RPF0226-Danny_Pena_Interview
00:00:00.000 | Today we talk about building a passion business and specifically, how can you make a living
00:00:07.320 | off of video games?
00:00:26.760 | Welcome to the Radical Personal Finance Podcast.
00:00:28.440 | My name is Joshua Sheets and I'm your host.
00:00:30.360 | Thank you so much for being here.
00:00:31.680 | I'm back.
00:00:33.840 | Had a busy time the last weekend out at Podcast Movement 2015.
00:00:38.000 | I recorded a total of 16 very good interviews while I was out there and today I bring you
00:00:43.360 | the first interview with Danny Pena, host of Gamer Tag Radio and one of the first inductees
00:00:52.900 | into the podcasting hall of fame.
00:00:58.920 | I'm glad to be back with you.
00:00:59.920 | Sorry for a few days of delay.
00:01:01.520 | It's been a lot of changes going on in my life.
00:01:04.280 | I will share some of those changes with you in coming shows but today I wanted to make
00:01:09.000 | sure that I wasn't gone for too long and one of the primary purposes of my going out to
00:01:14.280 | podcast movement, in addition to my own personal and professional development, was to record
00:01:19.640 | a number of interviews for you and like I said 16 total.
00:01:26.320 | All of them are good.
00:01:27.360 | Some of them are excellent and today we're going to kick it off with one that is very
00:01:31.180 | good, Danny Pena.
00:01:32.920 | And this for me is a really important topic.
00:01:37.520 | Let's talk about building a passion business and how things like video games can actually
00:01:44.800 | be useful.
00:01:46.480 | Enjoy.
00:01:48.720 | Danny welcome to Radical Personal Finance.
00:01:50.000 | I appreciate you being with me today.
00:01:51.240 | Thanks for inviting me man.
00:01:52.960 | This is a pretty cool setup over here.
00:01:54.680 | We're here at Podcast Movement and we both live in South Florida so I was going to get
00:01:59.620 | with you in South Florida but this worked out great.
00:02:03.240 | I wanted to have you on today to talk about the business of video games.
00:02:07.560 | And I'm going to give you a caveat.
00:02:09.800 | I am not a video gamer.
00:02:12.000 | I'm one of those people who scoffs at video games.
00:02:18.480 | And so when I was thinking about somebody who could be a proponent and an advocate of
00:02:21.880 | video games, I thought you would be the perfect guy.
00:02:25.140 | So we're going to talk about the business of video games and a little bit about your
00:02:28.320 | personal journey.
00:02:29.700 | Start off with just a little bit of your background as it relates to the business of video games.
00:02:33.300 | For me, I started Internet Radio back in 2001.
00:02:37.280 | I had a show called PSO Radio.
00:02:39.280 | It was all about one of my favorite games of all time.
00:02:42.440 | It's called Fanny Star Online that came on the Sega Dreamcast.
00:02:45.640 | So what I did was I used to get people within the community and we'll talk about issues
00:02:50.800 | with the game.
00:02:51.800 | We'll review quests because Sega will post a lot of new quests weekly online and stuff
00:02:57.280 | and that's how I started.
00:02:59.240 | So I used to record on a cassette player and I convert that into MP3 and I put it up on
00:03:05.680 | MP3.com.
00:03:06.680 | That's how I started.
00:03:07.680 | MP3.com, it was more for music artists.
00:03:11.480 | So they have their music there and whoever downloads or streams their content will get
00:03:16.040 | paid from MP3.com.
00:03:18.680 | So I was like, "Wait a minute.
00:03:19.680 | I could do that but instead of music, talk radio."
00:03:23.060 | So I did that and we got a huge following.
00:03:25.820 | So my first check was $500 in 2001.
00:03:28.360 | So I was like, "Man, I want to start a business out of this."
00:03:31.640 | -And what was the check from?
00:03:33.400 | -From them.
00:03:34.480 | Just because of the amount of people that were downloading and streaming our content.
00:03:37.280 | And I also had CDs of special events that I recorded.
00:03:41.400 | People could buy it and have it as a collection.
00:03:46.280 | That's how I started with that.
00:03:47.280 | So then I got to meet Microsoft, Nintendo throughout the years, networked with them
00:03:52.800 | and also Sony.
00:03:54.680 | And I took a break because I was doing the whole music.
00:03:58.440 | I used to be a promoter for the music industry in Miami and in New York.
00:04:01.720 | So I was doing that for two, three years.
00:04:04.080 | And then in 2005, I wasn't happy with that.
00:04:06.320 | I was like, "Man, let me do this podcast.
00:04:08.760 | Not podcast but let me do this radio thing."
00:04:13.080 | And February 2005, I launched Gamer Tag Radio which now this is our 10th year.
00:04:18.720 | So when I started, I wasn't thinking about business, downloads, none of that stuff.
00:04:24.480 | I wanted people to hear my content.
00:04:27.080 | That's what I was thinking about.
00:04:28.080 | So then iTunes launched podcast on their software and eventually it just became a hit.
00:04:37.720 | You know?
00:04:38.720 | So...
00:04:39.720 | - And fast forward today in 2015, your show is...
00:04:42.160 | Tell us about your show now and how it's distributed and how big it is.
00:04:45.080 | - Well, this is a great thing.
00:04:46.680 | This is our 10th year and this is the biggest year ever for us.
00:04:50.200 | We signed with Play It Network.
00:04:52.840 | They're part of CBS Radio.
00:04:54.520 | We signed with them a week before our anniversary.
00:04:57.760 | That was like a big, huge milestone for us.
00:05:01.120 | We had nearly a million downloads for the month of June during E3.
00:05:08.440 | That's where we go where we get to see games and products from companies that show us in
00:05:13.500 | advance before it comes out.
00:05:14.960 | And we do a lot of interviews, roundtable discussion.
00:05:18.040 | We even had a studio booked for the whole week that CBS hooked us up.
00:05:22.800 | So we did that.
00:05:23.800 | That was like a dream come true, man.
00:05:25.800 | I started off with a cheap microphone, built-in mic from a computer.
00:05:31.160 | That's how I started recording my show.
00:05:33.680 | And eventually I got money.
00:05:36.400 | I started investing on...
00:05:38.200 | I was investing more for events.
00:05:40.280 | I wanted to attend events and meet people.
00:05:43.240 | And that's how we got our name out there.
00:05:46.280 | And yeah, eventually now we have pretty good equipment and everything.
00:05:50.000 | So we're legit now.
00:05:51.560 | - And so what's awesome about this is, in my mind, it's a great example of how taking
00:05:55.560 | an interest and focusing on it and pursuing it, not knowing where that would go, ultimately
00:06:01.280 | opened up a lot of doors for you.
00:06:02.840 | And at this point, you are pretty well known and a leader in many ways in the video game
00:06:07.960 | industry.
