:02] SPEAKER_00: I was obsessed with sports, but I always had a knack for business.
[03:07] SPEAKER_00: Growing up with limited resources, I felt like my entire family was always very entrepreneurial.
[03:14] SPEAKER_00: We were really good with money and saving money and pursuing new opportunities.
[03:22] SPEAKER_00: And I really got sideswifed by the gaming industry.
[03:29] SPEAKER_00: But when I was looking for new opportunities in Europe, investment opportunities.
[03:35] SPEAKER_00: I started hearing a lot about esports and I was going, I got to see this for myself.
[03:41] SPEAKER_00: Everyone was saying that they got packed stadiums and millions and millions of users said, OK, I'm more of a seed to believe it type guy.
[03:49] SPEAKER_00: So I went to the largest esports event in the world called IEM Katowica in Poland.
[03:58] SPEAKER_00: Intel sponsored this event for $100 million.
[04:02] SPEAKER_00: So I was like, wait a minute, I got to go.
[04:07] SPEAKER_00: So I walk into the stadium and there's, it's packed, 50,000 people.
[04:14] SPEAKER_00: The players are on billboards.
[04:16] SPEAKER_00: And I just, it was like a light ball moment.
[04:19] SPEAKER_00: I said, OK, I got to really dive into this more.
[04:22] SPEAKER_00: And once I really saw the parallels between traditional sports and esports is when I really saw that light ball moment.
[04:29] SPEAKER_00: And I said, this is an opportunity I have to pursue.
[04:32] SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of how it all started.
[04:36] SPEAKER_00: But the irony is it started like every startup, there's three guys in a room.
[04:42] SPEAKER_00: And fast forward to now we have 100 plus employees and we're on a path to doing 65 plus million in revenue.
[04:50] SPEAKER_02: So it's a fantastic success story.
[04:54] SPEAKER_02: And I'm interested, you know, you're running an international business from Canada.
[05:02] SPEAKER_02: Why here? What are the benefits of staying here and doing business in Canada?
[05:07] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so currently our largest office is actually in Montreal, Canada.
[05:11] SPEAKER_00: We have a 40 plus tech team in Montreal.
[05:16] SPEAKER_00: The benefits are, sorry, thank you very much, you're all one of the two largest gaming hubs in the world as it pertains to.
[05:24] SPEAKER_00: Gaming developers, so companies like electronic arts, Ubisoft, groups that are, you know, $10, $20 billion companies are based out of those provinces.
[05:35] SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of advanced, you know, advantageous tax benefits from the government.
[05:41] SPEAKER_00: They've really supported tech in Montreal.
[05:44] SPEAKER_00: They've supported gaming in a major way in Montreal.
[05:47] SPEAKER_00: So we anticipate actually expanding that office in Montreal.
[05:52] SPEAKER_00: The country's been very supportive. The province has been very supportive.
[05:57] SPEAKER_00: So it's been really good to have, you know, Canada's or hub.
[06:03] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I guess in Montreal, you've got a lot of, at least, bilingual people there, which is great if you're doing business in Europe, I would imagine.
[06:14] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's, you picked up on a very key point.
[06:17] SPEAKER_00: So it also gives us access to France is one of the largest gaming markets in Europe.
[06:22] SPEAKER_00: So, you know, that all of these helps as well.
[06:27] SPEAKER_02: What, what do you like most about being an entrepreneur?
[06:30] SPEAKER_02: I mean, you know, I guess football is a kind of entrepreneur as well.
[06:35] SPEAKER_02: But you've got yourself into that mode.
[06:39] SPEAKER_02: You didn't leave football and then go get a job, which I'm sure you could have.
[06:44] SPEAKER_02: I mean, what do you, what do you like most about being an entrepreneur?
[06:49] SPEAKER_00: It fits my personality. There's no ceiling, right?
[06:53] SPEAKER_00: Just like in sports, every day you wake up, every minute of the day you can get better.
