Nintendo

Rejected pitch: 'skateboarding isn't even popular', then Activision called

In 1997 Tony and a coder pitched a skateboarding game to Nintendo and other publishers and got no takers. One executive asked why a skate game would be popular when skateboarding wasn't. When the coder quit, he said Tony's name was now 'planted' in gaming. About a year later Activision called saying it had heard Tony was working on a game.

“I feel like your name is now planted in the video game world as someone who would like to work on a game or do a game. And, and if someone does one, they'll probably call you. And I was like, sure. And about a year later, I got a call from Activision and they said, we heard you're working on a game. And I was like, I'm not, but I want to.”

Steal thisPitch your ambition widely even when the meetings go nowhere, because it plants your name for when the opportunity shows up later.

Saw the Wii line at E3, put 100% of his portfolio in Nintendo

Camillo's most concentrated bet came after he watched crowds trying the Nintendo Wii at E3 while Wall Street focused on Xbox and PlayStation. He held his entire portfolio in a Nintendo ADR for about a year, until Wall Street caught on.

“I actually saw the line of people. interacting with the Nintendo Wii for the first time. I don't know if you remember that game-changing platform, and nobody on Wall Street believed it. Everyone on Wall Street was so hyper-focused on the Xbox coming out and the PlayStation coming out. Nobody thought the Wii was going to be a big deal. I was there. I saw it in real life. I had 100% of my portfolio invested in a Nintendo ADR, which is a tracking stock that tracks the Japanese ticker. of Nintendo.”