00:06:08.960 | - Yes.
00:06:09.960 | It's crazy because every time I go to an event, people are like, "Man, I listened to your
00:06:13.960 | show.
00:06:14.960 | Let's take some pictures.
00:06:15.960 | Hey, I need some advice.
00:06:16.960 | I have a podcast too."
00:06:17.960 | It's crazy how time has changed.
00:06:19.800 | Because back then when I started, there was no social media, none of that stuff.
00:06:24.240 | And how I got my name out there was I was attending events and going to retail stores.
00:06:30.720 | Let's say a big, huge game is coming out.
00:06:32.440 | Let's say Grand Theft Auto, Halo, whatever.
00:06:35.200 | People are in line.
00:06:36.200 | So I go there with flyers, with my recorder, give flyers to everybody, tell them about
00:06:41.000 | the show.
00:06:42.000 | "Hey, you want to be part of the show?
00:06:43.000 | Tell us why you're buying this game.
00:06:44.000 | Why are you so excited?"
00:06:45.640 | So that's how I did it.
00:06:47.120 | Like that, going to a bunch of stores locally in Miami.
00:06:51.000 | And I started locally and then eventually went to other cities too, like New York, LA,
00:06:55.400 | and stuff like that.
00:06:56.400 | So, yeah.
00:06:57.400 | - So, my understanding is you've been doing the show and you're earning money off of it,
00:07:02.080 | but you've been doing this as a side work the entire time.
00:07:05.800 | You've been working doing other work during this whole career, right?
00:07:08.200 | - Yeah, I work, my 9 to 5 is Discovery Channel Latin America.
00:07:11.560 | I also, a couple years ago, I had a show with them.
00:07:16.120 | Same thing about gaming, video-wise for Latin America.
00:07:19.560 | So I'll talk in English and they'll translate it to Spanish and Portuguese.
00:07:25.420 | And they had it exclusively on their website.
00:07:28.000 | And also, they like TV promos for them, promoting the show.
00:07:32.040 | - And did that emerge because they knew you had the video game podcast?
00:07:35.440 | - Yes, yes.
00:07:36.440 | It's a long story, but I'm going to keep it short about that.
00:07:38.800 | I got back from E3 and I was working and they called me, "Hey, Danny, can you go upstairs?
00:07:44.600 | I would like to talk to you."
00:07:45.760 | I was like, "This is weird."
00:07:47.320 | So I go upstairs and I go to the room.
00:07:49.800 | It's a huge conference room where we usually have meetings and stuff.
00:07:54.000 | And the VP was there and a bunch of other people.
00:07:57.720 | I'm like, "Oh my God, am I getting fired?
00:07:59.920 | What the hell is going on here?"
00:08:01.600 | So then we started talking and they started asking me questions about, "What is a podcast?
00:08:06.960 | What do you do?
00:08:07.960 | Tell us about video games."
00:08:09.520 | And they were asking me random questions.
00:08:11.360 | I'm like, "This is so weird."
00:08:12.480 | So then we finished.
00:08:13.480 | They were like, "Oh, we're going to talk to you later.
00:08:17.640 | We're planning some stuff."
00:08:18.640 | I'm like, "All right, cool."
00:08:19.640 | So I leave and I hear, when I close the door, everybody started clapping like, "Oh man,
00:08:22.920 | this is it.
00:08:23.920 | This is it."
00:08:24.920 | I was like, "What was that about?"
00:08:25.920 | So then eventually my friend was telling me, "Yeah, they wanted me to do a show for Discovery."
00:08:31.120 | So I did that for a year.
00:08:33.680 | So I was doing that, I was doing the podcast and I was working at the same time.
00:08:37.380 | So it was a very stressful year.
00:08:39.360 | It was too many things.
00:08:41.640 | But I didn't want to let that opportunity go.
00:08:43.960 | So I did that for a while.
00:08:46.720 | And I also do launch party products for companies too, for video games.
00:08:53.240 | So let's say a big game is coming out.
00:08:55.800 | They want our community to try out their game, to give us a budget.
00:08:59.280 | We rent a venue.
00:09:00.360 | We have a DJ performances.
00:09:03.360 | We have TVs everywhere where people could try out the game.
00:09:06.240 | And at the same time, we're hyping the crowd, giving away stuff, free systems, free games.
00:09:11.240 | And at the same time, it's free for the public, but we're getting money out of that from video
00:09:16.280 | game companies too.
00:09:18.480 | So I've been doing that for a couple of years.
00:09:19.800 | - Do you have any thoughts of leaving Discovery and just doing the video game?
00:09:23.080 | - I get that question all the time.
00:09:26.520 | - It's almost like if you built this foundation and worked for 10 years of this dream business,
00:09:30.920 | then many people, the first thing you want to know is why not pursue it?
00:09:33.040 | - I love my job.
00:09:34.040 | I'm happy with my job.
00:09:35.480 | I just feel that it's not the right time.
00:09:38.200 | And the time when I'm ready for that, I'll do it.
00:09:42.200 | But I'm happy with my job right now.
00:09:44.840 | - So I want to talk about the money in video games because what fascinates me is video
00:09:49.960 | games is the perfect archetype for the angry parent yelling at the child saying, "Why are
00:09:56.320 | you wasting your time on these video games?"
00:09:58.160 | - Which I heard about this with my parents back then when I was a kid.
00:10:02.720 | Many times.
00:10:03.720 | Many times.
00:10:04.720 | - I mean, my kids are two years old and three months, so they're not playing video games.
00:10:08.920 | But I would be one of those parents yelling at a child, "You're not playing video games."
00:10:13.000 | - I mean, there's a lot of good things about that.
00:10:16.680 | The majority of people know about games as mainstream, like the typical shooting games
00:10:20.680 | and stuff like that.
00:10:21.680 | But there's a lot of games that is not mainstream.
00:10:24.840 | There's a lot of critical thinking stuff.
00:10:27.140 | It's good for the kid.
00:10:28.840 | I love Minecraft for the kid because they could create their own stuff, share with their
00:10:34.040 | friends and it's friendly too.
00:10:36.400 | Like a parent could play with the kids too.
00:10:38.800 | That's the type of games that we like to talk about on our show.
00:10:43.800 | - Okay.
00:10:44.960 | So there are people who make their full-time living playing video games.
00:10:49.400 | - Yes.
00:10:50.400 | - How do they do that?
00:10:51.960 | - There's different ways.
00:10:53.160 | There's pro gamers where they go to tournaments.
00:10:57.880 | And one of my friends, this is like a couple years ago, him and his team, they were so
00:11:03.240 | good that they had a lot of sponsors that one of their companies that deals with the
00:11:08.680 | tournament, MLG, that's their name, they did a contract with them for a million dollars
00:11:14.280 | for all four of them.
