In November, Bao sent me a message that said, “So, I’m buying an LCS team.” I thought it was a joke at first. Then I thought maybe he’d formed a group with some people. Then I learned it was just him and Jon. Two ex-rioters. And they secured a partnership while watching a football game from a private suite in San Francisco. Say that’s you in that position. What’s the next step?

Most of us have a hard enough time starting up an essay for school let alone building an entire brand. That’s the thing with Ember. It’s not just a gaming team. They employ around twenty-five people who contribute in various ways. Their initial press release was memed and the roster was mocked. People thought it was just a couple of idiots who managed to stumble into some money.

I’ve literally known Bao for as long as he’s been alive. I’ve called him an idiot more than anyone in the world. But this situation highlighted the worst tendencies of reddit and the mob mentality. Why would someone worth millions choose a couple of random idiots to run a team? How many of you could convince a stranger to give you a quarter for bus fare? How many would even ask? Both Bao and Jon worked primarily with people while at Riot. You learn a couple of things when you’re surrounded by talent — and Riot is a company brimming with it.

When you want to accomplish a task you don’t know how to complete, there are two options: you either learn how to do it or you find someone who knows. That’s propelled the initial stages at Ember. They had opportunities to buy their way in the LCS, but it made more sense to build a roster and an organization they believed in. Recently, Gregg Popovich, head coach of the San Antonio Spurs — the winningest professional sports team of the past two decades, said this in response to a question asking him what kind of people their organization sought:

Ember is trying to build a franchise and a winning culture. It’s incredibly difficult to shake a stigmatism of failure. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. That’s the thing with the current gaming establishment. We’ve seen signs of incompetence time and again from other LCS owners — both current and gone to the wind. Many of them just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Now they’re caught in the esports swell as people with business acumen and people skills swoop in. They should be scared and wary of the new talent. Look at Cloud 9, for example. They were a League of Legends upstart and managed to dwarf the more established teams immediately thanks to Jack’s shrewd management.

And of course this bubble could pop. Despite the strides the major esports scenes have made, it still rests on a fragile ecosystem. But that’s how these ventures go. The investments are made with the understanding that the return won’t come until later. The people who are stupid enough to expect an immediate return drop out of scene quickly. Many already have.

Much has been made about Ember’s “exorbitant” salaries. Much of this has come from fringe teams. You don’t see the goliaths bug-eyed. If you want to be a major player, then you have to act like one. If you want your talent poached, then offer them low salaries. Then watch them bloom on the teams who do pay. Most of the establishment teams could have been TSM. That’s what should nip at their egos. They just blundered their management. They skimped on their wallets. If two “random” guys could have found a multi-million dollar sponsor, then why couldn’t the more established teams and personalities have done the same? Why didn’t they?

JUST WIN, BABY

Part of that answer is in finding the right people to trust with your money. Kanye West is an incredibly successful musician. Would you trust him with your money, though? Probably not. Make no mistake: at the heart of Ember is an incredibly confident duo in Bao and Jon. They command attention when they speak. They know what they want.

There’s a reason Weldon Green joined them over the likes of TSM. I read a post postulating that Ember tripled TSM’s offer. That’s both a baseless and naive assumption. TSM is multi-million dollar enterprise. They could have matched if they wanted to. If Weldon wanted them. Instead, the prized coach chose Ember because it was the best fit for what he wanted. Jon says, “ At the end of the day, Weldon’s philosophies have already shaped Ember into what it is today. Ember didn’t hire Weldon. Weldon is Ember.”

And as for the team? The so called laughing stock of a roster? It rides a six game win streak and have already secured a playoff spot. They are undefeated with their main roster and boast a dominant scrim record. This is a squad with zero foreign imports. They’ve managed to foster homegrown talent by providing an environment for them to succeed in. This is a roster with two previously unproven entities in Contractz and Stunt, and three journeymen in LOD, Goldenglue, and Solo.

Yet, here they are. Instead of bashing them, you might do well to tune into their match vs. TDK this week. The TDK that was hyped to run the table in the challenger scene. Watch the investment grow with your own eyes. Watch the little ember burn.