The Chris Voss Show - The Chris Voss Show Podcast – John Vitti, CEO of VersusGame

Episode Date: December 29, 2021

John Vitti, CEO of VersusGame Versusgame.com

You wanted the best. You've got the best podcast, the hottest podcast in the world. The Chris Voss Show, the preeminent podcast with guests so smart you may experience serious brain bleed. Get ready, get ready, strap yourself in. Keep your hands, arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times. Because you're about to go on a monster education roller coaster with your brain now here's your host chris voss hi folks chris voss here from the chris voss show.com the chris voss show.com hey we're coming here a little after christmas if you had a good Christmas, I hope you did. I hope you're staying safe out there. Make sure you wear your mask.

Stay away from the latest variant of protocol, whatever's going on. But stay safe, be safe, and, yeah, wear your mask and be good. And hopefully you have a safe New Year's Eve. You're going to be seeing us at the CES show. We have a huge plan out for just an amazing set of booths and different things we'll see at the CES show. Be sure to watch next week, the 5th through the 8th, I believe is when we're broadcasting, and we'll be bringing you live data from the CS show. It's going to be freaking awesome. In the meantime, go to youtube.com, 4chesschrisfoss. You can see this version

of our podcast and all of the versions of our podcasts on youtube.com. Hit the bell notification button. Go to goodreads.com, 4 says chris fossey everything we're reading and reviewing go see the uh crazy amount of groups we have on facebook linkedin twitter instagram all those places the cool kids are playing i think even tiktok as well today we have an amazing guest on the show he's gonna be talking about his really cool app this uh might be the new hot app for 2021. So we take a look at it. His name is John Vitti, and he is an entrepreneur and CEO of Versus Game. You can take and download this baby and play with it. And we'll get talking about why this is really cool. It's an entertainment prediction-based gaming app that puts trending topics about celebrities, pop culture, sports, entertainment, food, and more

head-to-head in a classic this versus that competition. After successfully launching and selling three companies within the consumer space, John's entrepreneurial drive led him to his latest venture versus game. He's worked with celebrities, entertainers, and influencers including DJ Khalid. I'm not sure if I have that pronounced correctly. I'm a Metallica fan. What can I say? Don't judge me. The Weeknd, Fat Joe,

Amanda Cerny, Scooter Braun, Sway House, Noah Beck, and Dixie Demi Lill. Since its launch in 2019, Versus Game has grown significantly with over $17 million in cash and prizes to more than 9.1 million players. And I'm just getting on there now. Welcome to the show, John. How are you? Chris, good. Thank you for having me. And

before we get started, I wish I had a voice like yours. Oh, thank you. I'm so jealous of people, the voices that sound like you, the radio voice. It's great. Some of us have what's called radio face, and to steal a joke from someone else and a voice for print, I think a better bachelor is who we should give that credit to. Anyway, but no, yeah, I've got the voice. I don't know.

God blessed me with one talent in life, and that's about it. So welcome to the show. This is pretty cool. Give us your plug so we can find you on the interwebs. Sure. So it's versus game. We're a mobile website versus game.com or any browser. You can download us in the app store as well. And you can find us on versus game on Instagram. There you go. There you go. So did I butcher any of those names? Clearly I'm an old butt rocker as the girls usually refer to it. I'm Cinderella, Metallica, Anthrax.

No, that's cool. One day we'll work with some of those, but you got them all right. We're lucky enough to work with some really cool influencers and celebrities around different genres of music or entertainment. I remember the first time there was a song that came on and I was like, I said to somebody, I said, what do you listen to? And they go, The Weeknd. And I go, no, like, what are you listening to? And they go, The Weeknd.

I'm like, I don't want to know what you're doing. I want to know what you're listening to. And that's how that went. Yeah, I'm just not in the hip crowd, but at least mine. Neither am I. That makes two of us. I don't know. But good for them.

I know what DJ Khalid looks like. I see him all the time on the thing. He's awesome. He looks like he's having a really good time. And he has the ladies. Living the life. He's not even working out, so I'm jealous. So tell us about Versus Game.

What is it and what does it do? So Versus Game, it's a prediction game where you get paid and rewarded if you're right. So we're letting people predict the outcome of culture. And that means different things to everybody. Whatever is trending and going on in the universe, we are a reflection of that, a mirror of that. And people can come on and play those games. And a game is literally just a question about some future event. And they can play them for fun and for free,

win cool prizes, cash prizes, and play against friends, brands, and celebrities. Now they can create their own games as well. And I'm seeing some people on here. I think, oh, Barstool. I think these are... So would you call this like a TikTok with voting or Instagram's real voting maybe?