00:11:15.280 | - Wow.
00:11:16.280 | - Because they were so good at that game.
00:11:17.280 | Really, really good.
00:11:18.280 | So they will travel around the world to compete.
00:11:21.120 | Think of it as like MMA.
00:11:22.480 | They rock their t-shirts with different names of companies that sponsor them and stuff.
00:11:28.040 | That's one way.
00:11:29.040 | Another way is of course the podcast or now what's big is live stream and YouTube.
00:11:34.640 | That's like the biggest thing right now for that.
00:11:37.080 | And the reason is back then, how we used to get cheat codes and reviews was through magazines
00:11:43.480 | or stuff like that, right?
00:11:44.800 | There was no internet back then.
00:11:46.560 | Now it's easy.
00:11:48.760 | Any kid could just go on YouTube, search for a game to see how it is.
00:11:52.060 | If they like it, they'll go and buy it.
00:11:54.440 | So at the same time, YouTube have ads and let's say PewDiePie, he's a very popular gamer.
00:12:01.200 | - He's the number one YouTube channel in the world, right?
00:12:03.520 | - Yeah.
00:12:04.520 | I mean, I'm not a huge fan, but I love seeing a gamer doing that type of business because
00:12:11.160 | I think he made like almost, I think it was like 7 million in a year.
00:12:14.760 | - That is amazing.
00:12:15.760 | - So him posting crazy videos, talking about games at the same time, there's companies
00:12:20.160 | that pay them to post their game like through his YouTube channel.
00:12:26.600 | And he was also featured on this TV show, the South Park, which they same exact thing.
00:12:34.520 | They were talking about the same thing we was doing like a YouTube, but for South Park.
00:12:38.720 | So it opened the doors for him.
00:12:41.320 | So there's a lot of different ways to make money from that.
00:12:44.640 | But at the same time, I think you should be really, really careful since day one, every
00:12:49.640 | time we get something for free or we get paid or anything, we let our community know about
00:12:54.440 | that.
00:12:55.440 | Because I don't want our community to feel, I don't want them to feel uncomfortable with
00:13:01.080 | something that we're promoting because we say, "Oh, it's great."
00:13:05.680 | But it's not.
00:13:07.680 | Every time I go to an event that a company fly us to Europe or Canada or any other places,
00:13:15.240 | we mention it on our show because we build that trust throughout the years.
00:13:18.520 | Yeah, we're getting money and certain things, but why not mention that to your listeners?
00:13:23.800 | So yeah, that's what we do.
00:13:25.400 | - What fascinates me about it, in PewDiePie, I was researching one time top YouTube channels
00:13:31.760 | like, "Wow, this one."
00:13:32.760 | I went and subscribed and I just start looking at these videos roll up in my YouTube subscription
00:13:37.440 | sheet.
00:13:38.440 | I'm like, "Why does anybody watch this?"
00:13:40.080 | But obviously, for his demographic, the people that enjoy his stuff, he's a star.
00:13:45.280 | - Yeah, he's an influencer.
00:13:47.240 | So company loves that.
00:13:49.080 | That's the reason why Microsoft stayed in touch with me and a lot of other committee
00:13:53.800 | members are doing the same through YouTube or live stream because we can influence people.
00:13:58.800 | We could tell people, "Yes, this game is hot.
00:14:00.680 | No, this game is not."
00:14:02.720 | And they trust us and they will eventually decide based on what we say on our show.
00:14:09.760 | So that's why companies contact us all the time, all the time.
00:14:13.240 | - So do you, let's say that I'm a 15-year-old gamer and I come to you and I say, "Man, I
00:14:17.960 | just love games.
00:14:18.960 | I want to make a career out of this."
00:14:21.120 | What kind of advice would you give me in that situation?
00:14:23.760 | - What I always tell them is try to attend events like PAX and talk to the independent
00:14:31.960 | companies.
00:14:35.400 | That's the easy way to get in to meet people and ask some questions.
00:14:40.280 | Or go to a university like Full Sail that's pretty big in South Florida.
00:14:44.640 | Well, it's not South Florida.
00:14:45.640 | It's in Tampa, I believe.
00:14:46.640 | Tampa, Orlando, around the area, which is also a place where they teach about video game
00:14:50.760 | design and everything.
00:14:52.080 | These are good things.
00:14:53.960 | Two of my staff members, former staff members, they should be part of our show.
00:14:59.800 | Because of them attending events and connecting with people within the industry, now they
00:15:05.200 | got an opportunity to work for a video game company.
00:15:07.560 | That's why they left our podcast.
00:15:10.080 | One of them works for Gameloft.
00:15:12.160 | Gameloft is one of the biggest mobile app game companies out there around the world.
00:15:16.560 | They're huge for iOS and Android.
00:15:19.400 | And another one, his name is Jonathan, he also got a job for EA Sports in Orlando.
00:15:24.840 | He was there for a bit.
00:15:26.400 | Now he works for a different company, a mobile company now in New York City.
00:15:30.320 | The reason why is because networking, attending events, meeting people, and at the same time,
00:15:36.840 | learning about the industry too.
00:15:39.640 | I think that will help out big time.
00:15:42.880 | It seems just like a great example of how, I don't know how, so the video game industry
00:15:50.560 | would be a product of the 80s?
00:15:52.960 | That would be?
00:15:54.880 | You could say 70s, but it wasn't mainstream.
00:15:58.520 | 80s was like the mainstream era, you know, like Atari, ColecoVision, Nintendo, all that
00:16:05.480 | stuff.
00:16:06.480 | That's when it became more mainstream.
00:16:07.720 | And then around a couple years ago, during, let me see, 2005, that's when, well actually
00:16:16.640 | PlayStation, that was a pretty big era too, that helped to push the industry even more
00:16:23.620 | to the masses.
00:16:24.820 | But then 2005 with Xbox 360, PlayStation, the Nintendo Wii, it became even more mainstream.
00:16:34.280 | And I believe a couple years ago, Call of Duty, I can't remember which game it is, they
00:16:42.600 | made so much money, more money than any other entertainment out there.
00:16:46.480 | More than movies, more than music, books, everything.
00:16:50.200 | Time has changed, man.
00:16:51.680 | Time has changed.
00:16:52.680 | I know a lot of people, it looks crazy, like really?
00:16:55.360 | A video game?
00:16:57.000 | But I'm telling you, it's big, man.
00:17:00.080 | These companies spend millions and millions of dollars investing in marketing, developing
00:17:04.480 | the game.
00:17:05.480 | There's a big team working on it, 500 to 1,000 people.
00:17:10.320 | That's a lot of money with this business.
00:17:11.880 | So yeah, I mean, time has changed.
00:17:17.040 | So…
00:17:18.040 | - And what I'm emphasizing is because we live in a new era.
