RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – He does not talk about money. Neither how much is his personal wealth, nor how much his company’s turnover is, much less what is the market cap, or market value, of this company, which no longer is a startup.
However, according to Forbes magazine, Máximo Cavazzani, 36 years old and CEO of Etermax, has a fortune of about US$500 million, making him one of the wealthiest and most successful young Argentine entrepreneurs.
He created and is at the head of one of the most successful tech companies in the country, the creator of the “tank” Preguntados and other global gaming successes.
Now, his company is facing a new challenge: it will invest US$10 million for developments in three new business lines. All reinvestment since Etermax has no investors, no venture capital funds.
All money from Cavazzani, who has a partner with whom he started the project 13 years ago, Simon Selva, and nothing else. About all that and also about how he sees the country and why he did not go to live abroad like other tech startup owners, Cavazzani talked to Infobae.
“We have been earning money for 12 years; we have never stopped doing it. I started alone, and today we are about 500,″ says “Max” to the insistence that he dimensioned his business.
“We are solid, and we grow consistently, something that few technology companies can say, even some with high valuations. In times of potential economic crisis, such as the current one, I think we can be a beacon in that sense: we don’t cut any projects; on the contrary, we keep hiring employees and reinvesting in new technology, all without the dependence on external capital that comes and goes, something that today is seen more than ever. The company remains closed to capital for the time being. I have Simon, my long-time partner; the capital is ours,” he added.
Preguntados is Etermax’s star franchise, its “cash cow”.
Etermax is present in 6 countries: Argentina, Uruguay, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia. Its Gaming division exceeded 800 million downloads, with more than 150 million annual users and games available in more than 34 languages.
Preguntados, its “cash cow”, according to its own creator, is the trivia franchise of worldwide reference, with a multiplatform entertainment proposal: it has more than 150 million annual active users (600 million downloads historically), is available in more than 180 countries and 34 languages.
What is Etermax today?
We are a company with more than 500 employees; we have a presence with programming in three countries and commercial centers in three others. Entertainment is in another cycle of innovation, and that’s where we are going: we are investing in blockchain gaming, metaverse, and interactive content.
How much are you going to invest?
It is US$10 million. We constantly reinvest everything, but for this, we need extra funds because they are one-off projects.
Is it an own investment?
Yes, we do it that way. We look for solid businesses that allow us to generate capital to reinvest in research and development. We believe in that: the freedom to be able to reinvest our own funds in new technologies gives us a competitive advantage and allows us to be first in the next iterations.
It’s the safest and most deterministic way I’ve found to grow, and it’s worked well for us. It’s easy to convince investors of long-term visions, but for day-to-day moves, it gets more complicated.
Maybe it is slower or less appealing from the rhetoric, but that freedom is fundamental to me. We took the path of building little by little and learning from our mistakes. I am not at all against going public or having external investment, but it is not the style I like the most. And what we did has paid off.
What is blockchain gaming?
Last year, the global financial world tried to get involved, there were some tests, but we are not yet inside the gaming companies.
There are many opportunities beyond the downturn that can be seen now because of the economic depression.
Blockchain is not only crypto and financial investments; it allows decentralizing decision-making and doing things that the old model does not allow.
For example, what can it be used for?
The key word is decentralization. In a game, when you buy something, you can’t sell it to a third party or make parallel markets; there are no collectibles. The item market within that game is centralized, as is the decision-making about where the game’s future development is going.
Today those aspects are in the hands of the company that creates it and not in the hands of the community that plays it. What if the rules have to be changed or other parameters must be followed according to the players’ tastes?
As ownership is decentralized and the economy of that game or league – let’s think beyond traditional games – grows increasingly. Who decides that a game is not developed anymore, for example? Those who play it should be able to do so.
Doesn’t that go against the very business of a company like Etermax?
Not necessarily. That’s the mentality before decentralization. Whoever builds the game is a contractor, but the community brings it to life. If the community has more power, the game will live longer and be more prevalent.
Wikipedia is partly that: the community has power, and the product lasts. Whoever makes it doesn’t have total control but is part of something much bigger and connected to the community.
And they have two more product lines that they’re going to put that investment into.
Yes, we will design our own metaverse for the other side of Web3, the new web that we’re talking about now. A game within the Oculus platform that, for now, I can not give more data.
They will be social games linked to knowledge and connection between people: our usual content, but in a different place—a virtual place, where people go, where people meet. We also have a third line of interactive content.
We see that there is a solid trend in consuming content in a multimedia way, and we will do it interactively with games. Again: I can’t tell you much, but at the end of the year we will be able to show it.
How did the pandemic impact the company?
It changed our plans and the way we work. We stopped going to one of the nicest offices in Buenos Aires. Today it is still open, but everyone works from wherever they want.
There was a lot of rethinking of the business, and it was a great challenge. People did not leave, and we learned to work remotely as a team.
The fraternity that we generated over time made us all wear the same shirt. We demonstrated the capacity for change that we always talked about. We came out stronger.
Is “Preguntados” still alive?
Sure, more alive than ever. Super alive: it is our core business. It is played worldwide, and in Argentina, it is very strong; it is always in the top 10 in the Apple Store, for example. It has had many spin-offs. It is our multiplatform franchise that, until this year, had its full interactive series on Netflix with a lot of repercussions. We’re on Alexa, Google Home, and Apple Watch. It is our cash cow.
How do you see Argentina?
We are going through a difficult time. With the little age I have, I went through several of these crises and got used to them. I am confident in the country and its potential. We have a great opportunity in the digital transformation; we can insert ourselves into the world with the knowledge economy.
Guys: study engineering and data science; the future is that way. It is employment, foreign exchange, and growth. I insist: it is not the best moment, but we have a great future.
Does Argentina have a solution, then?
Yes, of course. The results are not as expected, but the basis is there to transform ourselves. We always have an opportunity to change, and we never finish doing it. This time we have another one: there is a talent that we have to empower.
The knowledge economy is the way to transform people who today are a burden to the country. And that has nothing to do with social position or being a man or a woman. We can all do it: free public education is a great potential. If we learn to use that potential, no one can stop us.
Many of your colleagues went to live in other countries. Why did you stay?
I am in love with my country. I like my life, my home. I believe in the potential of the Argentine people. We are an incredible country beyond the substantial economic problems we have.
I also believe that those who left did it with a tear and that they are looking back to return today. These are circumstances. The freedom I was talking about allows us to do these things, to decide.
I am staying to do my part from inside, and those who left will have to do it wherever they are. Value can be generated from many places.
Do you think that those who left did it to pay less taxes?
I don’t know. It is complicated. Everyone has their own situation. If that’s what it was, it’s not a good argument. We entrepreneurs continuously look for the balance of the companies we worked so hard to create. I don’t judge.
What company do you want Etermax to be?
I’m aiming all my guns at the same place. I want Etermax to be a beacon company of the 21st century. An innovation company that cares about growing and understanding where technology and development possibilities are going.
Entertainment technology has to contribute more to human creativity and generate opportunities. It also brings people closer to knowledge and science.
We can innovate with technology and invest in Argentina and the region. We are doing it. I want to see Etermax ten times more successful than it is now.
With information from Infobae