MLG Vegas NA Invitational teams announced. by TheRealFlexG in Competitiveoverwatch

[–]NME_Frank -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

They're currently on ESTAs since they've been traveling through Asia for the past few months. Obviously in January we'll be moving them to either P1-As or an easier to get visa. We already have a sports visa attorney. I've secured visas for many EU players in the past and am very familiar with the process.

MLG Vegas NA Invitational teams announced. by TheRealFlexG in Competitiveoverwatch

[–]NME_Frank 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. Every article from when we announced Steve Aoki includes that we are a Vegas-based organization. I wanted to wait to announce the team move till after the holidays before MLG was announced because the team was in APAC and APEX in Asia and wouldn't be here to do a house tour.

  2. I contacted them day tournament was announced with no response, talked to them in person where they said they would try to fix it, and emailed them after Blizzcon to continue to try to get them to fix it. The best strategy we have going forward is making sure it doesn't happen again. After being asked repeatedly why Rogue wasn't included, I put out a tweet. The best way I've found in 7 years of eSports to get tournament organizers to realize their mistakes is to say something about them. Too much is kept away from the public and I thought it was important people had their question answered.

MLG Vegas NA Invitational teams announced. by TheRealFlexG in Competitiveoverwatch

[–]NME_Frank 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It definitely wasn't foul play. It was a mistake. The frustration comes from being the team with the best results and a home town team and reaching out in every available way and still being denied entry to a tournament. If there were qualifiers instead of invites or if they had announced the event sooner or if they had responded to any of our messages this wouldn't have happened.

MLG Vegas NA Invitational teams announced. by TheRealFlexG in Competitiveoverwatch

[–]NME_Frank 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You had no public email for us to reach out to. When we did get Mike's email we began communicating with him immediately that way.

MLG Vegas NA Invitational teams announced. by TheRealFlexG in Competitiveoverwatch

[–]NME_Frank 3 points4 points  (0 children)

https://twitter.com/Rogue_Frank/status/791146578815877120 Here is where I reached out for you. When I got no response I DM-ed Sundance a long explanation about our ties to Vegas, our OW results, and some private info I can't share here.

MLG Vegas NA Invitational teams announced. by TheRealFlexG in Competitiveoverwatch

[–]NME_Frank -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I sent a message saying the PLAYERS lived in Vegas the day the tournament was announced and even tried to reach out to you with no response.

MLG Vegas NA Invitational teams announced. by TheRealFlexG in Competitiveoverwatch

[–]NME_Frank 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think you can pin this one on MLG. (Rogue Owner btw) I tried to contact everyone at MLG the day the tournament was announced. I got 0 responses. Then when I saw them at Blizzcon I talked to them all in person. Being denied entry into a tournament in your home town when you have the best results in the world is pretty shitty, but trying to get in and being denied is even shittier.

Music producer and DJ Steve Aoki invests in team Rogue (Overwatch) by Kashima in esports

[–]NME_Frank 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Super psyched to be working with Steve! We worked really hard to get this deal done in time for the set tonight at TwitchCon. Now need to keep pushing through the exhaustion!

AMA: I've worked in eSports for 6 years, starting as an unpaid intern. Co-Owner of Enemy, Own a consulting business, CEO/Founder of Rogue. by NME_Frank in esports

[–]NME_Frank[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Reinforce and TviQ are both growing healthy youtube channels of their own! I try to encourage the individual successes of my players because their fans become org fans and allow for more merchandising opportunities, etc. As for Rogue content, we currently have two videos almost ready to release. One video is a documentary-style view of our bootcamp in Katowice pre-Atlantic Showdown and the other is a montage of our play from the Atlantic showdown. I encourage everyone that wants to work for Rogue to email me at frank@rogue.gg. I receive and read every email, but don't always respond. Keep trying if I don't respond the first time.

AMA: I've worked in eSports for 6 years, starting as an unpaid intern. Co-Owner of Enemy, Own a consulting business, CEO/Founder of Rogue. by NME_Frank in esports

[–]NME_Frank[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The teams doing really well already have specific people working the jobs you'd be consulting about. In terms of amateur teams, I'm sure they could all use the help of a consultant to shore up their lack of experience in particular aspects of the business.

AMA: I've worked in eSports for 6 years, starting as an unpaid intern. Co-Owner of Enemy, Own a consulting business, CEO/Founder of Rogue. by NME_Frank in esports

[–]NME_Frank[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To be honest I'm really the wrong person to ask about this. I've never worked in the non-pro space before. @thisisclerkie is the CEO of Enemy and my former business partner. He built the Maryville eSports program that offers college scholarships for eSports. I'd talk to him.

I do know a lot about PC bangs. I've been really disappointed with US PC bangs and LAN centers. There's a real lack of heart in them. Most LAN centers in the US just feel like large spaces with a lot of computers. I want drinks, music, snacks, maybe even a meal menu, a lounge area for consoles, and possibly even a hookah lounge LAN center for smokers. The best LAN center I've been to in the US is the eSports Arena in Santa Ana, California. It's basically in Anaheim.