00:17:24.200 | We live in an era where the opportunity is unlimited in almost any industry.
00:17:29.920 | But that doesn't mean that it's easy to figure out how to find and attract and engage
00:17:36.920 | with those opportunities.
00:17:37.920 | - I have a story to tell.
00:17:39.360 | - Go for it.
00:17:40.360 | - Well, I just remember now, the developer of Minecraft, he started as an independent
00:17:46.680 | developer.
00:17:47.680 | He was super popular within PC and consoles and stuff.
00:17:53.320 | And he just got tired of working on the game.
00:17:58.120 | So he posted on Twitter, "Hey, whoever wants to buy Minecraft, let me know."
00:18:02.880 | Guess what happened?
00:18:03.880 | On the low, Microsoft contacted him.
00:18:06.640 | He sold his company for, I think, it's a billion dollars, maybe more.
00:18:13.400 | He sold it to Microsoft.
00:18:14.400 | Now, Microsoft are the owners of Minecraft.
00:18:18.880 | So that same developer, he's like, "All right, I'm moving out."
00:18:23.200 | So he was trying to buy a house in LA.
00:18:27.600 | And Jay-Z and Beyonce were also trying to buy that same house.
00:18:31.880 | Guess who won the bid?
00:18:34.760 | He did.
00:18:35.760 | A gamer.
00:18:36.760 | A gamer beat one of the biggest music artists out there, Jay-Z and Beyonce.
00:18:43.820 | And all that was because of games.
00:18:45.600 | - Wow.
00:18:46.600 | Incredible.
00:18:47.600 | - Crazy.
00:18:48.600 | - And it shows me just how, if people are the type...
00:18:52.840 | If you take something and if you focus on it and you build on it, so let's say you have
00:18:55.720 | a history, I'm a gamer, and you do something with it.
00:18:59.360 | Because the trouble in my mind is navigating between this.
00:19:04.080 | Gaming...
00:19:05.080 | Feel free to disagree with that.
00:19:06.080 | I'll make this a statement.
00:19:07.080 | You tell me if I'm right or wrong.
00:19:08.840 | Gaming can be an incredibly destructive influence in your life.
00:19:13.040 | If it takes over your life and you do nothing with it, and you get obsessed with these certain
00:19:19.240 | games now for the rest of your life, that's what you're doing.
00:19:21.360 | And you don't do anything with it.
00:19:23.680 | But the same can be said with anything.
00:19:26.680 | Anything can be destructive if it gets out of bounds.
00:19:28.800 | But you can also take something that is a hobby, a passion, an enjoyment, an entertainment,
00:19:33.960 | and you can say, "Okay, I'm recognizing that I'm engaged with this.
00:19:37.680 | How can I leverage this and get involved with other people?
00:19:40.340 | How can I make a contribution?"
00:19:42.000 | And that can lead to benefits for your life.
00:19:45.040 | So it's a good example in my mind of saying, "Here's something that many parents have told
00:19:49.880 | their kids, 'You're never going to get a job if you're spending all your time playing video
00:19:53.280 | games.'"
00:19:54.280 | And there's a bunch of kids saying, "Look, Mom, I got a job."
00:19:57.360 | But see, it all depends on the parent.
00:19:59.720 | Because I've been playing games...
00:20:01.240 | My grandmother was the one that bought me my first video game console, the Atari 2600,
00:20:05.640 | back in the '80s.
00:20:07.520 | And I became addicted to games.
00:20:09.680 | But at the same time, my mom and my dad were always focused on me going to school, go outside,
00:20:18.040 | have a life.
00:20:19.040 | It all depends on the parent.
00:20:20.440 | Too much of anything is not good.
00:20:23.480 | You can't blame games for violence or all this stuff because Japan, Europe, Canada,
00:20:31.040 | there's other countries that listen to the same music, watch the same movies, they play
00:20:35.160 | the same games as us, and their crime rate is super, super low compared to the United
00:20:41.960 | States.
00:20:43.200 | To me, in my opinion, it all depends on the parents.
00:20:48.200 | You should control the kids.
00:20:49.560 | If they're playing too much, tell them, "That's it.
00:20:51.600 | Enough.
00:20:52.600 | Take a break."
00:20:53.600 | Because I've seen situations of parents that, "Oh, they're just playing a game."
00:20:57.400 | Or they'll go to the store and buy a mature game for a 12-year-old.
00:21:03.800 | I'm so against that.
00:21:04.800 | That's not right.
00:21:05.800 | Why do that?
00:21:07.120 | Do your research before you buy these games for your kids.
00:21:12.680 | I think parents should do more research on that instead of just, "Oh, it's just a video
00:21:17.520 | game.
00:21:18.520 | It's for kids."
00:21:19.520 | Tal: If you were parenting, let's just say, a 12- to 15-year-old boy or girl, and you're
00:21:27.440 | noticing an interest, an interest of video games, but you're concerned also about just
00:21:32.160 | their long-term career and life prospects, what would be some of the advice that you
00:21:36.000 | would give as a parent to your child in that situation to help them explore their interest
00:21:44.000 | in a way that might lead to a productive career?
00:21:47.760 | Leo: Start with critical thinking games.
00:21:53.800 | I think that will help your kid to come up with some amazing ideas that maybe eventually,
00:22:01.040 | once they get older, they might do the same thing with that.
00:22:04.520 | Like I said, Minecraft, puzzle games like Tetris, something simple like that.
00:22:11.000 | The things that people could create on those type of games is amazing.
00:22:17.880 | My niece, she's almost two.
00:22:21.220 | She grabs her mom's phone, and she already knows which app it is for her games.
00:22:29.480 | She knows what to do.
00:22:31.920 | A dog will come out and bark and hide, and she has to go and find the dog within the
00:22:38.360 | screen.
00:22:40.400 | Little things like that.
00:22:41.400 | Kids, nowadays, are more advanced than when we were kids.
00:22:46.720 | Technology is changing.
00:22:49.200 | Do research on that.
00:22:51.000 | What is the next big thing that's going to help my kid for them once they get older,
00:22:56.080 | and it will help them with school?
00:22:57.840 | Because I love puzzles.
00:22:58.840 | I love critical thinking things.
00:23:00.320 | And also, there's even role-playing games.
00:23:02.480 | There's a lot of reading, too.
00:23:04.220 | That helps out.
00:23:05.600 | But if you go into a store and just buy Grand Theft Auto or Madden, to me, that's more entertainment
00:23:12.360 | for an older crowd, not for a young kid.
00:23:15.840 | In the industry, if you were looking...
00:23:19.160 | So for me, if I were a parent, and I am a parent, if I were in that situation, I would
00:23:24.360 | be looking and saying, "How can I train my child not to be a consumer, but to be a producer?"