[06:58] SPEAKER_00: You know, if I want to scale this company to 10 billion or 100 billion, there's no ceiling.
[07:03] SPEAKER_00: I could go and do that. Well, I get there, I don't know, but at least I have the opportunity to have this infinite opportunity to pursue, you know, whatever I want, new technologies, entering into new countries and regions.
[07:18] SPEAKER_00: It's so exciting. It's so dynamic. I think the parallel to sports is the best example.
[07:26] SPEAKER_00: I mean, you could always improve and always have that constant push and competitiveness internally as well.
[07:35] SPEAKER_02: Well, what do you want? I mean, let's sort of move on to your business.
[07:39] SPEAKER_02: I mean, what are you most excited about in the gaming business today?
[07:44] SPEAKER_02: I mean, what's what's going on in it? Because, you know, not all of us are e-gamer. So it might be.
[07:50] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[07:52] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, as you're probably getting to hear from me directly, is that I'm really excited about traditional sports.
[08:01] SPEAKER_00: I'm really excited about e-sports, but I think the biggest opportunity is now the crossover, right?
[08:07] SPEAKER_00: So gaming is crossing over to entertainment by and large and into sports.
[08:13] SPEAKER_00: So you see, you know, Formula One was similaracing. You see the crossover with the NBA and all the soccer clubs with the sports team.
[08:23] SPEAKER_00: You're really seeing this crossover across all entertainment, including music as well.
[08:28] SPEAKER_00: And I feel like gaming and e-sports is like a melting pot of all new live streaming, music, traditional sports, all kind of sitting in a one hub.
[08:40] SPEAKER_00: And that's where everyone kind of plays and does everything at once versus seeking it in several different avenues.
[08:49] SPEAKER_02: I mean, what I mean, you know, game, e-game. I mean, I think I built my first virtual casino about 20 plus years ago.
[08:57] SPEAKER_02: But what e-games as always sort of the web three, the meta thing, where is it with, you know, on that front, we've got a lot of tech listeners.
[09:10] SPEAKER_02: So I'm just interested to know you must be involved in that a little bit, I think.
[09:15] SPEAKER_00: Oh, absolutely.
[09:16] SPEAKER_00: One of our biggest customers is Roblox, right? It's one of the largest metaverse platforms in the world.
[09:22] SPEAKER_00: We helped them drive users to their platform. But that's exactly what I'm talking about.
[09:29] SPEAKER_00: Gaming is at the forefront of all these new technologies, whether you want to talk about the metaverse, VR, AR, all these new exciting technologies.
[09:40] SPEAKER_00: It really stems from gaming and it's going to be built off of those gaming platforms.
[09:45] SPEAKER_02: So let's move away from the gaming side and just talk generally, you know, what would you say is the greatest challenge you face, you know, growing this business today?
[09:58] SPEAKER_02: And how did you overcome it or have you overcome maybe I don't know.
[10:03] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[10:05] SPEAKER_00: You know, I think it's more of the macro landscape of what's happening in the world. You know, we were hit with COVID, which ironically helped our business.
[10:18] SPEAKER_00: But the global sentiment during COVID was challenging and from the perspective of how do you stay motivated?
[10:25] SPEAKER_00: You know, a lot of people have fear of whether they could withstand, you know, such a large shutdowns, the economy kind of taking a hit.
[10:35] SPEAKER_00: But, you know, these are the kind of challenges that you don't prepare for.
[10:40] SPEAKER_00: But like I said, the irony is we came out even stronger and we had more people gaming.
[10:46] SPEAKER_00: So it was actually a huge benefit for us.
[10:48] SPEAKER_00: And you see even now, right, there's other macro elements you cannot control. For example, there's a war happening in Europe.
[10:58] SPEAKER_00: You know, it really goes back to what I said before is controlling your own destiny, controlling what you can control versus focusing on the macro.
[11:07] SPEAKER_00: And that's something I did as an athlete and I really believe in as an entrepreneur.
