A Laser-Focus On Gaming With Eric Minnick Of Versus VC

In this highly digital and interconnected world, a VC focused on gaming, sports tech, and FinTech has a good chance to thrive and grow rapidly. Scott Kelly interviews Eric Minnick of Versus VC, whose fund is focused on these particular industries and startups. He discusses why keeping a high level of user engagement is needed in these spaces, which are further elevated by artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR). Eric also shares how he plans to handle the exciting growth potential of gaming and his goals to transform Versus VC into a brand-name fund.

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A Laser-Focus On Gaming With Eric Minnick Of Versus VC

Scott, we had Eric Minnick on from Versus VC. Versus Ventures is broad in the computer science startup and the areas that they tackle, from gaming to sports tech to FinTech. There’s a crossover between all of their investments, which I found interesting.

The reality is that he understands that there’s a correlation between sports tech, gaming tech, and FinTech because there are transactions and payments that take place. You have to understand the entire technology stack and ecosystem within these related industries.

Eric has a background in software development, university research, and Angel investing. I got a little broad brush look at all of that, too. He understands that connection.

He spent some time at a high level of sports. He understands as a participant and a player.

That’s so true. Versus VC is raising its first fund, which is $10 million, with plans to expand to a larger Fund II. I found that ambitious that you are going to go immediately into round two. Is this common?

A lot of the time, you’ll find that when you’re a new manager, you start with a smaller fund, build your concept, and then build a track record. In the scheme of things, a $10 million fund isn’t a lot of money, but it allows you the opportunity to play with real money as opposed to monopoly money and make investments. You move away from theory and make some practical decisions.

A lot of times, what I’ve found in the founders of these funds is that they start with a smaller fund, hone down their thesis, hone down their due diligence process, hone down their deal flow process, and then use that to move on to the next fund. In many cases, too, they may use the second fund as a follow-on investment for companies they may invest in their first fund.

Let’s hear all about their investment thesis. Let’s hear about this first fund, and we’ll come back and talk a little bit about our takeaways on the other side.

I’m excited to bring in Eric Minnick on the show. Eric, welcome.

I am excited to be here.

Eric Minnick Of Versus VC

Before we get into the fund, maybe share a little bit about your background, whether it be personal or professional, before you launched your fund?

Sure. In my formative years, I was a big wrestler. That ended up getting me to Stanford. I was on the wrestling team there at Stanford. I also studied computer science. Once I graduated and started my career, I’ve been around startups the whole time. I started my career as a software developer at a venture-backed FinTech firm, and then left there.

I got my MBA and then started my own business, commercializing some university research, building software to help small to medium-sized manufacturers, improve the reprogrammability of their automation, and hopefully be able to install more automated systems to increase their efficiency and things like that.

As that wound down, I started doing some Angel investing and spun that up into a family office that I ran for about 7 or 8 years called Andover Ventures. A few years ago, I decided to launch Versus Ventures, which is taking the thesis that I honed at Andover, opening it up to a broader capital base, and hopefully, writing larger checks and having the opportunity to grow from a one-man shop of a family office to more institutionalized firm that has a larger team.

Versus VC ‘s Investment Thesis

Why don’t you jump into the thesis? Share a bit about your investment thesis, where you come in, where you invest, how you invest, and the like.

I invest pre-seed and seed in gaming, sports tech, FinTech, and the intersection thereof. There’s a lot of, in my opinion, crossover between those sectors, whether it be some of the gamification principles and viral loops that consumer FinTech apps have taken from gaming, or whether it be the infusion of Web3 or adtech into both the sports tech as well as the gaming spheres.

All of them, in a lot of ways, are dependent upon engagement and user engagement. I spend a lot of time looking at different user engagement tools in gaming, FinTech, and then as well as in sports tech. I spend a lot of time looking at ticketing and things like that as well. Typically, I’m involved in the 1st or 2nd institutional round that a company will raise. My check is, more often than not, a co-investment with a larger fund.

How I work with the founders, or what my involvement is, is very dependent on what the founder wants. I have experience running a business. I have experience on the tech side. I’ve seen a couple of mergers and integrations of those kinds of companies and things like that. For some portfolio companies, that means I’ve helped with things such as granular equity compensation plans and things like that. Sometimes, it’s more on the tech stack algorithm reviews and things like that.

