Q&A: Barak Rabinowitz, chief executive, Amuso

EGR: WHAT gave you the idea for Amuso, and how long did it take to get from that point to launch in September 2007?

BR: I was inspired by the success of TV game shows like The Weakest Link, and decided trivia was an ideal mainstream genre to extend skill games from a relatively niche market of 10 million players spending €50 a year to the 400 million people now consuming and sharing content on social media and networking sites. It took nine months to develop the business plan and three months to raise seed funding.

EGR: What was your biggest challenge along the way, and how was this solved?

BR: We actually started with a different genre of skill games ““ talent contests ““ eventually powering some of the biggest global formats, including the official Miss World Beauty Pageant, reaching 10 million viewers. The biggest challenge was taking the decision to put this format on hold, despite the promise, in order to focus on trivia, where we found much stronger conversions to cash play.

EGR: Who are Amuso’s main backers?

BR: Venture capital investment from Mangrove Capital Partners and Atlas Venture, and angel investment from Rabin Yaghoubi, former head of Google Strategic Partnerships.

EGR: How does Amuso’s basic revenue/profit model work?

BR: Similar to poker, users back themselves with small entry fees that fund a progressive jackpot for winners and a rake shared by Amuso and distribution partners.

EGR: Your registered user numbers are growing fast. What’s driving this?

BR: Growth is driven by B2B partnerships with leading media companies like MySpace, MTV, Associated Newspapers, all able to distribute our games because they are skill-based, not gambling, and willing to for a share of revenue, particularly given the editorial fit of trivia content with their user interests. We have also introduced a suite of viral features that are converting players into some of our best promoters, using real-time challenges on Twitter, AIM and Hotmail.

EGR: Would you partner with an egaming operator or do they not give you the access to audiences that media companies and social networks can offer?

BR: We are in advanced discussions with several egaming operators interested in leveraging some of our new TV quiz show formats to acquire new cash players at CPAs which can be as low as £10. That’s attractive in an environment that is now highly saturated with traditional gaming products and promotions. Most users these days at least have a Facebook account, and our viral features are aimed at tapping into their social graph remotely from any egaming site.

EGR: In the egaming space, casual and skill games have traditionally been used to recruit players to sports, poker and casino. Could cash trivia be the first standalone casual/skill gaming vertical?

BR: We believe cash trivia is where bingo was five years ago ““ on the brink of emerging as a new vertical in gaming but with even broader appeal and reach. Trivia formats can be adapted for sports, entertainment and general knowledge fans and legally distributed in the US. The technology and talent to produce live, P2P trivia on flash widgets for social network and media distribution was simply not available until now and the recent success of other social game products has really opened the current window of opportunity.

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