[11:13] SPEAKER_00: Focus and stay in your lane and execute on what you're doing and you'll have tremendous success.
[11:21] SPEAKER_00: If you allow macro noise to seep into your life, it's going to suck you in and it's a black hole.
[11:33] SPEAKER_02: That's a really good advice actually. That's absolutely true.
[11:39] SPEAKER_02: You know, what's some things that you, you know, that you wouldn't have done.
[11:45] SPEAKER_02: How'd you know, you're saying, you know, I get the focus side of it and focus on executing staying your lane and that that's absolutely great, great advice.
[11:55] SPEAKER_02: But you know, what's just think about some things that shouldn't have done that.
[12:03] SPEAKER_02: Can you pass on that anything that you've learned in the last little while?
[12:10] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think you learn a lot.
[12:13] SPEAKER_00: I think the biggest kind of piece of advice I could give to future, you know, entrepreneurs or CEOs of companies is taking your time.
[12:25] SPEAKER_00: Specifically to the people that you're working with.
[12:29] SPEAKER_00: People drive the company.
[12:31] SPEAKER_00: You want to find like-minded people and surround yourself with great people.
[12:36] SPEAKER_00: Why? You'll always figure it out.
[12:38] SPEAKER_00: You'll always make it work with the right people.
[12:43] SPEAKER_00: You know, involving people that don't have the same mindset or the same drive as you could pull you back in some circumstances.
[12:52] SPEAKER_00: I've been blessed. The company's been blessed. I've tremendous people.
[12:57] SPEAKER_00: But I think I've picked those people on purpose.
[13:00] SPEAKER_00: But I'll take taking even more time to evaluate and picking the right people.
[13:07] SPEAKER_02: Yes, that's that people are so down to important.
[13:10] SPEAKER_02: I agree.
[13:13] SPEAKER_02: You know, mentorship was another thing that's, I think, is really important.
[13:20] SPEAKER_02: I always ask this question because I get some interesting answers.
[13:23] SPEAKER_02: You know, what's the best piece of advice that you've received from a mentor or could be a dad could be could be, you know, that you kind of it's always there.
[13:34] SPEAKER_02: You know, it's something that you it's one of those gems that you just carry around with the kind of thing.
[13:41] SPEAKER_02: You got any thoughts on that?
[13:45] SPEAKER_00: I love mentorship.
[13:47] SPEAKER_00: You know, I've had the pleasure of having some of the best coaches in CFL history.
[13:53] SPEAKER_00: I've been around a lot of great coaches and business people.
[13:58] SPEAKER_00: But I think the best advice is kind of going back to what I said is really focusing on why you control making the best version of yourself.
[14:08] SPEAKER_00: And not creating limitations for yourself, right? So I think the more successful business people are around and the more advice I get from really high performers.
[14:21] SPEAKER_00: The high performers.
[14:23] SPEAKER_00: They just don't have a ceiling. They don't have any limitations barriers or walls.
[14:29] SPEAKER_00: It's just infinite for them.
[14:31] SPEAKER_00: So really focusing on, you know, one of my mentors says is kind of being in a different horizon than other people.
[14:40] SPEAKER_00: So you're constantly brainstorming and letting your brain breathe and bringing new ideas at a very high level.
[14:49] SPEAKER_00: And then bringing that back down to like I said with that hyper focus.
[14:54] SPEAKER_00: So you have those two elements, right?
[14:56] SPEAKER_00: You work harder than everyone and you're focused, but always give yourself that time to really get into that next level that big horizon, big blue sky mindset.
[15:12] SPEAKER_01: You're mourning or a night person?
[15:16] SPEAKER_00: Definitely a morning. I'm in better.
[15:21] SPEAKER_02: It's funny. It's about 80 20 in terms of the entrepreneurial people. They do tend to get up early. It's kind of interesting.
[15:33] SPEAKER_00: And I'm excited in the morning too, which agitates people sometimes.
[15:40] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I know what you mean. I get up and I'm like that wake. You know gone switches on. I'm on kind of thing.
