Hard-core gamers are a different breed. So, it makes some sense that they need their own social network. Duxter, which recently relocated from Los Angeles to Seattle, is hoping to be that place where gamers of all stripes hang out. Even better, users of Duxter earn rewards — known as Duckets — that they can spend on games, accessories and other merchandise.
CEO Adam Lieb, a graduate of the University of Washington and Pepperdine University’s law school, says he’s thrilled to be back in Seattle.
“I think the decision to move to Seattle was a perfect one,” says the 25-year-old entrepreneur. “The tech community has been great thus far, and the talent pool is phenomenal. I also feel that people really want to build companies here, not just get rich quick on a trendy app.”
Here’s more from our chat with Lieb.
Explain what you do so our parents can understand it: “Duxter is the LinkedIn for gamers. Facebook is where we put our personal life, LinkedIn is for our professional life, and Duxter is for our gamerlife.”
Inspiration hit us when: “I had an extraordinarily difficult time gaining “Facebook Likes” for my previous business (a game network). Inspiration hit when I realized gamers didn’t want to be gamers on Facebook, they didn’t have a place on the internet they could call home, so we built it.
VC, Angel or Bootstrap: “Angel at this point. We bootstrapped for as long as possible, but the opportunity was so large that we felt outside funds would give us the fuel to attack the opportunity before someone else did.”
Our ‘secret sauce’ is: “A highly engaged userbase, differentiated by user experience, and held together through powerful network effects.”
The smartest move we’ve made so far: “Finding the most talented engineers with domain experience to build our product.”
The biggest mistake we’ve made so far: “Not putting enough focus on infrastructure at the beginning. We were too adherent to lean methodologies, which racked us up some technical debt early on. We are still working it off.”
Would you rather have Gates, Jobs, Zuckerberg or Bezos in your corner: “Jobs hands down. People are scared of zombies.”
Our world domination strategy starts when: “We set out to build this platform. From day one we were aware that the only way to attack this opportunity is to go all in, and try to be the biggest and best at everything we do. When we are done, Duxter will be the glue that connects gamers to their gamerlife.”
Rivals should fear us because: “We know what gamers want, better than anyone in the world, and more importantly we can deliver it.”
We are truly unique because: “We connect all gamers, with all games, and all developers. Everything is open, everything is connected. We are about tearing down fences and enabling exploration.”
The biggest hurdle we’ve overcome is: “The space time continuum. Working with a remote team spread out across the US, Canada, and the UK has made collaboration more challenging. Luckily we live in an age of technology and caffeine.”
What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to other entrepreneurs just starting out: “Make sure you build something worth building. If you’re not passionate about solving your particular problem, nobody else you talk to will be either.”
