Faces of Gaming: Harmen Brenninkmeijer – The making of a world gaming innovator – CDC Gaming

When it involves increasing world gaming by innovation, Harmen Brenninkmeijer represents a bridge between conventional on line casino worldwide operations and the technology-driven future.

As an operator, provider, know-how innovator, developer, affiliation chief, investor, and advisor, Brenninkmeijer breathes the uncommon air of an elite entrepreneur and visionary trendsetter.

In a lifelong profession of enterprise creation, Harmen Brenninkmeijer places the serial in serial entrepreneur.

Global expansionist
With greater than three a long time within the gaming business, Harmen has constructed a profession outlined by entrepreneurship, innovation, and world growth. A serial entrepreneur and investor, he has led ventures spanning know-how growth, manufacturing, and distribution, serving to form the gaming panorama throughout greater than 75 international locations, with a selected deal with rising markets.

Currently, Harmen is Executive Chairman of NYCE International, a publicly listed firm on the Aquis Exchange that represents greater than 65 main playing firms whereas actively growing strategic know-how ventures. NYCE International goes past conventional illustration by taking stakes in promising ventures and creating fairness worth alongside product representations.

Harmen is a world expansionist who helped carry technology-driven operations into rising markets worldwide. He was the founding chairman of the European Gaming Organization and is thought for serving to rework conventional gaming operations with programs, recreation design, and participant monitoring properly forward of business norms.

Yet the story didn’t start in boardrooms or casinos. It started within the Netherlands, the place early setbacks helped form the resilience and ambition that may take him all over the world.

Netherlands
Harmen grew up within the Netherlands the place his household identify was well-known. His father was a businessman who owned a number of clothes malls. “I grew up in an environment where work was very important, and you focus on what you need to do, and you contribute. It was a lot of work. Effectively, I was instilled with work. So, that was a good thing,” he mentioned.

Eventually two issues occurred that modified every thing for Harmen. His father misplaced the enterprise, and he went to the United States as an change pupil. “I was 15 years old, and then I started to become quite ambitious, in the sense of, like, okay, now what?”

A ferocious reader suffering from migraines, Harmen turned a Rotary change pupil in Florida after profitable a contest the place solely 30 candidates have been awarded from 3,000 entries. “I participated in DECA Distribution Education Clubs of America, got the first prize in the district, second prize in the state of Florida, moved on to the nationals, and did very well, and that became a big thing. All these experiences made me more ambitious.”

Hanging curtains
“I jumped into a couple of jobs and started to hang curtains in West Palm Beach, on Palm Beach Island. Now you must imagine that the wealth that Palm Beach has, even at that time in 1982, was impossible to imagine in the Netherlands. Impossible even within my family; so that really got me stoked,” Harmen recalled.

Harmen returned to the Netherlands to complete his enterprise diploma and had the chance to return to the United States with the identical household the place he was an change pupil. “They paid for my college because I didn’t have the money. As a result, I wanted to really make that work.”

After spending time within the flower enterprise, Harmen returned to the states as a translator the place he was supplied a job within the signal enterprise.” I then turned the export director at a really younger age, 22, and constructed an export enterprise in about 33 international locations, and that actually received my juices going for worldwide enterprise,” he mentioned.

Entering casinos
While attending an exhibition, Harmen met David Thompson, who simply bought Mikohn from John Acres and Mike Stone. After beginning as an agent, Harmen turned CEO of Mikohn Europe, when Mikohn went for an IPO in 1993. He developed Mikohn’s gaming divisions all through Europe, Africa, and elements of Asia, the place he constructed one of many earliest multinational gaming distribution networks outdoors of North America.

“Basically, we have been the one controller that linked to many of the slot machine producers at the moment. So, at the moment, video slots took place. They have been launched into {the marketplace} within the early ‘90s.

“It began to take off in present casinos in Europe, and I made offers with Aristocrat, I made offers with Bally, I made offers with IGT, and everyone else that was energetic at that stage. Now what occurred is I noticed these American on line casino indicators, the very flashy neon indicators, very, very American, very in-your-face. I assumed it was incredible.