[15:50] SPEAKER_02: You know, if you had to pick one word to describe yourself, what would it be and why?
[15:59] SPEAKER_00: Well, that's a great one. You calm me off guard a little bit.
[16:11] SPEAKER_00: Well, I would say to if I could use two, but I feel like relentless is one.
[16:21] SPEAKER_00: I believe in myself so much. I'm just relentless. If I if I have a passion, it's relentless.
[16:28] SPEAKER_00: But also optimism is another word. I am infinitely optimistic. I think it's very important to work your tail off and to work hard.
[16:43] SPEAKER_00: But without optimism and the dream.
[16:47] SPEAKER_00: You will not reach that next level and you will not maximize your capabilities.
[16:57] SPEAKER_02: What's keeping you up at night at the moment? If anything, maybe you're totally cool and you're gone, can't you see?
[17:07] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, it's really interesting. People ask me this question a lot.
[17:13] SPEAKER_00: I have to be genuinely honest. Not a lot.
[17:18] SPEAKER_00: Like I said, I'm extremely optimistic. I write down all my concerns before I go to bed.
[17:25] SPEAKER_00: And when I go to bed, I'm excited to wake up. I'm very blessed. The company is doing very well.
[17:33] SPEAKER_00: I'm healthy. My family is healthy. I'm in a very blessed position.
[17:38] SPEAKER_00: And I go to bed with a smile on my face and I wake up with a smile on my face.
[17:43] SPEAKER_02: Nice. That's really good.
[17:45] SPEAKER_02: So what book podcast, ebook, audio book, whatever, you know, a currently reading or has made a lasting impression on you?
[18:00] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, not to be super basic.
[18:08] SPEAKER_00: I love just reading about, you know, other entrepreneurs and other athletes and coaches, because I feel like it's just that really authentic story.
[18:19] SPEAKER_00: And I really get to see the parallels between all of these different entrepreneurs and the correlation.
[18:26] SPEAKER_00: When you read all these stories, you really see that they're all very similar.
[18:32] SPEAKER_00: They just have a little different spice.
[18:35] SPEAKER_00: The personalities are typically the same.
[18:37] SPEAKER_00: They have the same approach to life. They're very positive and optimistic.
[18:42] SPEAKER_00: They have that relentless work ethic.
[18:44] SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I'm a sucker for our abilities. I read a lot of them.
[18:48] SPEAKER_00: And that's what really engages me the most.
[18:52] SPEAKER_02: All right.
[18:54] SPEAKER_02: You know, it's been a can't believe it.
[18:57] SPEAKER_02: We're already 25 minutes in and it's like, where'd it go?
[19:01] Speaker UNKNOWN: Where'd it go?
[19:02] SPEAKER_02: I'd like to run last 25 minutes.
[19:05] SPEAKER_02: So how can people get a hold of you?
[19:07] SPEAKER_02: If they've listened to this, sometimes they want to connect to how can they get it all to you?
[19:15] SPEAKER_00: I think the two best ways in the business world, just jumping on LinkedIn, finding on LinkedIn.
[19:21] SPEAKER_00: I'm very accessible there.
[19:23] SPEAKER_00: And then if you're interested about the actual company, which I hope everybody is, go to our website,
[19:31] SPEAKER_00: esegaming.com.
[19:33] SPEAKER_00: And if you're an investor or you want to be a shareholder of the company,
[19:38] SPEAKER_00: Articor on the Toronto venture exchange is eseg.v.
[19:45] SPEAKER_00: So everything's on the website. Go check it out.
[19:48] SPEAKER_00: And if you want to chat personally, just go to LinkedIn and find me.
[19:53] SPEAKER_02: Okay.
[19:54] SPEAKER_02: Conor, being great.
[19:55] SPEAKER_02: Thank you very much.
[19:57] SPEAKER_02: You know, it's an interesting story for sure.
[20:01] SPEAKER_01: It's a pleasure, Shalop.
[20:03] SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much.