The Level Up Experience

Text "START" to 502-237-7082 for access to the new LUE Text Community! Get access to exclusive and early-release content, merch giveaways, submit questions for upcoming guests, and two-way conversations with Cris!

Subscribe to the free LUE Substack- http://levelupexp.substack.com

Bobby Baird | Stream Hatchet | Demystifying Measurement: Using Data Analytics in esports and gaming 

YouTube Replay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlmlD2g_CJY

Thank you to our sponsor ggLocators! 

ggLocators is a contract staffing and executive search firm highly specialized in sourcing and placing top tier talent in gaming, esports, and extended reality industries. Learn more at http://gglocators.com 

Text "START" to 502-237-7082 for access to the new LUE Text Community! Get access to exclusive and early-release content, merch giveaways, submit questions for upcoming guests, and two-way conversations with Cris! 

Akshita Iyer is the Co-Founder and CEO Inirv. 

Inirv is an intelligent device that turns any stove into a smart one. Smart knobs that blend in with your kitchen and simplify cooking so you can focus on what matters most.

Akshita shares her story as a first-time startup founder, her experience presenting on Shark Tank, being part of a Tech Stars cohort in 2019, her advice for balancing mental health, how COVID has affected fund raising, and what to expect from Inirv over the next 12-18 months. 

Make sure to connect with Inirv and Akshita below: 

Twitter: @InirvLabs https://twitter.com/inirvlabs

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshitaiyer/ 

Connect with Cris and Level Up Experience on socials >> http://linktr.ee/levelupexp

Brad Yasar Founder & CEO Beyond Enterprizes joins The Level Up Experience. Brad is an entrepreneur, investor, mentor, and advisor who has started and bootstrapped several companies from inception to maturity over the past 30 years.

Beyond Enterprizes offers strategic and technical leadership, advisory, and support capabilities to projects in all stages of blockchain implementation and development.

We discuss the effects digital economies will have in the future, and discuss Brad's definition of a cross-reality virtual universe. 

Thank you for those that have rated and reviewed the podcast!! 

Watch YouTube replay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcMVpjflz7o

Connect to Cris on LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/unavailable/

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql918Efcn6g&t=1s

Learn about Silica NeXus- https://bit.ly/2ZpSZhU

We're discussing how the virtual reality space has evolved from the 90's, how the Silica neXus ecosystem is setting to create a digital economy, the emergence and the future of NFT's (non-fungible tokens), Run for the Unicorns Event in September and your live questions & comments.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/c4JME1v97CU

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristopher-reed/

Ned is an innovator in new media platforms.

He wrote EA’s first hit 3D game, founded Multitude, the startup behind FireTeam (the first MOBA), and FireTalk (Skype precursor). He worked on John Madden Football and The Sims as CTO.

At Sony he was Director of Engineering on the PS4 working projects including LLVM, PlayGo, Scream/BRB, ATF, DTE.

We discuss his career in the gaming industry, why Hearo.Live will change the way viewers experience media and answer live questions.

This was a previously recorded LinkedIn and Youtube live stream. You can connect with me on LinkedIn at Cris Reed and subscribe to the Level Up Experience Youtube channel.

Replay on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fsjb4t7lMQg

Connect on LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristopher-reed/

Amir Bozorgzadeh is the CEO at Virtuleap, a health and education VR startup that is taking cognitive assessment and training to the next level thanks to VR and AI.

Replay on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6OOG1oXlA8&t=979s

Marcus Howard is the CEO of ProjectMQ, an experiential marketing agency that uses video games to help colleges and other brands more effectively engage younger audiences. 

He's also the President of the Tampa Association of Gaming, a nonprofit dedicated to growing the gaming industry and STEM youth programs in the Tampa Bay region.

We're discussing his experience as a startup founder in gaming, why the industry will play a major role in education for the future, the current esports industry outlook, projects his team is currently working on and questions from the live stream. 

Watch episode on YouTube- https://bit.ly/3d8DkHs  (aired April 28th 2020) 

Follow Amuka Esports 

Twitch- https://bit.ly/2N2qmQK  Twitter- https://twitter.com/AmukaEsports

Ben Feferman CEO of Amuka Esports back for round 2. 

Amuka had a busy end to Q1 and Q2. We disucss the aquisition of Waves Gaming, Ezy Mode and Incendium Gaming. We also discuss their recent crowdfunding campaign launch on FrontFundr. and how Amuka has pivoted during the pandemic. 

It's also a unique episode because we originally recorded a live stream on LinkedIn/YouTube and screenshared Ben's Warzone VOD from the charity stream Scope 4 Hope, so if you missed the video make sure to check out it out. 

1:14- Start  

3:52- Physical vs virtual events  

4:42- Challenges moving to online tournaments 

5:50- Are physical esports events going to change fundamentally  

8:29- Get creative with your esports tournaments  

11:24- Politicians playing Fortnite  

11:58- Travis Scott concert thoughts 

 15:18- Justin Trudeau needs to play Smash Melee  

17:03- Amuka Esports news over last three months  

17:58- Windsor has a growing esports scene  

22:50- Amuka Esports acquires Waves Gaming  

23:43- What Amuka has done to pivot because of COVID-19  

26:35- How Amuka sees the value of virtual events   

36:32- How stream engagement will change in the future  

37:26- How esports industry can learn from poker industry circa 2003-2004 

41:28- Is Fortnite as an esports dying out? 

41:57- How orgs are pivoting  

42:35- Orgs are diversifying their asset base  

43:58- How do you think Valorant shakes up the esports space? 

46:58- What will happen if Overwatch League fails over next couple of years? 

48:13- Tencent is the mothership of gaming