It's kind of like that. It's like a TikTok meets a voting where you get paid or TikTok meets a a game, or TikTok meets Robinhood or Coinbase, depending on what you're into. Now, you basically can vote either or. Here's a – I'm not going to put that one up. Let's see. Here's a – let's see if we can get this on the screen here. Let me coordinate my talent. I don't know if that's going to come in light well.

There you go. So you can choose between one or other. Now, what do you win and how do you win? Cause I'm seeing there's a monetary thing in the bottom right hand corner with my, yeah. So what happens is it's play to earn and real money gaming. So you go in and you buy coins just like you would for Fortnite or whatever

game you're into. And now these coins are in your wallet on versus game. And you use them on a prediction if and when you want to. So let's say one of our official partners like Billboard, or I think you had David Dobrik up there asking a question. Which song would be higher up on the charts? Drake versus Kanye. I guess I should say Mariah Carey since it's Christmas.

She's the queen of Christmas. Will it be number one by Friday, right? Whatever. And then you pick one side. It's a binary thing. So you pick side A, you put a dollar worth of coins in there and the machine goes out and finds your match, just like Tinder.

But in this scenario, your match is your opponent. So it finds me, I'm on the other side and I pick the other side. And then we match up one-on-one. There's no odds. There's no pool. There's no concept of house. It's just me and you. And then if you pick correctly, then you win your dollar back plus

my dollar minus our transaction fee. And then you can play and cash out and buy real stuff with that. Okay. So when I press the vote button, I can vote for free or I can put some coin up for it. It's almost like a little bit like betting. It's not betting, but I know what you mean.

It's a, it's real money, skill-based head to head contest. Okay. It's kind of like that company, but yeah, it's really working with what do you know? We're really rewarding people for their knowledge this

really appeals to me because i've always been a betting person and i'm not not like as in the gambling thing but it's an entrepreneurial sense yeah like i look at things and i look at patterns and look at trends and and i have real operational awareness to them and so i i try and see where okay where does this point take us to that point? And as a CEO of companies, you're constantly looking for that vision. You're looking for how does this moment affect so many different other patterns? And I love patterns and trends and stuff like that. It's kind of how my brain works and some sort of weird functionality. So I love this because I've always sat around with my friends. We were talking about the show about differences between iPhones and Androids. And so

I've always been with my friends trying to figure out, you know, which is the best or which is going this way, which is going that way, which is upward trending, which is downward trending, which is in, which is out. I feel like I should be running the fan page on Cosmopolitan or something. I'm saying if you're playing versus game now. Yeah, I should be on the versus game. There you go.

There you go. You nailed it. We consume content all day long. It should be on the versus game. There you go. There you go. So you nailed it. All we consume content all day long. Then we actually form these opinions and predictions off of those trends patterns. It's that reptilian primal part of our brain. We can't stop. It's fun. When was the last time you were listening to your favorite podcast or the squid game show or new song?

You're like, I love this song. It's going to be a huge hit. And you actually made money off that. We're the ones going down these rabbit holes and using all these products and Ubers. Why are we getting a piece of this too? Yeah, that's always been my problem. I'm always predicting stuff and then it takes off

and I'm like, God, man, I should have made some money off that. Yeah, you can't. Not everyone can enjoy Wall Street. Not everyone can. It's too late to get into the Goog that. Yeah, you can't. Not everyone can enjoy Wall Street. Not everyone can. It's too late for it to get into the Googles. Plus the share prices. Yeah, it's too late. It's too heavy.

So this is pretty cool. You guys have a lot of stuff. And this launched in 2019, huh? Yeah. Wow, man. I really missed the boat. I really missed the boat, but it looks like it's rocking, man. Oh, it's just on time, brother.

I'm seeing a lot of influencers that I know from other channels on here. There's some crypto things. I bet that's something people have to bet on. Oh, man. So the biggest categories we have are two buckets, crypto and stock, and then the other is music entertainment. Really? Yeah.

I saw somebody there doing some things on what's her name went right up my way it's a young lady who's really who's like top of the charts all the time i was gonna say shania twain but that like billy eilish music billy eilish is yeah she her and who's the other one who plays like acoustic guitar all the time and stuff she writes about her exes that that screw over anyway i've I've seen something else. Taylor Swift. Yeah, that was it. I saw some things about Taylor Swift.

