Barry Steinglass

Dude Perfect raised $100M for global biz expansion. The deal is getting lots of buzz, but our team’s math signals challenges ahead. Let’s break it down… DEAL DETAILS • $100 - 300M growth capital investment • Led by Highmount Capital • Unclear if 100% invested upfront OR draw down of commitment over time • No previous capital raised USE OF FUNDS • Hire mgmt team to expand biz • More live experiences incl int’l tour, consumer products • Grow content formats, frequency, channels, global localization e.g. animation, TV, movies, streaming • Extend brand beyond 5 founders by building talent network • New HQ in Frisco, TX as prod facility and “family-friendly entertainment destination”: – Retail store, podcasts / gaming / fan UGC spaces, trick shot tower, DP museum, mini golf, restaurants – Original plans for 3-story, 30 acre facility est to cost $100M+, 2 yrs to build COMPANY OVERVIEW: Dude Perfect • Digital-native comedy and sports media brand • Faith-based mission: “We’re about giving back, spreading joy and glorifying Jesus Christ”  • Other YouTube franchises: “Stereotypes,” “Overtime”, “Bucket List”  • Media brand also incl books, mobile games, board games and toys, and merch / retail / food and beverage partnerships • 25 current team members PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS • 60M YouTube Followers, 17B views • Est 2024 revenue: $50M per DP • Est 2023 and 2022 revenue: $25M and $20M per WSJ  • Consumer product partnerships incl Nerf toy line, Columbia Sportswear • Partnered with A Parent Media co to launch a streaming service • ESPN “30 for 30” doc premiering at Dallas Int’l film festival • TV series on CMT in 2016, later aired on Nickelodeon • Alternate broadcasts for Amazon’s Thursday Night Football • 4 live nationwide tours as of 2023 ORIGIN STORY • Founded 2009 by 5 friends at Texas A&M • Cofounders = twins Coby Cotton and Cory Cotton, Tyler Toney, Cody Jones, Garrett Hilbert • Started as YT channel featuring trick shot videos INVESTOR OVERVIEW: Highmount Capital • Growth stage and middle mkt PE fund for tech, media, healthcare • Founded in 2023 by jason illian and David Hawkins • 4 team members on website + advisor • 3 team members have faith-based ties per bios • No other investments listed on website other than DP My takeaway... I really like and support the trend of increased investment into YouTubers and digital-native media brands. But as I wrote about in my 2024 State of Creator x Media capital markets reports (will link them below), investment must match market and opportunity size. To ensure good ROI, and to set good precedent for future investment into our space. The DP bet is exciting, but could be overly optimistic based on our prelim math. My colleague Michael Booth's post breaks the math down (link below). More analysis to come in my Friday newsletter. —- I’m the founder of RockWater Industries. We do m&a and strategy advisory for media, agencies, and creator economy. My dm’s are open. #media #agency #creatoreconomy

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So much of what Rick Beato articulates in this video is equally true of other forms of media besides music — video, photography, books, software, and more. I’m not sure what the solution is other than individually finding the energy and discipline to invest in “radical attention”, dedicating yourself to truly investing in and paying attention to a limited set of great works. I’ve done it myself and can attest that it’s certainly worth the effort. https://lnkd.in/gXAHDeVV #attention #consumption #art

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Like many others, I read about Microsoft reportedly laying off an entire major DE&I team yesterday. Whether true or not, it's generally been very sad to see more and more major companies quietly scale down their DE&I efforts in the past couple of years.   However, what's been even more disappointing to see is that there are still so many people out there, even in high positions at major companies, who do not understand what DE&I is about. And I am not talking about Satya Nadella or Microsoft specifically here, but about the commentary that I saw on social media about diversity, equity, and inclusion, after the Microsoft news broke.   My feeds were filled with people saying things like   🗣 "Great, let's bring back meritocracy and hire based on qualifications and merit instead of skin color and gender." 🗣 "Finally we can return to hiring the best and most qualified people for jobs instead of trying to fill quotas." 🗣 "Good, workers should have always been hired based on their skills, experience and knowledge, not because of what they look like."   Not in a very long time have I rolled my eyes so hard and sighed so deep, than when reading this ignorant and uneducated crap. But instead of spending time trying to go and comment on every post individually why this is wrong, let me spell it out collectively here to those who still struggle to understand:   DE&I is not 👏 about 👏 ignoring 👏 meritocracy 👏.   Now, read that again.   Diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, when done correctly, ensure that every single individual, regardless of their skin color, gender, sexual orientation, or religion is considered equally based on their merit, and that nobody is overlooked because of identity bias.   DE&I is what permits true meritocracy.   DE&I does not mean quota hires. It does not mean chucking off the talented white guy aside to favor the black lady to get the job, just "because". It means that every person is put on an equal standing and offered the same opportunities. Because that is not happening in most companies today, no matter how hard we want to think it does.   Most companies still need DE&I teams to make sure they are not letting bias sway their decision making, and I hope that if we are indeed laying off teams focused on these efforts, we're at least trying to come up with ways to educate ourselves on what DE&I truly is.