Why did you choose sports tech or gaming tech? Why those particular industries and focus?

I’m very passion-driven in terms of where I invest. These are the sectors and industries that I was reading about, being as involved in as I could on a non-professional basis. When I had the opportunity, when I was coming up with Andover and what that would be, and ultimately, transitioning that to Versus, those were the sectors that I thought I wanted to spend the most time in.

Fortunately, for me, they’re also sectors that are growing at a significant rate, and they have a significant capital basis to begin with. There can be venture-scale businesses built within those industries. That’s how I ended up there. It’s fun to talk to the founders and the people who are shaping the future of those industries. It’s fun to be involved in the small capacity that I am.

Why Choose Versus VC Now

That leads to my next question. Why your fund, and why now? You touched on where the industry is going. Gaming and eSports had a bit of a rollercoaster ride. Sports, from a franchise standpoint, are blowing up. Maybe share about why your fund, why these industries, and why now is the best time.

For a lot of these industries, 21 was a high watermark of valuations and things like that. We’ve seen a much-needed reset in terms of that. Why now, in part, is it is a great time to be investing in those businesses. One, there are great founders who are building great businesses at reasonable valuations. Two, there’s a real talent opportunity in terms of some of the larger game studios having downsized a little bit. There is great talent both on the founding side as well as on the early team side. There’s an opportunity for great projects to be built within these different sectors.

Another reason is that there are a lot of trends that are pointing to these continuing to grow significantly. You look at some of the trends in applications of AI that are helping improve developments and also keeping costs down. You look at the opportunities that are coming up with AR and VR, those are extremely interesting, potentially as well. The mobile market continues to grow. There are always new users in there as well.

On the sports tech side, there’s so much data. From a personal health perspective and from a fitness tech side, I have more data about how I sleep, what I eat, and all of that. When I was competing. I wish I had some of this data many years ago. The question is like, “What do I do with all this?” There are a lot of opportunities to be built around that from the fitness side and connect consumers with people who are in the know and let them proliferate their base. The same applies to professional athletes as well.

On the team side, those valuations are continuing to grow, and those teams seem bigger than ever. On the flip side, they’re not collecting that much more data now than they did many years ago. They still don’t know how I go, spend, and consume at the arena as a fan. There’s this great opportunity set to build loyalty programs and build the data set that the teams are collecting to then further monetize and engage with fans like me or the millions of people in the US and across the world who are huge fans of different sporting teams. Those are part of the reason.

On the FinTech side, a lot of the things I talked about apply as well. The AI component, especially on the FinTech side, is the logical outcome of the big data boom of the last couple of years. We have all this data. We’ve built all these models on top of it being able to self-sustain itself a little bit, and then be more of an application area where artificial intelligence can help founders and users in a way that it couldn’t before.

VR and AR is an interesting application and business as well, whether it be eCommerce, virtual shopping, or things like that, or whether it be an extension of the work from home where you can be a little bit more engaged and have an avatar or something like that where you feel a little bit more immersed in work the work environment without leaving the comforts of your home.

Versus VC’s Success Stories

Let’s talk about the portfolio. You’ve been making investments in this space for a while. Do a shout-out to some of the companies that are doing great. Are there any success stories you want to share within the portfolio?

Yeah. I feel great about where the Versus portfolio is. We have seventeen active portfolio companies. The growth has been great. We had Muus Collective, which launched their fashion game. We had Dwarven Realms, which launched the first of their platform of games, and it has performed well. We had Every.io, which is an AI accounting and compliance tool for small to medium-sized businesses. They raised a significant Series A from RedPoint Ventures. It has been fun to see their growth.

We have companies like The College Sports Company, which is partnering with a number of well-known athletic departments and helping them build additional revenue streams and additional media platforms. I had a lot of fun this 2025. I invested in Matthew Berry’s Fantasy Life business. Part of that acquired the Guillotine Leagues. I was in a Guillotine League with a bunch of other investors and Matthew himself. It was probably the most fun I’ve had in a fantasy league in a long time. Those are a small portion of what’s in the portfolio, but I feel great about where we’re going. We have a lot of traction within the portfolio. I feel good.

When you made these investments in your portfolio, was there a compelling reason that you invested in these companies versus the hundreds that you see on a yearly basis?