Here's somebody posting about Mr. Beast, Ghislaine Maxwell, what's going to happen with that. And I see this a lot. Oh, the Raiders make the playoffs this year. I can guarantee no. I'm going to bet a billion dollars on that because that will come through. I'm a Raiders fan, so you know where that thing is going. Taylor Swift, there's one I signed. Drake, Travis Scott.

It's something for everybody, right? There you go. Now people can actually go on there and ask their own questions. So it's not just from us. It's just whatever you're into, you'll find something on there for you. And you guys have paid out seven million dollars one so far according to your website uh more than that now we're probably in the teens now wow yeah wow so what's the most i can win off of one most i can get off of one post that i do is

am i betting like everybody or is it just one one-on-one or how does it work? Yeah. So this is the important piece. So what's really important for us is to lower the risk for everybody and say, Hey, we're trying to put real money in real people's pockets, not just the elite and the people that already have money. Cause that's already, that setup is already there for people. What about everyone else? So for us, it's all about lowering the risk and which means we have a prefix menu, like a restaurant where it's zero to $100 max. That's all you can really play with. So you can't come in and think you're a boss and throw down thousands of dollars. It's really just small money for heavy consumers, for normal people. So you could win a little less than $200 and you could put in $100 max.

Wow. Because once you start putting in, if you want to be a boss and throw down thousands of dollars, what happens is you create influence like Wall Street. You create a sharky ecosystem like sports betting. So for us, we really want to just be fair and fun for everybody. And I don't care how much money you have. I just care what- You guys partnered up with Maxim too, I see here,

to give away a million dollars in prediction contests. Yeah, Maxim, UFC, Billboard, launching soon with some really big companies this year. Yeah, I used to be friends with Ron Rice, and I had my own bikini team in Utah like his. And we used to throw parties with Maxim at Sundance, which is coming up, actually, and Sundance in Utah and Vegas. And, yeah, I'd love to tell those stories someday, but I can't. The pictures are in a safe somewhere. But yeah, that's really cool that you guys have all that going on. Lots of different media surrounding it. This looks like a lot of fun. This is probably the hot new trend, especially with people that are stuck in wintertime. That seems to be when people have the most time to go into this. Yeah. I think that just people consume all the time and they're always saying,

oh, I bet this is going to happen. I bet that's going to happen. And it ends there, but why not actually take it a step further and make some money off that? That's what we're trying to do. I think there's two things. There's that. And then also I think wall street's old school, like it's cool, but old school. But the problem is my bank account is attached to the free market, right? Elon Musk texts something, everyone clenches their butthole, loses their shirt, and goes crazy. But people were still making money on those same things like Dogecoin or whatever on Versus game because they didn't own the stock or the securities. They owned the potential future event.

So we're trying to democratize that and say, hey, I want my bank account to be attached to my brain, not to other people's brains. There you go. Plus, there's a lot of manipulation in the stock market. You've got bear buyers that just come in and just wreck a stock just so they can buy on the dip, make money off the thing. There's a lot of manipulation. It's always extraordinary.

Yeah. That's a game and it's very set up. Yeah, there's a lot of ways to manipulate that game. It's not fair in my opinion, but that's what you accept when you go into it. You guys are getting content creators from YouTubers and Instagrammers that are always looking to monetize their platforms?

Yeah, absolutely. We're getting more and more podcasters coming on. Tim Dillon just got on. He's done a few games when he's hilarious. His podcast is really... So yeah, it's all about just bringing on good quality people that have fun content that's engaging. And those people

make a bunch of money. So all the Tim Dillons and losers like me can go on there and everyone in between can go on there and ask questions, share with their friends, and they get money. I want people to play their game. So we have some people winning millions of dollars just by asking questions on social, on YouTube.

And people are always looking for better monetization. I've been a YouTuber for, what, 12 years in the partner program. And our checks used to be, like, really fat. And now they're not so much anymore. And it's just the way they work the algorithms and stuff. And, you know i'm not a i'm not a teen girl doing makeup so it's hard to compete these days although i could be there's still time from what i understand there's always there's plenty of opportunity for you to see some russian surgery people but to know this story sure one yes i think ads are antiquated as well by the. And I think there's a new revenue stream that we can pump in because who loves ads?