“I said to David, okay, we need to take that product and package it and then bring it together. And then, after saying no, lo and behold, in 1993 he bought three signage companies, did an IPO together with the controlling technology side of the business, plus the controller and the LED displays, and that became Mikohn Incorporated, which became a substantial company,”’ Harmen acknowledged.

Harmen acquired funding to construct a manufacturing unit and later misplaced the funding earlier than the manufacturing unit was constructed. He was in a position to hold going when Switzerland opened with A and B on line casino licenses and he labored with Peter Schorno, who had an organization with video games referred to as Golden Games which added Mikohn’s controllers and jackpots.

During that point, Harmen developed a fame for equity in distribution offers. “Now, during that period, I already had all these distribution deals with Aristocrat, IGT, and everybody else. I was relatively neutral because I did business with everybody, and people knew that I could keep my mouth shut. As a result, they would talk to me about pricing, and they would get a fair price,” he mentioned.

European Gaming Organization
In 1993, Harmen turned the Founding Chairman of the European Gaming Organization.

“Because of that neutral position, I started to have a bit of a voice, and then we had a situation in the European industry that there were way too many exhibitions, and everybody was complaining about it. They said, “We’re just running from country to country, from show to show, because the whole market was growing, we need less exhibitions.”

“I mentioned one of the best ways to try this is to create a European-wide affiliation. So that’s once we began to play with the concept. I talked to the blokes from Jens Halle, Paulus Karskens, Sebastian Salat, and Gerhard Burda, all of the totally different those that oversaw the totally different firms at the moment and mainly mentioned, ‘Can we do this simultaneously?’

“I also felt there was a massive need for proper information. We needed to create a depository of information because of what was happening in the gaming industry, and that is still the case today. There is too much extreme information on either side, too much programming, too much against gaming, and there is not enough in the middle to show what gaming should be about,” Harmen declared.

“I was elected as the first chairman for the first couple of years and was continuously unanimously elected on the basis that I was quite neutral. I was very active and we accomplished quite a few things, so we pushed the major show in London, which then became ICE.”

Extremely troublesome
In 1997, Harmen turned CEO of Avalon Casino Development, working intently with a number one German Gauselmann Group to spend money on and handle three casinos. This included the institution of the Playboy Casino in Rhodes. “The first one was the Grand Casino in Hungary, which we acquired, and we turned into the number one casino of Hungary (tax paid). The second one was a casino in Northern Cyprus, and the third one was the Playboy casino, which was basically a build up from an acquired Greek government-owned casino license in Rhodes.”

“Playboy Casino was extremely difficult to do because the project already had the license as Playboy, and there was a termination on the casino license within four months. The whole project was only in concrete stage, and it was a protected building. Within four months, we had to open the casino. As it was on an island in southern Greece, so almost an impossibility. We worked literally 20 hours a day. We worked very, very hard on making everything possible, and that was special at that time,” Harmen recalled.

Amazing challenges
In 2001, Harmen turned CEO of Octavian International. Capitalizing on the transformation energy of networked gaming programs, Octavian’s growth was propelled by an unimaginable 26,000 related machines throughout 900 places in Russia and entry into 24 world gaming jurisdictions worldwide.

He grew Octavian into a serious provider of on line casino administration programs slots, networked gaming know-how, and Lottery options, which prompted Harmen to inform me concerning the wonderful challenges of working in Russia.

Harmen was introduced into Novomatic due to his connections to Russia and discovered that Johann Graf, founder and proprietor of Novomatic, was not in favor of going into Russia. Harmen then took a small 1,000 machine order and used it to catapult to 26,000 machines.

“It was an incredible number and an amazing situation. It was just with one customer, and we sold many, many more machines. Russia was very difficult. I was basically operating without having to bribe anybody or do anything that one is not supposed to do, because I was also the distributor of IGT, and it took me quite a long time with the Gaming Board of Nevada to get that cleared. I wanted to make sure that everybody understood that we were absolutely doing everything on the up and up, which was very difficult. In 2001, I paid my people well. Some of my people were paid more than Putin was paid as president at that time. It was an incredible situation,” he mentioned.

