How We Win: Unique Perspectives on Building Teams
A Hunt Club Series: How We Win interviews prominent figures and entrepreneurs on how they lead teams to achieve incredible things and, ultimately, win.
feat. Josh Fabian, Founder & CEO of Metafy
Press Start For This CEO's Journey
Co-Founder. Chief Executive Officer. And… a top 20 Clash Royale player in the world? You can’t make up these kinds of unique credentials. Meet the man behind the eclectic resume, Josh Fabian. As one of the top players in the world in the popular mobile game, Fabian began regularly live-streaming and posting videos to YouTube. Soon, players began requesting 1-on-1 coaching sessions with him. “I did it for $100 an hour,” recalls Fabian.
Thus, Metafy was born.
Through Metafy, skilled gamers can earn a living offering their expertise to players eager to learn from the best. The online eSports coaching platform, which connects amateur video gamers with top players for 1-on-1 coaching, is revolutionizing the online playing field and was most recently valued at $105 million. But the road to a $105 million valuation isn’t without its share of battles.
New Funding, Fast Hiring, Wrong Choices:
A Cautionary Tale
When Fabian first started Metafy in 2020, the company was poised to make a name for itself in a massively growing industry and user base. It was in 2020 that experts forecasted the online gaming user base would exceed 1.3 billion players by 2026, with the mobile gaming market alone expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 13%. For Fabian, this presented a burst-open opportunity and clear path forward.
With a team of only seven at the time, Metafy successfully completed its seed round. Later, as the team grew, they raised $30 million. “In all the ways that alcohol is liquid courage, tens of millions of dollars is actual courage,” Fabian shares. It was all clear skies ahead for the Metafy team — until it wasn’t.
Like many high-growth organizations that suddenly find themselves flush with cash, the Metafy team went from a small bunch, to what Fabian describes as “a ridiculous, are-you-kidding-me amount of people and headcount.” During this unprecedented growth phase, Metafy hired for a critical executive leadership role, working with a talent partner that wasn’t always aligned on exactly who and what the team needed to grow in a way that made sense for them.
“Build in public. Show the world your ugly bits. It’ll get you further than pretending like you’ve got it all figured out. You don’t. None of us do."
In the earliest stages of building Metafy, the first key hire we made was… A brilliant developer from Romania named Edward Zakkor. He took on damn near every challenge we could muster. We found him on Upwork before we had raised anything but here we are four years later, and he's still here blowing us away. Just goes to show you that if you find the right person, despite how unexpectedly you might have found them, it can be impactful beyond your wildest imagination.”
The most important qualities we look for in a leadership hire are…Those that come with a 'founder mindset'. I look for people who will treat the role as if they're building their own company, with passion and a willingness to pick up a shovel. If you’ve already hired them, you should feel that impact in weeks, not months.
Every business experiences a “bad hire,” but the biggest lesson I’ve taken away from this is… Bad hires are going to happen, and not everyone who starts the journey with you will make it to the end of that journey. Trust your gut. If you feel like it's not a good fit, the hire probably does too. In the early days, you've gotta find that punk rock, change-the-world kind of energy. It’s all you’ve got to your name, after all.
The gaming industry is constantly evolving, and Metafy is adapting by…
Being a force for much of that change. For countless individuals, we now represent 70%+ of their overall income. We’re building in public, and I go obnoxiously deep on this topic in my latest public investor letter.
A pivotal moment in Metafy’s growth that tested our team’s resilience was…
Performatively failing for an entire year. The truth about startups is you're navigating to that solution blind, and you've gotta walk into a few trees to get there. Progress is not linear, and that alone will test you.
The biggest challenge I’ve faced as an entrepreneur in building a team was…
Transcending the gravitational pull of my past while harnessing its power to fuel my vision of the future. That, or having to wake up earlier for meetings.
Looking ahead, my vision for Metafy’s team in the next two years is… Staying lean. I believe, now more than ever, that it’s worth paying through the nose for a small but insane team. You only need a few maniacs to change culture.
The best piece of advice I’ve learned and want to pass on to an entrepreneur… In the earliest days, your business is an extension of you. Lean into that. Nobody likes a corporation. Put yourself into the brand. It’ll be just as weird as you think. People will love it more than you’d believe.
I celebrate the big wins by… working more, and the small wins by… working more. I’m working on getting a new therapist.
My definition of “winning” is…
Creating real, lasting change. And crushing my enemies.