00:23:30.320 | And so, in that sense, I would be looking...
00:23:32.840 | I'll tell you a couple of games.
00:23:34.560 | Go for it.
00:23:35.560 | Little Big Planet is for PlayStation.
00:23:38.360 | It's for anybody.
00:23:40.480 | Family, young and old.
00:23:43.760 | They're also an area in the game.
00:23:46.640 | It's a feature where people could create content, all type of games within the world of Little
00:23:51.400 | Big Planet.
00:23:52.400 | They upload it for the world.
00:23:54.140 | So when you go to that section, it's called Community, you see which one is the most popular,
00:24:00.800 | which one is the most rated.
00:24:03.640 | That's cool because people are creating their own game.
00:24:06.000 | There's another one, too, for Microsoft.
00:24:07.360 | It's called Sparkle...
00:24:08.360 | Oh my God, something project.
00:24:09.360 | Sparkle...
00:24:10.360 | Oh my God, I can't remember.
00:24:11.360 | I apologize.
00:24:12.360 | That's another one, too, that's pretty good for the Xbox One, where people could create
00:24:19.840 | their own games and stuff.
00:24:21.640 | I think that's amazing.
00:24:22.640 | I don't have the patience to create my own stuff, but I love going online and downloading
00:24:28.520 | that type of content.
00:24:29.520 | There's always going to be new stuff from people that are young and old creating for
00:24:34.200 | the community.
00:24:35.200 | I think that's the type of things that you should get for your kid.
00:24:38.240 | Let's say, what do you have, a PC?
00:24:40.960 | Do you plan to get a console or no?
00:24:43.160 | No.
00:24:44.160 | No?
00:24:45.160 | Or even on the phone.
00:24:47.120 | Everybody has a smartphone.
00:24:48.120 | There's apps that is for that, too.
00:24:50.960 | I'll tell you, I struggle with this.
00:24:54.600 | I'm a weirdo.
00:24:56.240 | I don't have a TV.
00:24:57.240 | That's fine.
00:24:58.480 | I have a computer.
00:24:59.520 | I don't have any gaming console.
00:25:00.960 | That's fine.
00:25:01.960 | I have a computer, but I don't have a game on it.
00:25:04.240 | There's not a single game on my cell phone.
00:25:05.720 | PC or Mac?
00:25:07.040 | PC.
00:25:08.040 | Okay.
00:25:09.040 | My wife and I talk a lot about how we're going to help our children integrate with technology.
00:25:16.320 | It annoys me intensely how many parents use the phone, primarily a phone or iPad, as a
00:25:25.480 | way to babysit their kids.
00:25:27.160 | And so, I can't stand it.
00:25:31.080 | But on the other hand, I look at it from a perspective and I say, recognizing that my
00:25:35.940 | children's peers are growing up as your niece, we're at two years old, she knows how to get
00:25:40.640 | mom's phone and play this game.
00:25:43.520 | And she's also really active.
00:25:46.440 | Her mom takes her out.
00:25:47.840 | She's not always 24/7 on the phone.
00:25:49.760 | And that's like I said before, it all depends on the parents.
00:25:52.000 | So you're doing the right way with your kids.
00:25:56.640 | There are some values for me that are important.
00:25:58.320 | So a simple thing like conversation.
00:26:00.440 | So I work very hard not to be on my phone if I'm with my children.
00:26:06.700 | There are obviously times where if I'm at a point where this is when I need to spend
00:26:10.520 | a few minutes doing something, then I need to do that.
00:26:13.600 | But if I'm with my family, I'm not going to be checking my phone.
00:26:16.840 | I'm not going to be on voice mail.
00:26:18.080 | I don't want that because in my mind, the higher value is the social engagement.
00:26:22.880 | And I don't want my wife to feel like here I am staring at my phone.
00:26:26.320 | That doesn't do good for my marriage.
00:26:27.320 | I find that very disrespectful when people do that.
00:26:29.800 | So I also feel when I look at teaching children, for example, I don't want to give my son a
00:26:38.240 | phone and say, "Okay, here, mommy and daddy are going to talk with our friends.
00:26:42.900 | You can be on your phone."
00:26:43.900 | Rather, I want to teach my son to engage with us and to listen.
00:26:49.320 | And he's doing a great job.
00:26:51.160 | He's to the point where he can sit and he's not listening, obviously, and engaging with
00:26:54.720 | the conversation yet, but he can sit quietly.
00:26:57.000 | And that's the skill that I want to teach, the social skills.
00:27:00.240 | And so in my mind, I see I'm one of those pretty hardcore.
00:27:05.000 | I'm a scoffer at video games.
00:27:06.720 | I'm a critic of video games.
00:27:08.280 | I just say, "What is the point of why would I waste my life with these things?"
00:27:13.600 | But I'm also trying to learn to vet to-
00:27:16.200 | To find a value from that.
00:27:17.480 | Yeah, and to consider that because I don't want to just be the person who just dismisses
00:27:21.360 | things out of hand.
00:27:22.640 | I want to consider the subject, which is why I brought you on.
00:27:25.360 | And also, with my children, I recognize the benefits of it.
00:27:29.960 | And I get concerned about people's ability to maintain long-form linear thought.
00:27:36.240 | So I've found even over the last 10 years, my ability to concentrate and focus has plummeted
00:27:41.760 | from when I could sit and read books without even getting distracted.
00:27:45.680 | And now, it's constantly another distraction.
00:27:47.860 | So I'm looking at my son and I'm thinking, "How do I train him to be able to focus and
00:27:52.280 | to be able to concentrate?
00:27:53.980 | And are these influences positive or are they negative or are they neutral?"
00:27:58.680 | And it's how we benefit him.
00:28:00.480 | And I don't know the answers.
00:28:03.880 | I blame the media, man.
00:28:04.880 | Honestly, I blame the media because they always promote the negative part of gaming.
00:28:13.400 | Those mainstream games, where are the independent games?
00:28:17.040 | Where's the success story about Minecraft?
00:28:20.720 | I learned about that because within the community and the news outlets within the gaming world.
00:28:29.240 | It's like-
00:28:30.240 | Times have changed.
00:28:31.640 | It's like those old school people that have their own show on the radio.
00:28:40.240 | When they look at us, we're doing this digitally and they're like, "Ah, whatever, podcasts."
00:28:47.480 | Like, "Harmon Stern, you can't make money with podcasts."
00:28:51.920 | And yes, there is a way to make money.
00:28:54.880 | I feel that you should give it a chance with the whole gaming stuff.
00:28:59.400 | Try it out.
00:29:00.400 | Do research and find the right games that will be perfect for your kids.
00:29:04.840 | Don't worry about the popular ones.
00:29:08.000 | Look for those hidden gems out there that's created by an independent developer.