A brand new tax regulation was initiated in 1994 when Russians had by no means paid tax earlier than beneath communism. “They didn’t know how to enforce it. So, the first thing that they did was fight everything in court. They would fight because they didn’t know what could be declared and what would be allowed as a write-off. Because it was also so new they threw me into court all the time.”

Harmen’s issues in Russia got here to a disaster when Putin introduced in 2006 that he would shut the Russian market in 2009. Weeks previous to that, he bought Octavian to a Chinese Group, whereby they enforced a pressure majeure clause after which his offers in Russia out of the blue evaporated.

A lesson in gaming investments
In 2010, after beginning the Gaming Incubator, Harmen joined Inspired Gaming in 2013, the place he created offers in Latin America, Greece, and past. The firm expanded Server-Based Gaming (SBG) options globally, bringing improvements into growing areas, serving to to deploy 35,000+ reside terminals throughout many international locations.

Octavian developed one of many first on-line gaming programs in 2001 however shelved it after IGT made it a difficulty upon getting the distributor rights for Russia. After Novomatic took over Octavian (2010), Harmen mentioned, “the Gaming Incubator was my ecosystem to get my feet into the iGaming business because I saw a lot of technology opportunities”.

“I invested in a number of firms, received numerous offers going; however as is the case with lots of startups, it is rather, very troublesome to make them work within the gaming business as a result of typically they run out of capital. The cause they run out of capital shouldn’t be as a result of they spent an excessive amount of or too simply. It’s simply that in gaming, due to the regulatory surroundings, every thing takes for much longer. So, it makes it harder for brand spanking new merchandise to get launched, and for brand spanking new merchandise to get accepted, and to get a observe document to take off.

“Now that situation has slowly changed, especially with games themselves. Because iGaming can introduce a game tomorrow, and if that game flies, then every other operator would like to have that game. That’s why game aggregators are becoming so important into the iGaming side of the business. That, therefore, made it very different. I have been involved from the sports betting platforms to the games themselves; developing games, building games, aggregation, remote game server, and then all kinds of different pieces of software related to the iGaming side of the industry,”  Harmen declared.

Propensity for know-how
I requested Harmen what was in his make-up that retains him on the slicing fringe of know-how in gaming,

“Yeah, I simply want that I couldn’t be so early. In different phrases, I see issues. I typically begin it, I begin spending lots of time on it after which I’m too early. Then what occurs is I run out of capital, or I don’t have sufficient capital, after which out of the blue I want to attend for the following block. That’s the place I’ve typically not been so robust.

“Why do I see lots of the traits? I don’t know. It comes comparatively naturally with my propensity to learn loads, my curiosity in following what’s occurring on this planet, trying round fairly a bit, having plenty of conversations with totally different folks, and with the ability to put totally different viewpoints collectively after I take a look at new traits.

“So, for example, when I look at the AI trend today, I look at what will that mean for gaming. When I look at quantum technology, what will that do for gaming, where is that going to make a difference? How is that going to make a difference for gaming production? iGaming to me was no surprise,” he mentioned.

Blockchain, consulting and investing
Keeping with Harmen’s propensity to dive into new know-how, he received concerned with Quanta, a Blockchain know-how supplier, in 2019 as a key contributor within the growth of blockchain-powered client services, advancing the mixing of blockchain with conventional applied sciences

In 2015, Harmen based Dynamic Parters International as a car to delve into consulting.

“Dynamic Partners is more of a consultancy business, my consultancy bucket. Why do I like consultancy at times? Because I like to talk to governments, I like to be able to talk to people about what can or should be done. How can I help? And that doesn’t belong in a company with a product, so therefore that’s Dynamic Partners.”

The Global Chain
Keeping the frantic tempo of a serial entrepreneur, Harmen additionally created The Global Chain in 2016.

For this enterprise, Harmen oversees investments in gaming and know-how firms, figuring out high-potential alternatives. Global Chain works intently with excessive portfolio firms, offering strategic steering, connecting them with key business gamers, and serving to them scale successfully in aggressive markets.

NYCE International
In 2022, Harmen fashioned Hong Kong-based NYCE International, the place he serves as Executive Chairman.