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I've been researching the history and underlying technology of Generative AI, and it's history goes back to the 1960s. The Perceptron was an early form of the neural network that today's Generative AI is built on. Give this a watch if you are curious about what it is! (Warning: it's math)

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Ruminations on Mythos: The term is not "cinematic universe". Cinematic universe means one is making shared IP films. Mythos is the correct term. Myth·os - (in literature) "a traditional or recurrent narrative theme or plot structure". A mythos is a fictional universe for stories by one writer or many that has a consistency of characters, setting, events, style, and world. The Cthulhu Mythos is one of the best known examples. 78 writers have contributed to HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos over the past 96 years (1928-2024). While HP Lovecraft was alive, a circle of writers contributed to the Cthulhu Mythos including: August Derleth, RE Howard, Fritz Leiber, Robert Bloch, Frank Belknap Long, Donald Wandrei, and Clark Ashton Smith. Many more added to the mythos after his death. They wrote stories in the shared universe of the Cthulhu Mythos. That is a mythos. Or one can just give a name to the universe that one creates. JRR Tolkien - Middle Earth, Terry Brooks - Shannara, CS Lewis - Narnia, George RR Martin - The Song of Fire and Ice, Fritz Leiber - Nehwon, RE Howard - The Hyborian Age, Larry Niven - Known Space Universe. Writers do this all the time, alone or together. Now if game creatives build the consistency of a mythos around their work, like with Halo, Resident Evil, and others, then the pitch process to publishers or consumers is different. One understands the basics of Assassin's Creed, Dead Space, Mass Effect, or Dragon Age. One knows what to expect not just for sequels but for different games around different characters in different genres in the same world setting. Fallout is more mythos than just IP. By contrast, Mario is more an IP than a mythos. Interestingly Mario as an IP has done more genre shifts than is often done with an IP that is a Mythos. The Legend of Zelda is more mythos than Mario, but in one genre. Mario is many genres in one world setting or IP. ---- VideoGameChronicle: "Dave the Diver’s creator wants to create a ‘Dave cinematic universe’ of games. Jaeho Hwang reveals future games will explore different characters and genres" “Actually, I want to expand Dave the Diver IP itself,” Hwang said, when asked what the future holds for Mintrocket. “I think that’s every director’s dream, since we have a relatable character. “But actually, we didn’t go really deep into the personal stories in Dave the Diver, because we wanted to keep the game very casual. “So as a director, besides the story DLC that we’re working on right now, I also want to make separate games about each character to show how they met, what they did before coming to the Blue Hole. “In that sense, the games’ genres can be different. Maybe one day, if we start to make a Dave’s backstory game, we could make Dave another profession. Hwang said he wants to flesh out the Dave the Diver story by telling the backstories of both its protagonist, and main side characters." VideoGameChronicle: https://lnkd.in/gUs-d23W #gameindustry #gamedev #worldbuilding

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Happy thanksgiving #Cardano. Catalyst Fund13 votes are open, amazing proposals 👏 Cardano needs a good game 🕹️ Consider voting for #Herd: https://lnkd.in/eU9-2Ccm. I vouch for them. They’ll deliver an amazing game at the intersection of music, anime & RPG. #Herd concept is neat: gaming 🕹️ x music 🎸. It will attract collectors and creative players by proposing a novel immersive and interactive gameplay. Choose 1 out of 7 characters offering different music genres, equip them with abilities and battle against AI & players. The game mixes anime aesthetics like Akira with fantasy & futuristic RPG worlds like Shadowrun. Welcome to the world of #Fraktar, where your music is your magic 🎷 🪄 Battle against the oppressive Corporation or join the Resistance to liberate creativity. In #Herd, your in-game assets are truly yours (NFT). Powered by #Cardano and Midnight, the game focuses on fair profit sharing among: - artists, who provide the character & sound packs and - players, who contribute to the quality of the game. No intermediary. Thanks to the #Herd DAO, the community defines the roadmap and which new features or artists to fund from the DAO treasury. The DAO will also REPAY UP TO 5 TIMES the funds received from Catalyst to the #Cardano treasury. Unique! This helps sustain the ecosystem 🖖 Game development is known to be very expensive. Don’t get turned off by the ADA 500k they are requesting. We spent 7 digits on the MVP and the full IP belongs to the Herd DAO. Again the DAO will repay up to 5x the funding. Give this project the chance it deserves The team put solid partnerships in place with: - NMKR (Patrick Tobler) for their NFT minting and marketplace - Paima Studio (Sebastien Guillemot) for their smart contracts development - RulemakersDAO to set their DAO up - projectNEWM (Florian Pittini) for distribution, and - hoskytoken for <announcement to come 😉> Join the #Herd community today on Discord: https://lnkd.in/efBQEkwe. Be part of a movement that empowers artists, rewards players, and champions decentralization. Contribute to creating a vibrant, self-sustaining ecosystem 🚀

