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Key Takeaways
- Every brand wanted access to younger consumers, but most companies don’t understand where those consumers actually live.
- The biggest opportunities are hiding in plain sight, where most people aren’t looking.
- You don’t have to be an athlete to be in the sports business. You don’t have to be a singer to be in the music business.
How does this article benefit you?
Let me start by saying this is not about highlighting me or my success. It is about sharing a proven, repeatable formula — one I’ve applied across multiple industries — that you can master to succeed in industries you may not be very familiar with.
I’ve built successful businesses in music, technology, fashion, e-commerce and entertainment. Today, I’m focused on the largest entertainment industry in the world — one with the biggest global audience — yet it remains widely ignored, dismissed or misunderstood. Many people don’t just underestimate it; they aren’t even aware of its true scale or potential.
What’s most surprising is how little even seasoned professionals — whose jobs are to forecast trends and analyze markets — understand this industry. When I share the data, people are either shocked by the numbers or respond with, “I don’t understand it.”
I’m talking about the video game industry, projected to generate over $500 billion by 2030.
Consider this:
I’m not sharing these facts to convince you to like gaming — though the opportunity is undeniable. I’m sharing them to illustrate how massive opportunities are often overlooked simply because people feel unfamiliar with an industry.
You don’t have to be an athlete to be in the sports business. You don’t have to be a singer to be in the music business. And you don’t have to be a gamer to be in the business of gaming.
If you understand business, marketing, community, finance, customer service or operations, it’s not hard to recognize the value of over 3.5 billion gamers worldwide. The numbers speak loudly, but the behavior speaks even louder.
Gamers represent enormous spending power. In the U.S. alone, they spent over $58 billion in 2024 on games, hardware and accessories, driven largely by mobile and in-game purchases. Gamers also over-index in lifestyle categories like sports apparel and home goods, demonstrating economic influence far beyond gaming itself.
Before you dismiss this as an article all about gaming, understand the real point: this is about learning how to enter and dominate new industries by applying universal business fundamentals.
Related: The Most Controversial Decision I Made That Led to My Success
The turning point
In 2017, I knew nothing about esports when I was asked to become VP of Business Development at a startup called FaZe Clan – a company we built that would go on to be valued at over $1 billion.
After just a few days of analyzing the opportunity, I knew exactly how my experience in brand building could translate into success in gaming.
Everything runs on culture.
This is where most people fail. It’s not about mastering the industry; it’s about understanding culture. From Super Bowl halftime shows to brand collaborations to language itself, cultural relevance determines success.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Clinton Sparks
The lesson that changed everything
While leading major entertainment ventures and working with global brands, I noticed something alarming: Every brand wanted access to younger consumers — but almost none understood where those consumers actually live.
They weren’t watching cable. They weren’t listening to radio ads. They weren’t reading magazines.
They were gaming.
Yet marketing and innovation dollars were being spent everywhere except where people were investing their time, attention, passion, and money. That led me to a simple question: If gaming is the biggest entertainment category in the world, why isn’t there a mainstream, globally accessible league that unifies this audience and gives them real opportunity?
That question became the basis for my company’s mission statement.
I had never built a league. I never worked in sports. But I understood business fundamentals – the same ones I’ve used to build everything I’ve ever built. Here’s what else I knew:
- Investors want a meaningful investment in gaming, beyond investing in individual games
- Brands want authentic access to billions of gamers
- Publishers want to expand IP, grow communities and reach new audiences
- Gamers want to be treated like athletes
- Casual players want more than just playing with friends – they want opportunity
- High-profile talent and executives who game want an authentic footprint in gaming
These were all solvable problems. I didn’t build my company by mastering gaming; I built it by applying the five fundamentals that work in any industry:
- People first
- Authentic value creation
- Cultural impact
- Execution and consistency
- Vision and discipline
Related: This Conversation Hack Made Me a Millionaire — Here’s How It Works
Why I built the Global Gaming League
There are billions of gamers globally, but no accessible path to grow, get discovered, compete or build a career. In music, there are plenty of development pipelines. In sports, there are farm, minor and major leagues. In Hollywood, there are auditions and agents. In gaming?
There was nothing.
My company solves that gap through a four-pillar, always-on ecosystem:
- Tech: GGL Primes, our online tournament platform
- Media: Broadcast shows, FAST channels, podcasts
- Gaming: A multi-title, celebrity-owned league
- Entertainment: Music, culture, fashion, and live events
It’s the UFC–WWE–NFL of gaming — built for modern culture.
This isn’t esports. It’s gaming entertainment. It’s solving a global problem.
And I would never have built it if I believed I had to know everything about gaming first.
The trait of every great entrepreneur
Great entrepreneurs don’t chase trends. They solve problems by building solutions. The biggest opportunities are hiding in plain sight, where most people aren’t looking. While others fight over the same markets, entrepreneurs are building an entirely new table.
That’s how you build the future. That’s how you build category-defining companies.
And sometimes, that’s how you change your life. But it all starts with changing how you approach opportunity.
Key Takeaways
- Every brand wanted access to younger consumers, but most companies don’t understand where those consumers actually live.
- The biggest opportunities are hiding in plain sight, where most people aren’t looking.
- You don’t have to be an athlete to be in the sports business. You don’t have to be a singer to be in the music business.
How does this article benefit you?
Let me start by saying this is not about highlighting me or my success. It is about sharing a proven, repeatable formula — one I’ve applied across multiple industries — that you can master to succeed in industries you may not be very familiar with.