“NYCE is the idea that we got here up with after COVID, the place I didn’t wish to go away the gaming business after I moved the opposite enterprise into the aviation know-how firm. I needed to begin searching for, okay, now what’s subsequent? I believed that as a result of so many individuals have been let go of their positions, very senior folks, those that had super rolodexes, and those that had a very good community.

“I said, “Let me try to represent a number of gaming companies, put that all together, and then try to find people around the world that want to use their talents in order to connect, let’s say, the products that we represent to the operators. That’s what NYCE is all about. So, NYCE is a sales marketing organization, but it’s really about discoverability. It’s about the fact that we bring a lot of new, innovative, smaller companies to the market that now get greater exposure faster and are being introduced to operators that would otherwise be very difficult for them to find,” Harmen acknowledged.

Harpinion
Harmen lately began a podcast referred to as Harpinion. I requested him why he determined to go from entrepreneurship to media.

“Many folks really feel once we age, we now have all these experiences and what are we going to do with it. I felt that what shouldn’t be lined properly in gaming on the whole is protecting a mixed discuss politics, gaming, and finance. The cause why that’s not lined properly is as a result of it’s so troublesome to seek out folks that may discuss all these three topics with expertise. I additionally consider that not sufficient folks perceive the world properly sufficient to essentially perceive the variations. I all the time say gaming is a really world enterprise, however it is advisable to go native.

“For example, I started talking to people like Shaun McCamley. I was speaking to him about the fact that in Vietnam, originally, the casino that he managed, Ho Tram, did not allow for locals to gamble, only people from overseas. Yeah, that is a problem. So, you need to talk about that. He explicitly explained in the podcast what his reasoning is, and why he thinks what is happening today is much better.”

Technology and AI
I requested Harmen what he was fascinated about the adoption of know-how and AI to gaming.

“Let me paint an image for you. Old gaming is a random quantity generator, the place it issues electronics, proper? Everything is RNG pushed. It is random. There isn’t any management logic. Now, what if we might create a gaming surroundings, and I’ve began creating one thing like that, the place a authorities might introduce gaming and says, I don’t need gaming to be this huge, or I don’t need folks to guess limitless, or I don’t desire a slot machine that forces folks to go fairly deep so as to really feel, let’s say, the sport.

“I consider that AI may also help to create a system with a managed logic nonetheless random sufficient that no one can set the logic; however we must make some changes throughout the certifications and throughout the rules as to what’s allowed. It is feasible right now with know-how that we are able to create video games that may permit folks to precisely set the amount of cash that they’re keen to lose when taking part in.

“Obviously, the chances of winning aren’t as great as if they leave it unlimited or if they make it much higher, but it’s possible. So, wouldn’t it be great if you could go to a gaming authority or country and say we can introduce different levels of gambling, where the players decide for themselves that they can afford? I think that’s where new opportunities lie. I believe that gaming can be run and developed in an environment more responsibly than what is the case today, and I think that’s important,” Harmen mentioned.

Shootouts
I requested Harmen to call the most important threat he confronted in his profession.

“Going to Russia was a giant threat at the moment. Picking up every thing and mainly saying I’m going to ascertain myself inside Russia, and I’m going to construct this enterprise that was difficult. We’re speaking concerning the yr 2000 and onwards, and at the moment Putin simply got here to energy. There have been so many uncertainties. Russia went by an amazing financial upheaval in 1997. There have been every kind of issues that didn’t actually work correctly, and it was a giant threat.

“And it was an industry where there was real danger. Having visited Russia since 1992, I was there in 1995, and I think it was something like five casino directors that were killed in shootouts, some were foreign. So yes, there was a big risk, but I felt it was worth it, and honestly, I wouldn’t have wanted to miss it, it was a fantastic experience,” he declared

Success secrets and techniques
I requested Harmen what he thought was the key of his success.

“Listening and being flexible. I am very strongly opinionated, but my opinions are weakly held, so prove me otherwise. Be true to your word, and as I like to travel around, do what you say at all times. So, in other words, I don’t just make decisions out of my office. I try to experience the environment and then make decisions. So, I try to be with everyone. The most important thing when you do business internationally is finding the right partners. I’ve not always succeeded, but many times I have,” he mentioned.