Yes. Ultimately, the first thing that gets me excited about a business is the founder. I’m investing before there are customers or sometimes before there’s a product. What I’m looking at is, “Is this someone who can build this? Does this person make sense in this industry? Why did they have a unique edge? Why are they going to be able to build this?”

That’s a fun part for me of assessing the teams, what they’re building, and why they make sense for what they’re building. Ultimately, the answer to that is the differentiator between them and the other companies that I didn’t invest in is the team and the comfort level I have around them, being able to build what they’ve said they’re going to build. That’s part of what gets me so excited about where we’re going.

Versus VC’s Ideal LPs

From the fun side, tell me about your LPs. How did your LPs come to you? What are you looking for in an LP? Cash is king, but what other attributes make up your LPs?

Most of my LPs are high net worth individuals, so far. They’re excited about the industries that I’m building in. They’re also excited to talk about the different portfolio companies, why they’re fun, and things like that. Some of what drives potential LPs to me is that I do invest in fun industries, so there are dinner conversations. That never hurts.

What am I looking for? I love having other founders or people who have been through a little bit of this in there with me from value add, having conversations with them as I look at the company’s perspective, but also them understanding how the business works and what goes into it. Unfortunately, not every company that I invest in is going to be successful.

That’s the nature of the industry. People who understand that coming in is something that is important to me. I like to chat with my LPs. I like to leverage them. If there’s something that I have a question about or I’m looking at a company that I think is similar to something they’ve done before, I get their opinion. People who are excited about that are something I look for as well.

What’s Next For Versus VC

Tell me. What do you look forward to happening in the future for Versus? What’s next?

Finish raising Fund I, first off.

Share a little bit back about Fund I and where you’re in the process.

The goal is to raise $10 million. We’re about halfway there in both fundraising and actively investing. Hopefully, in the next six-ish months, we’ll be done fundraising. We’ll go through the investment period, and then we’ll be on to Fund II. The goal for Fund II is to be bigger, hopefully $25 million-plus, and bring in some additional people as part of that as well, whether it be another partner, some principals, associates, and things like that.

The goal, ultimately, is to continue to grow Versus into a fund that can live beyond me. I’m still pretty young, so hopefully, that’s for a long time. I want to grow it into a brand name fund that is in these industries for a long time and continues to help founders realize their dreams through capital and the value that we can add.

Anything else you want to share?

This has been an interesting and fun journey. It’s been eye-opening, some of the differences between a family fund and running an institutional grade fund, and some of the differences and some of the mechanisms I’ve had to put in place, and things like that. It’s been an interesting journey, and I don’t want it to end anytime soon. It’s been great. These are industries that I’m passionate about. I love talking with founders and meeting with people within the industry. It’s been a great journey so far, and hopefully, it’s the beginning of growing something more substantial.

Get In Touch With Versus VC

Where can they learn more, either as a potential LP or a potential founder?

VersusVC.com is the website. There’s an opportunity there to look at all the portfolio companies that we have. You can click through and find information about them. There’s more information about me on there as well. There’s also a Contact form. There’s one person on the team, so that comes directly to me. You can check me out on LinkedIn. I’m @EBMinnick on X. If you want to see a bunch of Eagles and Phillies in college wrestling retweets, that is a good place to find me. Those are the places that you can come and look. Reach out to me, and I’d be happy to chat.

I think I know the answer to this final question. Chiefs or Eagles?

Go Birds.

Fly Eagles, fly. Thanks for joining us. If you love this episode, please subscribe. We’ll be posting this out soon. I look forward to having you. Good luck to you.

Thank you.

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Episode Wrap-up And Closing Words

Scott, I thought that the investment focus on user engagement tools was an interesting thing. He’s so right, especially if you’re in that sports and gaming side of things. If you don’t have active users, you don’t have a platform.

Quite frankly, you don’t have a business because the reason why these platforms exist is to engage users. If you’re looking at one of the paramount things that have to take place, it is user engagement because they don’t buy things and don’t make in-game purchases. They don’t share it until they’re engaged.

There was such a previous focus, maybe a few years ago, on user acquisition in general. Now, let’s make sure they’re active users.