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🌉 San Francisco's Surprising Comeback: From 'Doom Loop' to Renaissance? Recent data suggests that San Francisco, once trapped in a pandemic-induced 'doom loop', is showing strong signs of recovery. Here's what's changing: 📈 Positive Trends: - Population Growth: Net gains over the past two years, with domestic in-migration positive for the first time since 2012. - Housing Market: Median home sale prices up 1.2% YoY to $1,427,500 in June. - Job Growth: The Bay Area added 7,400 jobs between January and June. Downtown Revival: Foot traffic beyond typical work hours has recovered to over 90% of pre-pandemic levels. - Crime Reduction: Property crime down 32% and violent crime down 14% in Q1 2024 compared to Q1 2023. - AI Boom: The city is positioning itself as a hub for the AI revolution. 🚧 Ongoing Challenges: - High office vacancy rates - Homelessness and drug crisis - Lagging tourism and business travel 🔑 Key Initiatives: - "Vacant to Vibrant" program offering free rent to businesses in empty storefronts - Increased police patrols and encampment sweeping - Crackdown on open-air drug dealing 💡 Expert Insight: "The rising AI empire is giving the city a new edge. Funding, talents, and culture related to the AI revolution will help the city turn the corner." - Lu Chen, Senior Economist at Moody's Analytics 🤔 What's Your Take? Are these positive trends sustainable, or is it too early to declare a comeback? How can other cities learn from San Francisco's recovery strategies? What role will AI play in reshaping urban economies, particularly in tech hubs? https://lnkd.in/gCnPCBRU

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Is there anything more liberating than cancelling video streaming services? Let's check it out >> Somewhere along the way we diverged from the "good timeline" for video streaming tech. Video streaming was initially thought to free us from the grip of cable packages, sitting through endless commercials for laundry detergent, and reduce our spend while narrowing our viewing to only the content that mattered to us. Now? We sit in front of a tv paying for 6-7 streaming services, all of which pump out terabytes of throwaway content and have slowly and quietly raised their prices at or above the cost that we used to pay for a single cable subscription. Where is the future where I can just pay for Lakers games, college football on saturdays, and old reruns of pawnstars? Who is building this?

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It's important to evaluate the performance of your audio/video applications periodically as the applications and the world around them changes. Here's how Zoom worked with TestDevLab to do just that, and see what they found! 💡

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JPEG image and MPEG video drives the daily infrastructure of business from streaming international conference calls to advertising product images over the internet but have you ever wondered how it actually works underneath the hood? The ideas are so advanced it's almost alien technology. Read on to find out how it actually works.

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📰 Is Today’s Media Missing the Mark? 📰 Ever feel like big stories barely break through, only making waves on social media? In The Didi and Lital Show, we dive into why that’s happening and why it matters. Andrew Keen’s The Cult of the Amateur (2007) warned us about the “democratization” of media, where quality journalism is sacrificed for online noise, letting amateurs replace trained reporters. Keen predicted we’d be okay with “giving up paper dollars for digital pennies,” which has radically shifted what counts as news. Take Alaska Daily, a show that captures this issue. It follows a journalist uncovering critical, complex stories and fighting for truth against declining resources, echoing the legacies of real investigations like Spotlight, where the Boston Globe team revealed decades of abuse within the Catholic Church, or Watergate, where Washington Post reporters uncovered corruption at the highest level, leading to Nixon’s resignation. Investigative journalism like this changed society and demonstrated the power of real reporting. Today, though, significant stories slip through the cracks. For example, Lital hadn’t heard about the Karen Read case—the most followed Massachusetts story in the past two years. The absence of local reporting leaves us vulnerable, impacting issues in schools, roads, unions, and beyond. Join us as we explore why what works for tech might not work for journalism. 📲💡 Come and listen to this episode of the Didi and Lital Show about the Cult of the Amateur and the death of Journalism #CultOfTheAmateur #InvestigativeJournalism #Spotlight #Watergate #AlaskaDaily #KarenRead #DidiAndLitalShow #MediaImpact https://lnkd.in/eACUqH4v