00:29:13.920 | At the same time, critical thinking games.
00:29:16.520 | Honestly, it's so, so important.
00:29:18.880 | There's even research that say that it's good for kids to play games because of those
00:29:26.120 | puzzles.
00:29:29.440 | And then it used to be harder for me when I was a kid because those games you couldn't
00:29:35.040 | save.
00:29:36.040 | I had to leave my Nintendo on because once I turn it off, I have to go and start from
00:29:43.280 | scratch.
00:29:44.280 | Nowadays, because of technology, now I could save it, pause it, play a month later.
00:29:51.000 | So technology is changing.
00:29:53.540 | Do the research and I think you should give it a chance for your kids.
00:29:58.120 | And this came to me as you were talking.
00:30:01.920 | It's not like I've never played games.
00:30:03.320 | When I was younger, we had Flight Simulator.
00:30:06.960 | We enjoyed that.
00:30:09.080 | I got into at one point this motorcycle game called Full Throttle.
00:30:15.000 | And it was a PC game and it was interesting.
00:30:19.640 | The character was going around and you had to figure out all these clues and solve the
00:30:22.480 | puzzles and I really enjoyed that.
00:30:24.320 | And also for a time, I enjoyed playing Age of Empires.
00:30:28.080 | - Age of Empires, that's a big one.
00:30:30.600 | - That one I really enjoyed.
00:30:31.800 | That appealed to me and it's just kind of cool.
00:30:33.280 | - So you were already older and everything, right?
00:30:35.360 | - Yeah, this is probably middle school age and we had a computer.
00:30:39.720 | We didn't ever have any gaming consoles but we had a computer and so we would play some
00:30:43.320 | computer games from time.
00:30:44.320 | - I tell you this.
00:30:45.320 | I met my staff members because of gaming.
00:30:50.360 | We were playing on Xbox Live online throughout different games and that's how I met them.
00:30:56.480 | I met all my listeners was through playing online with other games or meeting them in
00:31:02.800 | person and stuff.
00:31:03.800 | Now, I totally forgot what I was going to say.
00:31:06.800 | - I'll give you another thing to jump on.
00:31:11.680 | But I see the benefits of games and if you look at the research, so the military is using
00:31:15.920 | games to train soldiers and different people to train things.
00:31:19.440 | And so I look at it from the perspective of finance and I've played board games.
00:31:23.640 | Robert Kiyosaki has a board game called Cashflow Quadrant.
00:31:26.200 | It's games like Monopoly.
00:31:28.120 | These are board games that teach important aspects of finance.
00:31:31.640 | And so I've been thinking, okay, is there a way that we could integrate and I could
00:31:36.600 | teach one of the ideas on my someday maybe list is could I create a video game that was
00:31:44.280 | interesting to play that taught financial independence as a way to actually convey those
00:31:49.480 | things.
00:31:50.480 | - I remember what I was going to say but let me go with this because you just mentioned
00:31:52.960 | that.
00:31:53.960 | Back in the 90s, there was this game called Sim City.
00:31:59.720 | I was so addicted to that game.
00:32:02.000 | And it was, okay, you are a mayor of the city and you have to build the city and you got
00:32:08.080 | to make sure that you have enough money to continue work on other things in the city.
00:32:15.480 | So eventually there's going to be like fire, so you got to make sure you have like a fire
00:32:19.280 | department close to the area where that happened.
00:32:22.440 | There's going to be another area that's a lot of crime.
00:32:24.600 | Okay, let me see if I have enough money.
00:32:26.560 | Okay, I could build a police station right here.
00:32:30.440 | Things like that.
00:32:31.440 | And at the same time, you learn how to balance the money.
00:32:36.120 | You got to make sure that people are happy with their jobs within the game too.
00:32:39.960 | Like, it's a lot of things.
00:32:41.280 | - So it's population control.
00:32:42.280 | - Yeah, but it's cool.
00:32:43.280 | It's cool.
00:32:44.280 | And you know what?
00:32:45.280 | I feel like destroying an area to save money, you can do it in a game like that.
00:32:49.760 | So yeah, it's a very old school Super Nintendo game.
00:32:54.760 | I think that was also for PC.
00:32:56.600 | It's called Sim City.
00:32:59.120 | Very cool.
00:33:00.120 | Oh, another thing too is that the reason why I like gaming so much, there's been times
00:33:05.960 | in the past that I used to be bullied when I was a kid, you know how it is in school
00:33:09.720 | and stuff.
00:33:10.840 | But when I get home and I start playing, it released my stress.
00:33:16.960 | And I feel that a lot of listeners, they feel the same way too.
00:33:19.800 | The stress with work, with school.
00:33:21.760 | And they'll go and listen to our show, and we're entertaining them.
00:33:26.320 | And at the same time, we're changing their lives.
00:33:29.680 | One kid, a foster kid, got an email that she discovered our show, and she loved it so much.
00:33:40.600 | She was like, "Wow, I didn't know there was a video game podcast."
00:33:43.920 | She loved it so much.
00:33:44.920 | Now, she wants to be a video game designer.
00:33:49.320 | Stories like that makes me so happy, because you never know who's listening.
00:33:53.880 | You're changing people's lives out there.
00:33:56.720 | So yeah.
00:33:58.720 | If you were speaking to parents who were saying, "Okay, I'm looking for a way, a challenge
00:34:03.880 | a lot of parents have is how do I connect with my kids?"
00:34:06.720 | It's very easy for parents to feel disconnected from their kids.
00:34:10.280 | Their kids have the headset on, playing on Xbox Live, and mom and dad are saying, "I
00:34:14.680 | want to play with them too."
00:34:16.400 | What would be some advice you have?
00:34:18.680 | Are there certain games that they would enjoy together?
00:34:20.600 | There's so many.
00:34:21.600 | There's so many, because there's games that I know is for me.
00:34:24.320 | And there's games that I love to play with my girlfriend.
00:34:27.240 | She's a casual gamer, but when she plays, she's like, "Let's focus.
00:34:30.320 | Let's do this."
00:34:31.320 | But at the same time, what happens if you have your family over?
00:34:36.160 | Play karaoke.
00:34:37.160 | There's a rock band.
00:34:38.160 | Everybody has an instrument.
00:34:39.160 | Piano, drums, guitar, bass, karaoke too.
00:34:44.400 | There's different games where everybody could play.
00:34:46.840 | Also, let's say a father, son, wants to get together and play the Lego games.
00:34:53.640 | Beautiful, beautiful, and it's so much fun.
00:34:57.600 | There's Marvel Lego.
00:34:59.560 | There's Star Wars.
00:35:00.560 | There's different type of games that it's perfect to play multiplayer and you will work
00:35:04.720 | together past bosses and all that stuff.
00:35:08.800 | Those are the games I truly, truly recommend to play with your family.