The funny story, though, is I have a place in SF and I Airbnb it out. And somebody booked it for two weeks straight. And I come in to see at the end of it, the cleanup, they're gone. And there was cartons, like huge boxes full of cartons of liquid collagen. I'm like, what is this? Like tons of boxes. And I go in the rooms. It looks like a murder scene. There's blood and human, like

the substance everywhere. So I call my buddy who's a cop. He's like, oh yeah, they were having illegal surgeries there. And I'm like, this is disgusting. Oh wow. I would just like to say for the record, I was not in that vicinity at any time that the dates that happened. Yeah. Yeah, no, if you've got to get surgery.

It sounds like when I go to Vegas and get rooms at the Blanche. Yeah, why in San Francisco? I don't get it. Yeah, to go to Vegas for that sort of thing. I always get the car with the big trunk, too. That's always important in a shovel. Back a lot. Vegas. I'm just so looking forward to that. trunk, too. That's always important. Vegas.

I'm just so looking forward to that. I'm going to do... I just applied to be a poster. I think I'm going to post some stuff on Will Pete Davidson stay with Kim or will King get her back? I don't know. Something like that. I think it's really funny what Pete Davidson

is doing. I saw a really funny meme the other day. It was, be good to your girl or else Pete Davidson. It's true. Pete's the man. Dude, the guy's killing it. Good for him, man. I mean, yeah.

Anything to twist the knife in old Cain West. I'm not a big fan. I'm sure he's a good guy to somebody. I don't know, himself maybe. I don't know. He put out a Bible. Maybe he'll post some stuff on the Bible. But anyway, yeah, this is really fun what else have we touched on about the app that you tice people want to go i think it's a fun place to to test your knowledge to make

friends to make money and to actually post your own content that you think is cool and important out there give yourself a voice go make some money off of with your knowledge so all those times your mom was yelling you lower the music or stop playing those video games. You have all that, shut that TV off. Now you have all that knowledge. You can make money off of your favorite TV. There you go.

That's the best. So that's the best thing ever, man, right there. A lot of people do this on Facebook. I get in a lot of arguments with my friends on Facebook and somebody opposed, Hey,

I think this is where this is going or this is trending or this is whatever. And I don't get any money from that when I'm arguing with them on Facebook. Now I can go on your app and argue with people and get paid. Exactly. Yeah. Hundreds of thousands of dollars. We had one guy make $625,000 in two and a half months.

All right. I got to go. No joke. Yeah. That sounds like a freaking deal, man. Anything more we want to touch on the app and people go download it? No, just come check us out and follow us on Instagram as well at Versus Game and download the app and have fun and play. There you go.

I like it. It's kind of I have a bad habit that I'm always trying to break going on TikTok. And I'm just like, I'm going to watch one, two videos and I'm going to sleep. And then, yeah, the sun comes up in the morning. But this is funner because I can actually think about stuff more rather than just watch stupidity place online. I'm one of those car wrecks sort of people, so I like that. So, John,

give us the plugs where people can go download those on the internet and find out more about who you are and what you do. Yeah, absolutely. So we have a desktop site, a mobile site. Just open up your mobile phone, type in Versus Game. We're in the app stores. You can download it. You can check us on Instagram at Versus Game. I think we have Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok as well under Versus Game. So come say hello. There you go. And my profile is under Chris Voss. So come

follow me over there and see what I do. I'll probably post something about Pete Davidson. Who will Pete Davidson be with next or something? I don't know. I'll figure something out. That's the only hip I know is Pete Davidson. That's the only thing I'm hip about. That's what it looks like. I get it. The guy's killing it in Hollywood. Here he was almost kicked off SNL

and now he's just the rager. Thanks, Sean. It's been wonderful having you on the show and sharing the data with us. Thanks, Chris. I appreciate your time. There you go. Thanks, Monix, for tuning in having you on the show and sharing the data with us. Thanks, Chris. I appreciate your time. There you go. Thanks, my audience, for tuning in. Be sure to go to YouTube.com, ForgeHouseCrispFast. Hit the bell notification button.

Go to Goodreads.com, ForgeHouseCrispFast. See everything we're reading and reviewing over there. See all our groups on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram. And get ready for the big CES show coverage. It's the huge thing. And we haven't been able to do it for, what, a year? We did do 2020 CES. It got in before thing, and we haven't been able to do it for, what, a year? We did do 2020 CS. It got in before the

world went to hell. So it's going to be fun, and our goal is not to get the virus, which has been pretty good so far, and you'll see me doing interviews, and you're going to see all the coolest stuff, and it'll be fun, because I think I'll be the only one covering it. Anyway, guys, thanks for tuning in. Be good to each other.

Stay safe, and we'll see you guys next time.