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Meet Todd R LeBlanc, a seasoned Lab Manager with over three decades of experience in the intricate world of space laboratories. On the latest episode of "Marketer of the Day," we dive into Todd's unique journey and explore the profound insights captured in his book, "Right Now, The Book of Odd." Key Insights: - Understanding Time and DNA: Todd challenges our preconceived notions, emphasizing that time is a personal construct and DNA is more than just a blueprint-- it's a dynamic embodiment of life. - Power of Questions: Encouraging curiosity, Todd believes in questioning not only the world's big mysteries but also our realities, suggesting that the key to progress lies in constantly seeking deeper understanding. - Building Tomorrow Today: Todd inspires us to recognize our power in shaping the future, advocating for collaboration and shared knowledge as the foundational tools for human advancement. "Knowledge is our foundation of reality, but love is its purpose." Todd's perspective reminds us that, while information is essential, our true objective lies in fostering human connections and understanding. Consider how this perspective could shape your approach. How can you inspire curiosity and collaboration within your team or industry? Let Todd's insights motivate you to turn today's questions into tomorrow's breakthroughs.

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In the next chapter of “NVIDIA Eats the World,” this is a pretty big deal. AAA games are video games like “Assassins Creed” or “Call of Duty” that cost hundreds of millions of dollars to develop and make billions for the studios. GeForce Now is a cloud gaming service. Just like your cloud at work, instead of buying a $2000 gaming PC you subscribe to a service ($10 a month) that uses a GPU in a data center to render the graphics and stream them to you as a video. The challenge is there is a slight input lag as your controller goes across the internet but this is improving. With the Meta Quest, you can play 2D games on a giant TV 12 feet wide that hovers in front of your face. I bought the Quest 3S on Black Friday for $300 on a whim. “If I don’t like it I’ll just eBay it.” You can pry this thing off my cold dead face. First thing I tried was “Star Wars Squadrons.” Omg. It’s 1995 and I’m actually inside a Tie Fighter. Next was “No Man’s Sky” where I can actually walk around the planet and blow things up. Ok this is a game changer. Then I watched a Dua Lipa concert from the front row. I think she could hear me screaming like a little girl. Consumers have balked at the price point for $700 for the Oculus (now Meta) or $3500 for the Apple Vision Pro, but for an “entry level” headset cheaper than a PS5, this is impressive tech. The fans are silent so it doesn’t break the illusion and at about 4K pixels per eye and 60+ fps, you’re “there.” I actually think Zuck is right on this one. The Metaverse is going to be a thing. While gaming studios might drive hardware purchases, well, I know we’re on LinkedIn but the convergence of cloud “gaming,” affordable lightweight high resolution headsets, and AI is going to drive a new market in adult entertainment. A consumer will be able to use their voice to create “anything” with a verbal prompt. You can render a photorealistic scene of your choosing, change the properties of the characters, define the context of the situation…. Well, Futurama S03E15 warned us about this: “DON’T DATE ROBOTS!!!” Unlike Futurama, this scenario is not going to happen in the year 3000 it’s going to happen in the year 2026. They might even send you the headset and include it in your subscription so you just keep the meter running and live in this computer generated reality. This is called the book “Ready Player One.” (Or you won’t have to worry about leaving the house ever again which is the movie, “Surrogates.”)

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UMG is suing TuneCore for $500M and the all-you-can-eat music distro model for $20/year may have a problem. They accuse them and parent company Believe of "industrial-scale copyright infringement". Why? Well, for distributing sped-up tracks & altered versions under intentionally misspelled artist names: "Kendrick Laamar" "Arriana Gramde" "Justin Biber" "Llady Gaga" You get the point. The lawsuit contends they're well aware of the fraud. And here's the thing... Distributors like Tunecore & Distrokid have long been the cheap & easy way for anyone to release music. - $20/year - All you can release - No questions asked It's where those 100s of millions of songs come from. But the industry is cracking down on this model. - Installing a minimum stream threshold - Fraud penalties for distributors - Now, $500m lawsuits How can these platforms trust random uploaders? Perhaps the days of any anonymous person releasing music onto any Spotify artist page without verification are close to over. ***** More in this week's Where Music's Going: https://lnkd.in/eiTjwdUi

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“Here's the rub: algorithms are just statistically-delivered answers. They can't bring together disparate ideas to create something truly new.” “The paradox of humanity is its randomness. Or is it the randomness of humanity that's paradoxical? Either way, it's not something you can program. Using AI to draft your company's North Star is like navigating by a neon sign. It's bright and flashy, but it won't illuminate where you need to go. Patterns simply create similar patterns. And in the world of business, being similar is just another word for invisible.” Read the post and comments for more: #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Tech #Technology #GenerativeAi #GeAi #Business #CEOs #Creators #BusinessManagement #Management

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