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Aug 5, 2018 · 21m · top-founders

1107 Activision Blizzard CEO: ICO's are Just Like Selling Digital Swords in Mortal Combat!

Howard Marks · 12m spoken Nathan Latka · 6m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this interview, StartEngine co-founder and former Activision executive Howard Marks discusses his strategies for acquiring and scaling distressed intellectual properties, the parallels between early video game economies and modern tokenized crowdfunding, and key lessons in navigating major technological platform shifts.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 32.4% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 3.3 Guest teaching 5.0 Guest disagreement 1.8 Nathan pushing back 2.8
05100:0010:0020:001:29–8:22 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Connecting Gaming Economies to Cryptocurrencies and ICOs Nathan probes into the financial details of the 1991 Activision buyout, clarifying debt and valuation numbers. Howard explains the mechanics of the distressed transaction, the shift from cartridges to CD-ROMs, and how early in-game virtual items predated modern cryptocurrencies.8:22–10:49 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Acquiring Acclaim Games Out of Bankruptcy Liquidation Howard immediately corrects Nathan's mistaken assumption that Disney bought Activision, explaining it was Acclaim Games. Howard then recounts winning Acclaim's Chapter 7 liquidation auction for $100k after its auditors resigned.10:49–16:49 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Analyzing the Potential of Revitalizing Distressed IP into VR Nathan proposes his investment thesis of buying distressed board game IPs to port into VR, which Howard validates by comparing it to MechWarrior. Nathan then pushes Howard on how cryptocurrency actually integrates into StartEngine if offerings are strictly securitized.16:49–20:12 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 The Famous Five and Mentorship Lessons from Steve Jobs Standard Famous Five wrap-up where Howard discusses reading about financial bubbles and shares a formative 1984 lesson from Steve Jobs regarding platform shifts and noun-verb user interface design.1:29–8:22 · Guest teaching 5/10 Connecting Gaming Economies to Cryptocurrencies and ICOs Nathan probes into the financial details of the 1991 Activision buyout, clarifying debt and valuation numbers. Howard explains the mechanics of the distressed transaction, the shift from cartridges to CD-ROMs, and how early in-game virtual items predated modern cryptocurrencies.8:22–10:49 · Guest teaching 6/10 Acquiring Acclaim Games Out of Bankruptcy Liquidation Howard immediately corrects Nathan's mistaken assumption that Disney bought Activision, explaining it was Acclaim Games. Howard then recounts winning Acclaim's Chapter 7 liquidation auction for $100k after its auditors resigned.10:49–16:49 · Guest teaching 6/10 Analyzing the Potential of Revitalizing Distressed IP into VR Nathan proposes his investment thesis of buying distressed board game IPs to port into VR, which Howard validates by comparing it to MechWarrior. Nathan then pushes Howard on how cryptocurrency actually integrates into StartEngine if offerings are strictly securitized.16:49–20:12 · Guest teaching 3/10 The Famous Five and Mentorship Lessons from Steve Jobs Standard Famous Five wrap-up where Howard discusses reading about financial bubbles and shares a formative 1984 lesson from Steve Jobs regarding platform shifts and noun-verb user interface design.1:29–8:22 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Connecting Gaming Economies to Cryptocurrencies and ICOs Nathan probes into the financial details of the 1991 Activision buyout, clarifying debt and valuation numbers. Howard explains the mechanics of the distressed transaction, the shift from cartridges to CD-ROMs, and how early in-game virtual items predated modern cryptocurrencies.8:22–10:49 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Acquiring Acclaim Games Out of Bankruptcy Liquidation Howard immediately corrects Nathan's mistaken assumption that Disney bought Activision, explaining it was Acclaim Games. Howard then recounts winning Acclaim's Chapter 7 liquidation auction for $100k after its auditors resigned.10:49–16:49 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Analyzing the Potential of Revitalizing Distressed IP into VR Nathan proposes his investment thesis of buying distressed board game IPs to port into VR, which Howard validates by comparing it to MechWarrior. Nathan then pushes Howard on how cryptocurrency actually integrates into StartEngine if offerings are strictly securitized.16:49–20:12 · Guest disagreement 1/10 The Famous Five and Mentorship Lessons from Steve Jobs Standard Famous Five wrap-up where Howard discusses reading about financial bubbles and shares a formative 1984 lesson from Steve Jobs regarding platform shifts and noun-verb user interface design.1:29–8:22 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Connecting Gaming Economies to Cryptocurrencies and ICOs Nathan probes into the financial details of the 1991 Activision buyout, clarifying debt and valuation numbers. Howard explains the mechanics of the distressed transaction, the shift from cartridges to CD-ROMs, and how early in-game virtual items predated modern cryptocurrencies.8:22–10:49 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Acquiring Acclaim Games Out of Bankruptcy Liquidation Howard immediately corrects Nathan's mistaken assumption that Disney bought Activision, explaining it was Acclaim Games. Howard then recounts winning Acclaim's Chapter 7 liquidation auction for $100k after its auditors resigned.10:49–16:49 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Analyzing the Potential of Revitalizing Distressed IP into VR Nathan proposes his investment thesis of buying distressed board game IPs to port into VR, which Howard validates by comparing it to MechWarrior. Nathan then pushes Howard on how cryptocurrency actually integrates into StartEngine if offerings are strictly securitized.16:49–20:12 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 The Famous Five and Mentorship Lessons from Steve Jobs Standard Famous Five wrap-up where Howard discusses reading about financial bubbles and shares a formative 1984 lesson from Steve Jobs regarding platform shifts and noun-verb user interface design.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 77.3% · guest 22.7%0:00 · Nathan 77.3% · guest 22.7%3:00 · Nathan 17.1% · guest 82.9%3:00 · Nathan 17.1% · guest 82.9%6:00 · Nathan 28.2% · guest 71.8%6:00 · Nathan 28.2% · guest 71.8%9:00 · Nathan 26.6% · guest 73.4%9:00 · Nathan 26.6% · guest 73.4%12:00 · Nathan 19.4% · guest 80.6%12:00 · Nathan 19.4% · guest 80.6%15:00 · Nathan 21% · guest 79%15:00 · Nathan 21% · guest 79%18:00 · Nathan 36.2% · guest 63.8%18:00 · Nathan 36.2% · guest 63.8%21:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 0%21:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 8:45 Refuting the premise of Disney owning Activision