00:35:12.680 | Final question.
00:35:13.680 | I just finished a book called You Only Have to Be Right Once.
00:35:17.960 | In that book, it was talking about the guy who invented or who collaborated with others
00:35:23.720 | to build the virtual reality headset.
00:35:26.920 | Oculus.
00:35:27.920 | Oculus Prime.
00:35:28.920 | Yeah.
00:35:29.920 | Oculus.
00:35:30.920 | The VR.
00:35:31.920 | Oculus Rift.
00:35:32.920 | Yeah.
00:35:33.920 | Right?
00:35:34.920 | Oculus Rift.
00:35:35.920 | Isn't that the name of the VR?
00:35:36.920 | Yes.
00:35:37.920 | Have you had a chance to engage with that?
00:35:38.920 | No.
00:35:39.920 | My staff had and they love it.
00:35:40.920 | They love it.
00:35:41.920 | There's so many of those right now from different companies.
00:35:44.000 | There's Oculus, which Facebook purchased them.
00:35:46.480 | They started as a Kickstarter company.
00:35:48.000 | It's an amazing story.
00:35:49.000 | You see what I'm saying?
00:35:50.000 | I just heard the story.
00:35:51.000 | That was one of the things.
00:35:53.040 | I just finished that as we record this.
00:35:55.120 | It's the end of July.
00:35:56.120 | I just finished that book last week.
00:35:59.000 | That story stood out to me because it demonstrated what I see as the amazing potential future
00:36:06.800 | careers that are there.
00:36:07.800 | The story was, I can't remember if he was in a school or if he was educated at home.
00:36:14.360 | I think he was educated at home.
00:36:16.440 | He enjoyed video games and he enjoyed tinkering with things.
00:36:20.400 | He got interested in virtual reality.
00:36:22.280 | He started buying all these headsets and things on eBay from '80s and '90s and cobbling them
00:36:27.560 | together.
00:36:28.560 | Then he got engaged with a ... He also was participating in some message boards online
00:36:34.880 | sharing some of his ideas.
00:36:37.520 | He was part of a community.
00:36:39.160 | He was cobbling together hardware.
00:36:40.960 | He did a couple of Kickstarters, which funded some of the things.
00:36:45.700 | He got connected to somebody at a big video game company because of his involvement in
00:36:51.040 | a message board.
00:36:52.040 | He had sent over a prototype.
00:36:54.960 | These people were interacting.
00:36:56.680 | Here's this 19-year-old young man who is engaged with the leaders, the chief game designers
00:37:03.960 | at Sony and these different places like that.
00:37:07.800 | It just blows the old paradigm of build a resume and send your resume out after a college
00:37:13.120 | degree.
00:37:14.120 | It blows that out of the water.
00:37:15.120 | For people that are creators, there's no barrier between the head of games at Sony and that.
00:37:23.760 | Then, yeah, he wound up selling it to, I guess, Facebook for over a billion.
00:37:28.400 | -Why do you think Facebook bought that?
00:37:30.760 | It wasn't because of Only Games.
00:37:32.780 | They could use that as, "Hey, watch a movie.
00:37:37.680 | Have a video chat with your family.
00:37:40.040 | Go check out the house."
00:37:42.120 | Long distance communication.
00:37:43.960 | There's so many different reasons why they bought that.
00:37:46.120 | They see the potential of this, more than just gaming.
00:37:52.600 | I'm excited and curious to see because there's so many other companies doing it too.
00:37:56.440 | Valve, they're releasing their VR this holiday.
00:38:00.320 | Oculus, they're releasing theirs, I believe, sometime spring of next year.
00:38:06.040 | Sony, they have another one called Morpheus, which I believe is coming out 2016 or 2017.
00:38:15.160 | Microsoft, they have one called HoloLens, which is also pretty cool.
00:38:24.040 | Really, really cool.
00:38:25.040 | -It's exciting.
00:38:26.040 | -It's exciting.
00:38:27.440 | I'm telling you, one person changed the game, then everybody, "Okay, we got to make it better."
00:38:32.320 | I'm excited for that.
00:38:33.320 | Competition is good.
00:38:34.320 | -Well, Danny, I've loved hearing your story.
00:38:37.360 | I'm excited for your future.
00:38:40.240 | It's just exciting.
00:38:42.240 | Anytime I've seen you talk about games, I've just watched your eyes light up.
00:38:46.360 | -I get excited.
00:38:47.360 | -It's obvious.
00:38:48.360 | Your eyes light up, your whole body gets into it.
00:38:51.160 | I just think it's an amazing world that we live in where you can be involved in this
00:38:56.920 | as an industry.
00:38:57.920 | -We met at the meetup.
00:38:58.920 | -Podcasts on Florida meetup.
00:39:01.240 | When I mentioned that it was a video game podcast, people were like, "Really?
00:39:05.560 | A gamer?"
00:39:07.080 | But when I start talking about my story, how I started, and I started small and then eventually
00:39:14.800 | now we're big, huge, it's crazy.
00:39:18.720 | It doesn't matter what type of content it is.
00:39:20.720 | If you do it the right way, unique and different that gets people's attention, your product,
00:39:26.880 | your podcast, whatever it is, is going to get attention and get a lot of support.
00:39:30.440 | You could also start a business after that.
00:39:33.120 | So you never know.
00:39:34.120 | You never know what could happen.
00:39:35.120 | All I'm saying is be patient and just keep on working.
00:39:39.240 | -That's what I thought in your presentation, both as a compliment to you and also to make
00:39:44.280 | the point that you made in the presentation that you presented to our local group.
00:39:49.000 | You emphasized a couple of things that were very important.
00:39:51.320 | Number one, you ignored the get big quick.
00:39:55.400 | -You know where the...
00:39:56.400 | -Yeah, you ignored that nonsense.
00:39:58.560 | You ignored the get big quick mindset and you demonstrated it.
00:40:01.920 | It's been 10 years you've been doing this thing.
00:40:04.480 | Your show is a weekly show?
00:40:05.480 | -Weekly show.
00:40:06.480 | -Yeah, for 10 years you've been doing that.
00:40:08.040 | -And I mean we have breaks here and there, but this year we haven't had no break.
00:40:11.320 | And this has been the biggest year.
00:40:14.600 | Tonight I'm getting inducted to the Podcast Hall of Fame.
00:40:18.240 | I wasn't expecting that.
00:40:19.240 | When they told me the news, I was in shock because they put me with Adam Curry, Leo Laporte,
00:40:25.320 | Todd Cochran.
00:40:27.880 | It's crazy.
00:40:29.760 | So that's why I always tell people, "Look, I'm not nothing special.
00:40:34.880 | If I could do this, you guys could do the same thing too.
00:40:38.480 | Stop following trends.
00:40:41.160 | You start the trend.
