Transcript: back to AMA with Constantin Garreau and Patrick Amiel

Our first AMA of the year took place on January 31, with Constantin Garreau, co-founder of Stables, and Patrick Amiel, co-founder of 321. Relive this AMA with our verbatim transcript.

Two guests for this first AMA: Constantin Garreau, whom you know well, Director of Innovation at PMU and Founder of Stables. And Patrick Amiel, Founder of 321, the Corporate Startup Studio behind the project in conjunction with PMU. Together, we'll talk about the origins of Stables, the organization of the project, recent news and the players involved (PMU, Le Trot, France Galop and 321), as well as 321's role in the project.  And of course, we'll talk about the CEO search you've heard about, fundraising and what it means for the future of the project.

If you'd like to listen to the AMA replay, it's available in french here.

Transcript of the AMA from January 31, 2024

Jérémy Coste:

Constantin and Patrick are on their way. Perfect, 11:33, we're the regulation 3 minutes late. I think we're all set and we can start this AMA. The AMA is recorded, and will be available afterwards in... replay. Welcome everyone, welcome to the first AMA of the year. Today we're joined by Patrick and Constantin. They'll introduce themselves in a moment. We're going to cover a lot of ground. We're going to talk about the origins of Stables and the organization of the project. We're going to talk about recent events, and 321's role in Stables. In short, we're going to talk about all sorts of things related to the structure of Stables. At the end of the ama, we'll take a look at the questions asked by the community on Discord. And then we'll give the floor to those who still have questions. I'll say it again at the end of the ama, but today we're really looking at everything to do with the structure of Stables, everything to do with the game, the products in general, the algo, the races. Yesterday we announced a second AMA, which will take place next Monday. So really, we'll keep these gaming-related issues for next Monday. And today, the focus is really on the organization of the project. Let's start with you Constantin, the community is getting to know you pretty well, you've spoken on a number of occasions over the past year, but can you introduce yourself again for those who might not know you yet or those who have recently joined the project?

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Constantin Garreau:

With pleasure. Hello everyone. So, Constantin... I'm Director of Innovation at PMU. I joined PMU 4 years ago, 4 years today. First as digital director and since early 2022 as innovation director. with a mission to explore new markets. So at PMU, there are two types of innovation. There's product innovation, which means inventing new bets. My job wasn't to invent new bets. It was really to see if there were territories in which PMU could project itself, in order to talk to new clienteles in particular. So that's what I've been doing for... two years now, with great pleasure.

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Jérémy Coste:

Great, thank you. Thank you, Constantin. Patrick, the community knows you a little less well, even though you've played an important role since the launch of Stable, in fact even before the official launch. Can you introduce yourself, your background, your entrepreneurial career and also tell us a little about 3 de 1, although we'll come back to 3 de 1 in a little more detail later.

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Patrick Amiel:

With pleasure, delighted to be here for this little moment together. To put it bluntly, I'm 51 years old. Backgroundplutôt entrepreneurial pour le passé. And the sound is good? Yes, it's good. Can you confirm that the sound is good? It's excellent. So, a little about the past, a little about the present with 321 so that everyone understands what we're doing. So, in 2006, I decided to team up with 4 people to create a marketplace in France, called My Best Pro, where we started from scratch, raised funds from an investment fund, Vintec, and from an industrial company at the time, 9CGTEL, and created a marketplace where we put private individuals and pros in touch with each other. We started from scratch. Like a lot of entrepreneurs, we had a tough time of it at the beginning, for a year or a year and a half. When I left in March 2017, we had more than 250 employees, we were profitable, with sales of around 30 million euros and a turnover of 50 million. We were in 9 countries in Europe, we had bought a total of 9 companies on our company's growth path. And... So there you have it, a hyper-entrepreneurial DNA, highly invested in the French Tech ecosystem too. For those who know, I'm a member of France Digital, which is the French association that brings together entrepreneurs and investment funds. So I've been frothing at the mouth for some twenty years. And in 2019, I joined forces with Romain Ledruymaté, my partner, to create 3Dom Infondid. So what are we, what do we do? We're a barbaric thing called a Corporate Startup Studio. So what does that mean in practical terms? It means that we set up companies from scratch with a partner, an associate who is a large company, which in this case could be PMU, or other companies we've since launched with... for example, BNP with a law firm called Auguste Debouzy. Our business is that we're a collective of entrepreneurs. We have a methodology for setting up companies, and we think we're incredibly strong when we manage to combine both our entrepreneurial DNA and our know-how and network. And at the same time, the strengths of a major company, in this case PMU, all the expertise on the IP environment and all the assets that were available enabled us to create this picture, which we'll come back to.

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Jérémy Coste:

I think it's very clear, as you say, we'll go into even more detail later on about what 321 does and its role in the overall project. Let's get right to the heart of the matter, and go back in time to mid-2022. The first bricks of the project have been laid. Constantin, can you tell us a little about the origins of the project? How does a project like this get off the ground? Who comes up with the ideas? All this will help us to see a little more clearly the role of... PMU and 3-2-1 in this picture.