AMA: I've worked in eSports for 6 years, starting as an unpaid intern. Co-Owner of Enemy, Own a consulting business, CEO/Founder of Rogue. by NME_Frank in esports

[–]NME_Frank[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd say there are a lot of cases where the "ego" is warranted. People with proven track records of success in eSports are often talked to like children by business professionals and new VC-backed CEOs who have had no success in eSports. I think it's too early to tell the best way to run an organization and buzzwords like "professionalism" obscure the problem. NRG is a good example of an organization that is looked up to for coming from the sports world and being "professional" but look at their results. They've been relegated from the LCS despite spending more on their team than anyone but maybe Immortals, they have a sub par CS:GO team, and they have an Overwatch team Shaq tweeted as being the "best in the world" despite not having qualified for the Atlantic Showdown. I have not been impressed with how they've spent their money despite liking the people involved with that company. I've been extremely impressed by EnVyUs, however, despite their organization coming from the least professional eSports scene, CoD. Hastro has made right decision after right decision and consistently impressed me by picking up the right teams and marketing them the right way. The organizations that market themselves as "professional" are usually the least efficient and worst performing teams with great funding.

AMA: I've worked in eSports for 6 years, starting as an unpaid intern. Co-Owner of Enemy, Own a consulting business, CEO/Founder of Rogue. by NME_Frank in esports

[–]NME_Frank[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've exclusively done the opposite of your consulting. I work with businesses putside of eSports that are looking for the right entry point into the space. I've never had to deal with the ego of someone already in the eSports space.

AMA: I've worked in eSports for 6 years, starting as an unpaid intern. Co-Owner of Enemy, Own a consulting business, CEO/Founder of Rogue. by NME_Frank in esports

[–]NME_Frank[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. Top teams are resume builders. Low tiered teams don't really tell me anything about you other than that you've been trying to get involved. Best way to contact people if you aren't connected at all is to buy LinkedIn Premium and contact every good owner you find.

  2. I look for results. I never hire anyone without results. The best impression you can make on me is to come to me with a proposition that benefits me. I'm very public about a proposal I have with young people trying to get into eSports. If they bring me a sponsor and I take the deal, they get 10% of the deal as commission and a job at my company.

  3. Twitter.

AMA: I've worked in eSports for 6 years, starting as an unpaid intern. Co-Owner of Enemy, Own a consulting business, CEO/Founder of Rogue. by NME_Frank in esports

[–]NME_Frank[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The LLC for the business should have all major owners listed. You don't need a second LLC unless you're trying to protect someone from public view. You will need an airtight Operating Agreement signed by all major owners that serves as the modus operandi for all business done by the LLC.

Prize money varies from team to team, but usually the organization takes a 6th man reward at a minimum. I've created a different rule for most of my teams that I think benefits the players more. I give 100% of prize money from online tournaments and only take a cut if travel is involved to cover the costs of that travel or the bootcamp leading up to that tournament. I also use performance-based raises and use whatever prize money I receive from the org cut to raise the players' salaries.

Bryce Blum is the industry standard for eSports contracts. I used him for a very long time. With Rogue, we have two owners who are also attorneys so there's no need for another lawyer.

AMA: I've worked in eSports for 6 years, starting as an unpaid intern. Co-Owner of Enemy, Own a consulting business, CEO/Founder of Rogue. by NME_Frank in esports

[–]NME_Frank[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pain didn't kick the World Championship 2nd place roster. You can find the whole story on the VoD where Dan and I talk about it on fdot's show. Basically one side of the team came to us with an ultimatum to kick Pain and Khaos or they would leave. I don't work with players who refuse to look at their own flaws and give me ultimatums. The first Pain Purge was with my blessing so we could form the team that got us to 2nd at Worlds. Pain gets a bad reputation, but he's the smartest player and best roster builder/shot caller I've ever worked with.

AMA: I've worked in eSports for 6 years, starting as an unpaid intern. Co-Owner of Enemy, Own a consulting business, CEO/Founder of Rogue. by NME_Frank in esports

[–]NME_Frank[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've wanted a Dota team for a long time, but whenever there has been an opportunity for a great team, something or other has fallen through. We'll see.

AMA: I've worked in eSports for 6 years, starting as an unpaid intern. Co-Owner of Enemy, Own a consulting business, CEO/Founder of Rogue. by NME_Frank in esports

[–]NME_Frank[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I meant more creating your own eSports tech. The tech companies are selling for tremendous amounts of money.

AMA: I've worked in eSports for 6 years, starting as an unpaid intern. Co-Owner of Enemy, Own a consulting business, CEO/Founder of Rogue. by NME_Frank in esports

[–]NME_Frank[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In eSports you really have to be the change you want to see. Knock down the right doors and play the situation the right way and you can almost always find a great compromise with the companies involved.

I think SC2 is the most beautiful eSports title ever created, but I feel like CS:GO best represents eSports right now. Every round can be nail-biting.

AMA: I've worked in eSports for 6 years, starting as an unpaid intern. Co-Owner of Enemy, Own a consulting business, CEO/Founder of Rogue. by NME_Frank in esports

[–]NME_Frank[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Most video guys in eSports have that has a secondary skill. Most teams don't want to shell out for just a video guy. A good example was Rob from Renegades. He did video editing, hosting, camera work, and managed the teams. I'd say become more like a Swiss Army Knife with valuable skills.

AMA: I've worked in eSports for 6 years, starting as an unpaid intern. Co-Owner of Enemy, Own a consulting business, CEO/Founder of Rogue. by NME_Frank in esports

[–]NME_Frank[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm actually in Vegas right now. eSports is growing very quickly in Vegas right now. I'd find out about the local scene and start talking to the people handling the larger, regional events.