00:40:42.160 | Be a leader."
00:40:45.360 | And we'll see what happens because once the doors open for one person, I feel that's going
00:40:50.040 | to help everybody.
00:40:52.280 | We got to contribute to make this space even more mainstream, more popular.
00:40:56.600 | Don't follow the ones that have been successful.
00:41:00.080 | Don't copy them.
00:41:02.040 | Why not do something?
00:41:03.600 | Be influenced by them.
00:41:04.720 | That's cool.
00:41:05.720 | But do something different.
00:41:07.320 | Make it better.
00:41:08.320 | Be better than me.
00:41:09.900 | Every time I do a panel or one of those speaking stuff, I always mention that to people.
00:41:15.040 | I want to be excited about it.
00:41:16.320 | I still feel like the same person from 2001 when I started the whole working, meeting
00:41:22.800 | people, super excited.
00:41:25.640 | So yeah, be better than me and make this thing exciting.
00:41:29.200 | When I see Mark Maron entering the President Obama, even if you don't agree with Obama
00:41:35.480 | or not, that is opening doors for a lot of things.
00:41:38.520 | Glenn Beck was going to be here for Podcast Movement.
00:41:42.400 | I'm not a fan of his, but I was like, "You know what?
00:41:44.040 | I'm going to go and see what he has to say about what he's been doing with this thing."
00:41:50.840 | So the more we see people contributing, doing things that's going to help everybody, the
00:41:55.640 | space is going to grow and we're going to get more listeners.
00:41:57.880 | So keep doing your thing.
00:41:59.520 | And the other thing is what shines through.
00:42:03.480 | Your number one loyalty is to your audience.
00:42:07.920 | That shines through in everything.
00:42:09.480 | More than anything.
00:42:10.480 | More than money.
00:42:11.480 | More than anything.
00:42:12.480 | Because look, money comes and goes.
00:42:13.480 | Your community is going to stick with you to the end.
00:42:16.640 | It's that simple.
00:42:17.960 | I built this organically.
00:42:20.160 | Our listeners, as a matter of fact, today I invited them.
00:42:24.160 | We're going to have a little meet up.
00:42:26.120 | Maybe like 10 to 15 people coming locally from Dallas, Fort Worth.
00:42:31.080 | And I want them to walk with me to the red carpet.
00:42:35.080 | And the reason why is because I got here because of them and I want them to feel that they're
00:42:41.400 | also part of our journey.
00:42:43.960 | So when I go on stage, I'm going to thank them 100%.
00:42:48.240 | You guys are the ones that inspired me to continue.
00:42:52.760 | And I love getting emails and voicemails from people, man.
00:42:55.600 | From all over the world.
00:42:57.440 | People in the military in Japan or a listener called us from Australia.
00:43:03.320 | He's like, "Look, I don't care how much I have to pay.
00:43:05.280 | I just want to be part of this show."
00:43:08.920 | Kids young and old.
00:43:09.920 | Even parents saying, "Look, I love the show.
00:43:12.240 | I love listening to the show with my kid because you guys don't curse and it's very entertaining."
00:43:18.080 | Little things like that makes me want to continue to do my thing.
00:43:22.640 | And yeah, I'm happy with the money that we've been getting.
00:43:25.120 | It's cool.
00:43:26.120 | But that to me is more powerful.
00:43:27.120 | It's special to me.
00:43:28.120 | So I'm not going to take away from what you said by saying anything more than thank you
00:43:33.640 | for coming on, Danny.
00:43:34.640 | But thanks a lot.
00:43:35.640 | I had a blast.
00:43:36.640 | This is a great conversation, man.
00:43:37.640 | High five.
00:43:40.880 | So now if anybody ever tells you that you can't make a living playing video games, you
00:43:45.280 | now have a podcast interview to send to them.
00:43:48.600 | Although I didn't ask Danny how much money he's making from the podcast and he didn't
00:43:54.440 | feel it necessary to share.
00:43:56.600 | But he is splitting whatever revenues there are of the show with a team of four.
00:44:00.080 | So recognize that.
00:44:01.080 | He is still working.
00:44:02.600 | But focus.
00:44:03.600 | Notice just what an awesome opportunity he had by simply pursuing something that he was
00:44:09.040 | interested in and then becoming involved.
00:44:11.400 | He got involved in the industry.
00:44:13.080 | He got involved in as a commentator.
00:44:16.440 | He got connected.
00:44:17.800 | And that's opened up some really incredible doors for him.
00:44:20.400 | It sounds to me like he's enjoyed every minute and he deserves the success.
00:44:24.960 | Notice 10 years of hard work to arrive where he's at now.
00:44:31.760 | But I believe his future will be bigger than his past.
00:44:34.560 | Use it as an example for you.
00:44:35.560 | Is there an industry that you are really into?
00:44:38.000 | Is there a game?
00:44:39.000 | Is there a community?
00:44:40.000 | If not, start one.
00:44:41.000 | Start a community.
00:44:42.000 | If there is a community, get it involved.
00:44:44.560 | Become a leader.
00:44:45.560 | Start the podcast.
00:44:46.560 | Start the blog.
00:44:47.560 | Start the YouTube channel.
00:44:48.560 | Go to the conference.
00:44:49.560 | Meet people in person.
00:44:50.560 | Start the local meetup group.
00:44:51.560 | Do something.
00:44:52.560 | Edit the industry magazine.
00:44:54.000 | Do something to get involved and you never know where things can turn out.
00:44:57.160 | Not everything has to be all about the money and there are some pretty cool options and
00:45:00.520 | things that can open up for you regardless of really what you're doing.
00:45:06.200 | Thank each and every one of you for listening today.
00:45:08.860 | Thank you especially to the patrons because of being able to count on your specific financial
00:45:15.120 | support that that's why I was able to even go to this conference and I thank you for
00:45:19.960 | that.
00:45:20.960 | If you're not a patron, consider becoming one.
00:45:23.960 | I would greatly appreciate it.
00:45:25.200 | You can support the show directly.
00:45:26.200 | Go to RadicalPersonalFinance.com/patron for all the details, all the bribes that I've
00:45:30.480 | got set up for you.
00:45:31.480 | RadicalPersonalFinance.com/patron.
00:45:32.480 | More interviews coming in the future.
00:45:35.800 | I did some in-depth financial interviews.
00:45:38.280 | I did some interesting career interviews.
00:45:40.000 | This one is kind of more of just a fun one.
00:45:42.640 | Talk about video games.
00:45:43.640 | Who doesn't want to talk about video games?
00:45:45.800 | I figure that's one of the massive aspects of audience I decided to start with the topic
00:45:52.960 | that I thought you all would enjoy listening.
00:45:54.600 | Be back with you soon.
00:45:55.600 | Thank you so much.
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