It has changed from a method of getting quantity to getting quality. You could brag about how many Instagram followers, how many downloads, or how many subscribers you have, but if they’re not doing anything, they are probably more of a burden than a benefit.

I thought that it was interesting that he thinks that this is such a good time in the marketplace. Not everybody, but some people are a lot more skeptical about it. He is saying that he thinks that the availability of talent is a big deal, and having your pick and your choices of that. Trends that are going on in AR and VR have gotten very mature as well, and there are more reasonable valuations. He’s right that that’s a good market mix.

AI is going to play in a lot of different areas. We’ve had interviews where AI is helping determine what healthcare is going to be like or what medicine is going to be like. AI is going to play into the industries that Eric is in because it provides efficient use of capital. Companies can scale without headcount or as much headcount. Eric understands that and is taking advantage of that.

Being a brand-name fund is his goal. That’s what he said. He wants to be a brand-name fund. I don’t know. There might be some benefit to being under the radar.

That’s probably true. Being stealthy has some advantages. From Eric’s standpoint, and honestly, a lot of the managers we’re going to discuss, they’re going to be able to get in front of the brand names before they become brand names. You’ll find that a lot of times with these larger funds, they may be investing in the brand names, but they’re investing in them at a much later stage where, quite frankly, all the alpha and all the return has evaporated, for the most part. Eric and these other emerging managers understand, “If we’re going to be successful, we have to get in the brand names before they become brand names, and then we have to be proactive in making them brand names.”

Sports, fitness, and some of these areas to invest in are a little more exciting tech or more fun tech. That’s not a term, but my term, maybe. That makes it a little bit easier, though, to go and talk about and get visibility for the ventures in your fund.

It’s easier to explain what the business is if you are providing something in eSports, sports tech, or fitness tech. It’s not a large reach to communicate what that is versus some biomechanical technology.

You’ve been in this gaming tech side of things for a long time. What are your thoughts on the industry and the outlook in the market?

It’s an interesting phase. It had a good run. The dynamics of the growth were more on quantity of people versus quality of the engagement and monetization. That is beginning to change. You’re seeing continual overlap between gaming, gambling, entertainment, and sports. It’s not going anywhere, but like a lot of industries, you get that big surge.

In the ‘90s, I was in the middle of Silicon Valley during all these dot-coms. Honestly, you could put .com on a light bulb and make money. By the end of that decade, most of them were at zero. The ones that had something had something and did something with it. People forget that despite Amazon being a multitrillion-dollar company, at some point towards the end of the ‘90s, it was a single-digit stock price. Amazon’s doing everything, but Amazon started selling books. They had the largest warehouse of books in the history of books.

You could go back to your Amazon account, as long as you still have the same account. I happen to have the same. I changed my email over time. I’ve been an Amazon customer since 1997, when I bought my first book there that year. If I look at ‘98, because that was my first year using it, and I look at what I spent in the year, that’s probably what I spend in a week now.

My girlfriend is on a first-name basis with Amazon delivery.

That happens to some of us. My daughters always say, “Mom got it on Amazon.” This is to build, though, that kind of traction where you get to that level where a company becomes the go-to place to game, entertain, or whatever that is. You have to hit that engagement level, and you have to hit that active user level and focus. It took too long. That’s my personal opinion. It took a little too long in the sports tech space to hit that model.

One thing that was interesting is that when I met Eric at Versus VC, I realized that one of his portfolio companies was versus the company that I had helped raise their initial round of capital. They are a company generating tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and have raised multiple rounds at much higher valuations. If there was proof that they understood a trend before it became a trend versus the VC understood that versus the portfolio company.

As a founder, you have to look for someone who is going to go beyond the hype and help you get to that next stage, get to the user engagement level, and get the funds that are needed to get to that next step, too. You can only do so much without the funds coming in.

Two things. You know this in the podcast universe. There are millions of apps on the respective app stores that are there with nothing going on. The reality is you can build a car, but you still have to have the gas and the driver.

That’s right. Versus VC and Eric Minnick are on a path to do this. If you are on a path to do this and you want to reach out to us, check out EmergingManagersPodcast.com. Come find Scott and me on social media. Connect with us and let us know that you’d like to be the next guest here on the show.

Thank you.

Important Links

• Versus Ventures
• Eric Minnick on LinkedIn
• Eric Minnick on X
• Every.io