Founded in 2012 by Phil Shpilberg, GameChangerSF is a digital advertising agency focused on growing mobile apps and games. With hundreds of profitable apps under their belt and deep expertise in full-service mobile marketing, creative services, and data science, GameChangerSF has a long track record of getting results for their clients including the Oprah Winfrey Network, Jack in the Box, Mattel, Square Enix, and Atari. Their seasoned management team, global presence, and proprietary MultiVid and LaunchPad technologies enable increased capacity and multivariate testing, giving the agency a unique production cost savings advantage.

Partnering with Barney for a New-School Way of Doing Things

Over the last decade, Phil had been focused on creating a strong, unshakeable foundation for GameChangerSF’s growth. As he poured all of his energy into optimizing GameChangerSF’s operations, there came a time when he realized he wanted to reposition his focus from the sales and back-office functioning that is necessary for running an agency, to product development and innovation. He knew that with a new business partner, GameChangerSF could continue to expand by accessing new markets and clients and enhancing its service offerings.

Bolstered by Barney’s industry specialization, huge pool of awesome buyers, expedited timeline, and simple, personalized process, Phil decided to partner with the Barney team for a fast, painless acquisition experience aligned with his goals. He wanted to find the perfect partner for his industry-disrupting business and was optimistic that with Barney he could avoid doing things the old-school way – risking months of negotiations and effort, just to end with no deal, or worse, a buyer who might drive GameChangerSF into the ground.

An Agency That’s Amazing at What They Do and Has a Stellar Reputation For It 

At GameChangerSF, they treat every app like it’s theirs. They’re guided by their clients’ goals and a deep understanding that they’re successful only when their clients are successful. Rooted in their mission to help clients succeed and with nearly 80% of their clients in the mobile video game space, the agency has a strong reputation as an industry leading expert in mobile user acquisition. 

With their two proprietary technology platforms that allow GameChangerSF to create faster, cheaper, and better performing ads; robust client relationships across the globe; efficient internal processes; low overhead; and a seasoned team excited to stay on post-transaction, GameChangerSF was poised to grow at scale. They just needed the right buyer to help them get there. 

Multivid, GameChanger’s main technology, provides the tools to create, distribute, and report on a large number of ads, allowing GameChangerSF to quickly and cost-effectively meet the need for scale. Giving them the ability to serve large clients, automate variations, and reduce cost and reliance on external agencies, Multivid is a huge part of GameChangerSF’s game-changing work and is utilized in 90% of their projects.

LaunchPad, their newest technology, is currently in beta and utilized in 10% of projects. A template system based on award-winning digital ads, LaunchPad prototyping makes high quality ads in less than 24 hours, has templates proven to work, creates a 50% improvement in CTR, and results in a drastic reduction in internal cost to produce ads. With LaunchPad just getting off the ground, a new owner could fully tap into this tool’s potential to help GameChangerSF grow.

With GameChangerSF’s powerful, proprietary technologies and expertise in the mobile video game space, Barney was thrilled to get on board.

Huge Growth Potential

At Barney, we love to see not just where an agency’s been, but where it could go. As the MultiVid and LaunchPad creative technologies were set for continued growth, these sustainable competitive advantages could enable GameChangerSF to expand by entering new industries outside of the app and mobile video game space. By utilizing their team’s full capacity, accessing new markets, expanding product offerings, and implementing outbound business development, GameChangerSF could create the bright future Phil and Barney knew was possible. 

Finding the Perfect Buyer

Excited to find GameChangerSF their perfect-fit buyer, we dug in and got to know everything we could about them from their culture to their team to their technologies. With our finger on the pulse of the agency market and expertise in the industry, we calculated how much the agency was worth to buyers in today’s market. From there, we put together amazing marketing materials to showcase what made GameChangerSF special and shared them with pre-vetted, high-potential buyers in our network. We quickly found their dream buyer: Pixis.

A California Tech Startup Helping Clients Scale Accurate Data-Driven Marketing

A California-based tech startup providing codeless AI infrastructure to enable clients to scale accurate data-driven marketing, Pixis was a dream match for GameChangerSF. Their codeless AI ecosystem enables CMI professionals, creative professionals, and marketers to scale marketing against the backdrop of rich consumer and market insights. They had the technical knowledge, resources, and connections GameChangerSF needed to grow, and through GameChangerSF they could expand into the mobile apps and games market.

Getting the Exit He Deserved

With their shared focus on data-driven marketing technologies, Pixis and GameChangerSF were a perfect match. After negotiation, due diligence, and legal doc review, everyone signed on the dotted line and walked away thrilled with the results.

GameChangerSF had the support they needed to grow at scale, Pixis could expand their reach in the mobile apps market, and Phil stayed on in his ideal role as Gaming Business Head. Back at Barney, we toasted to all of their success and added GameChangerSF to our long list of media, marketing, and tech companies we’ve helped find perfect-fit buyers. Because that’s what we do at Barney: help entrepreneurs buy and sell truly amazing businesses.