Howard quickly interrupts and dismisses Nathan's premise that Disney monetizes Activision's legacy brands, clarifying that Activision remains an independent giant and Acclaim was the acquired company.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 15:42 Challenging how crypto fits into equity crowdfunding

Nathan refuses to take the buzzword at face value, directly questioning how crypto actually operates within the platform if the investments are standard securitized equity rather than utility tokens.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 14:30 Explaining unregulated utility tokens vs regulated securities

Howard breaks down the distinction between toy utility tokens sold on speculative secondary markets and SEC-compliant securitized token offerings that protect investors from fraud.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 10:49 Proposing a distressed IP roll-up strategy into VR

Nathan demonstrates strategic domain knowledge by presenting a concrete playbook to acquire legacy board game assets and revitalize them inside emerging virtual reality ecosystems.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Connecting Gaming Economies to Cryptocurrencies and ICOs 4513 Nathan probes into the financial details of the 1991 Activision buyout, clarifying debt and valuation numbers. Howard explains the mechanics of the distressed transaction, the shift from cartridges to CD-ROMs, and how early in-game virtual items predated modern cryptocurrencies.
Acquiring Acclaim Games Out of Bankruptcy Liquidation 2632 Howard immediately corrects Nathan's mistaken assumption that Disney bought Activision, explaining it was Acclaim Games. Howard then recounts winning Acclaim's Chapter 7 liquidation auction for $100k after its auditors resigned.
Analyzing the Potential of Revitalizing Distressed IP into VR 5625 Nathan proposes his investment thesis of buying distressed board game IPs to port into VR, which Howard validates by comparing it to MechWarrior. Nathan then pushes Howard on how cryptocurrency actually integrates into StartEngine if offerings are strictly securitized.
The Famous Five and Mentorship Lessons from Steve Jobs 2311 Standard Famous Five wrap-up where Howard discusses reading about financial bubbles and shares a formative 1984 lesson from Steve Jobs regarding platform shifts and noun-verb user interface design.

Statements from this episode (11)

Insight
Gaming invented cryptocurrency mechanics long before blockchain existed
“If anybody who's listening understands cryptocurrency blockchain, and all of this technology, it all existed in the game industry before cryptocurrency became popular.”
Howard Marks Aug 5, 2018 ▶ 2:32
Disclosure
Howard Marks bought 30% of Activision for just $400,000 in 1991
“So we bought 30% of the company from one investor was a venture capitalist. We was like, you know what? I'm out. So we paid that, I think, 400 grand.”
Howard Marks Aug 5, 2018 ▶ 4:01
Assertion Contradicted
Activision had $40M in revenue and $60M in losses in 1991
“They had about 60, they had about forty million In revenue with sixty million of losses. It's called negative, negative revenue, which means the cost of making those cartridges at that time cost them more than what they sold it for.”
Howard Marks Aug 5, 2018 ▶ 5:16
Insight
The video game industry invented the modern SaaS subscription model
“By the way, the entire game industry is now a SaaS model, as you probably know, software as a service, because people are now buying either a subscription or they're buying a pay-as-you-go Which is really where the game industry invented it, and the SaaS indus…”
Howard Marks Aug 5, 2018 ▶ 8:01
Opinion
Activision is nearly as big as Disney and could become bigger
“No, Activision is independent. It is nearly as big as Disney, or it could become bigger than Disney, but it's Acclaim, my other game company.”
Howard Marks Aug 5, 2018 ▶ 8:46
Assertion Supported
Howard Marks offered just $100,000 to buy Acclaim out of bankruptcy
“I offered a 100,000 dollars to buy the whole company and people were laughing at me. The trustee laughed at me, everybody. It turns out.”
Howard Marks Aug 5, 2018 ▶ 9:23
Assertion Contradicted
Acclaim went bankrupt because their auditor fired them
“They couldn't file their public statements or publicly traded company. They, their auditor fired them and they couldn't file anymore.”
Howard Marks Aug 5, 2018 ▶ 10:20
Assertion Supported
CD-ROMs cost 50 cents to manufacture versus $30 for cartridges
“And it cost 50 cents to make the CD, where the cartridge cost 20, 30 dollars.”
Howard Marks Aug 5, 2018 ▶ 11:47
Opinion
Howard Marks claims VCs only invest in white males from Stanford
“VCs typically only invest in white males from Stanford.”
Howard Marks Aug 5, 2018 ▶ 12:59
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Howard Marks predicted SaaS models would inevitably transform into ICOs
“You know, for them, the SaaS business is probably the only way a software model is going to work, but it's going to transform itself into the ICO model, which is the blockchain, because it's the logical progression, you know, internet, one point O internet, tw…”
Howard Marks Aug 5, 2018 ▶ 17:55
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Steve Jobs tried to acquire Howard Marks's startup when he was 20
“Well, I met Steve Jobs when I was 20 years old at Apple, because he wanted to buy my company.”
Howard Marks Aug 5, 2018 ▶ 19:08
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