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Constantin Garreau:

Well, it's a pleasure, it already seems a long way off. So, what's happening is the end of 2021. So we have a new general manager who has been appointed to PMU and who is convinced that... in fact, one of the phases to be deployed is to revolve around innovation. So we're organizing a number of workshops to think about innovation areas in which PMU could position itself. A number of more or less far-fetched ideas emerge from these working groups. These are somewhat multi-disciplinary workgroups, with people from IT, marketing, junior staff and so on. And as we were leaving one of the workshops, I was talking to a guy who was now joining the design teams, and we said, "It's a shame we haven't done something around NFTs - there's SORAR which is starting to emerge, which seems to be relevant, with a slightly innovative business model, so isn't there something we could draw from that? an NFT game and cabbage races. And so, we were given a short deadline and started to work on it, drawing up what we'll call the origin of Stables, with the conviction that horse racing night is complicated. Horses have erratic careers, in other words, they don't all have the same careers, and so on. So that's how the idea of Stables came about, and the idea of a Web3 game in which PMU could position itself by saying, if we go for it, it's a risky bet. But it's a gamble that makes sense to us, and PMU is a credible player to position itself in this universe. So that's how we're launching this project. All in all, it's really just a few ideas on a table corner and a few sleepless nights trying to see how it could turn out. And then, we pitch the project, defend it in front of general management and then in front of... A sort of selection committee had been set up with people from outside PMU. So there you have it, and so we said, well yeah, there's a good idea here. It's a good idea, and it's something that seems to be relevant, and which is also a kind of step aside from what PMU has to do. So it's a daring move, but we're encouraged and supported to roll it out. And so that's how the project was born and how it emerged, on the corner of a table with me and a young man who wasn't even a PMU employee at the time, who was a work-study student. So that's how the project came about.

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Jérémy Coste:

Great, and from this project idea, how did PMU join forces with 321, and how did you and Patrick meet?

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Constantin Garreau:

At first, my job is going to be to learn about blockchain. So I'm going to try to get into the subject, I'm going to test lots of projects, games, concepts, I'm going to take online training courses, I'm going to get a blockchain teacher, so there you have it, to understand how it works, what a smart contract is, what a DAO is, what a token is, whatever. Really... Not just pretend, not just a marketing concept, but really get into it. And pretty soon, you're convinced of two things. Firstly, that we were in an unstable territory, a territory of innovation that was unstable, particularly from a regulatory point of view, and that there was therefore a risk for PMU. That's the first point. The second point is that you have to start from scratch, do everything. And I don't know how. So we quickly came to the idea that we needed to set up a legal entity to carry out the project. And secondly, we had to partner with and rely on people who had this know-how, in fact, who knew how to do... who knew how to do this. And so I've been following Patrick, like a lot of people on social networks for... for a long time, and so I sent him a message saying I'd like to talk to you, I've got the impression that what you're doing is helping big companies launch projects - I've got one, so that's how it works.

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Patrick Amiel:

Constantin, I'm going to expand on this a little so that everyone understands, it's the association I think is really great on the part of PMU, it's the association of an entrepreneurial team with a major company. So we've tried to bring together the best of both worlds, this expertise and these assets throughout the equestrian world, and our desire to create companies that become what we call category leaders in their market, that become one of the best companies in the category, in this case of a fantasy game in the equestrian world. And it's true that during the immersion period we had with all the PMU and Constantin teams, when we saw the thrill of the racecourses, we said to ourselves, can this thrill be applied to all digital media? And if so, can this thrill be French, European, global? And how are we going to create it? It's the beginning of Stable, which means that there's a union of skills, there's an asset... which is global. and what can be the right execution. It's both the ambition and the starting point. Thank you

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Jérémy Coste:

Great, great. Speaking of 321, let's take a closer look at what a corporate startup studio is. I don't think everyone knows exactly what it is and how it works. And then, to expand a little on the Stables project, what is 321's role in a project like Stables?

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Patrick Amiel:

With pleasure. Our conviction and our DNA is that we're not a consulting firm, we're not an agency, we're entrepreneurs who create companies, and we think we're much stronger. by joining forces with strategic partners who have both expertise in the sector and the capacity to finance the seed round of the project. and once we have this expertise and this financing, because we haven't raised the money, we bring this execution capacity and this network. So our methodology is simple. In the first phase, we dig deep and analyze the opportunity. That's what we did with PMU to confirm that there was indeed a great adventure to be had. And sometimes, we come to the conclusion that we shouldn't go ahead at all. But in this case, we thought there was a great opportunity. A time to... where we say go, we'll go and we'll define... Like an entrepreneur raising money from a fund, it's the same thing: we come up with a pitch deck, we say here we are, we've analyzed the door, this is it, the market we're going to attack, this is it, the positioning, this is it, the team we need to align, this is it, and the need for financing and time. So that's the generic 321 method, and from that day on... We become, I was going to say, the interim CEO. In other words, one of our team members, in this case Clémence, took on the role of interim CEO to get the project off the ground as quickly as possible. Why is that? Because we're not here to... wait X months to find the right foundry team, because that takes time, you don't want to make a mistake, you want to be sure you've got the right people. So, from that point on, our only obsession is to execute like the best contractors, to move fast and keep up with the market. Why do we do this? Because if there's a run pushing in one case, there may be other players. So we have to move as fast as possible to take up the space and launch the business. So it was Clémence who took on the role of interim CEO, gathering around her an initial team. And that's where it's pretty cool, because we've managed to attract - I'm not going to send flowers to Jérémy, who's here with us - but the whole team that came together quickly was really a group of people who are Web3 natives, who know the ecosystem very well, who are A-players, so they're super talents, and who wanted to join Stables, where they also recognized that there was both a strong PMU side and this very strong entrepreneurial culture. So we put together a great team. We put a V1 online fairly quickly to prepare for the drop in March. And then we started to animate the community on Discord. So step 1, door study. Stage 2, we launch very quickly or act as a link with the 321 team. And stage 3, which we're at now, the company is somewhat autonomous from a governance point of view, from a physical point of view, so we create a new venture or we take over a structure, we increase the capital of an existing structure, it doesn't matter, we can come back to this later. So this is where we are now on Stables. Stable is autonomous from a governance point of view, from a structural point of view, it's a company in its own right, with a team that is... that was brought on board by Clemence, who has already created Stables today, and the forthcoming appointment of a CEO, which is the extremely logical next step, as we do with all 321. companies, who will take over to continue to... execute, appropriate and develop Stables' strategy. So we're at a very important moment for Stables, but it's a logical continuation of all the box models we've launched via 321.

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Jérémy Coste:

Great, thank you Patrick. I think it couldn't be clearer. We've talked about the origins of the project, we've talked about the links between 321 and PMU. And if we now move forward a little in time, the project was launched at the beginning of 2023, on January 8. The NFT drop in March is a success, all the NFTs are sold, and the game is launched immediately. And we arrive in December 2023, with a few changes in the project organization. Perhaps Constantin, or Patrick for that matter, could you tell us a little about the changes that take place in December, please?

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Patrick Amiel:

I'll just take a second to come back to... You went fast on the drop. Thank everyone who's here, because I see there are a few people we know well, hyperactive on Discord. Some of them have chosen to put their horse on these badges as their avatar. We created this together with you. At one point, we were at the beginning of the beer market. A sell-out... which gave the team wings. Frankly, it was amazing. Since then, the level of commitment from the team this year has been colossal, and from the community, from each and every one of you, because overall, all the people who took part, the rate of activity remains extremely high compared to market metrics, so that's pretty cool. There's still plenty of room for improvement, so we're not here to congratulate ourselves on everything, but let's take a look at how far we've come together and with you. Today, we have... A first gaming experience, a first community level. There are new products to be announced next week, and others at our own pace, which is also a pace of doing things right, because we don't want to be a maverick about the responsibility we bear for a fairly innovative game, where we still have to negotiate with authorities, do things by the book, but at the same time move the walls a little, so it's an exercise that is. I was going to say complicated, but... Today, we have a very fine act. Just to come back to what happened, that's the first point. The second point concerns the current changes. There's... I'll say, there are... Two... important changes. The first is that, today, uh Donc Stables is run by a legal administrative shell, a company called Epic Games. And today, this company, together with PMU, has decided to increase its capital. So 321 is now a shareholder in YP Games, alongside PMU. So that's exactly what we're doing with all the companies in the 321 portfolio. And it's exactly what I said at the beginning, the desire to have this entrepreneurial DNA and the expertise and assets of PMU. So we reproduce that in the structure we have. Until now, 321 wasn't a shareholder. We have been since January. That's what's new. So we've invested alongside PMU. The second important thing to understand is that there's an investment and we're not going to give the amounts because, for the moment, these are things we can cook up internally. But we are 321. And the PMU, we wanted to reinvest in Stables from the January starting point to go even further this year. So we're very happy, very confident, and we're co-shareholders. We've just completed a financing round with PMU and 321. So there's no external funding for the moment. It's something that's going to happen in 2024. And to get ready for this important stage, we've almost selected - we'd have liked to announce it, but we're not there yet. We've seen about ten people to be where the potential CEO of Stables is. And at this stage, we've... We're in the final selection phase, so it's imminent. And as we don't want to rush things, it's someone we'll be appointing to head up Stable fairly soon. We'll let you know what he's up to shortly, of course. Our bias with all CEOs of portfolio companies is that they are serial entrepreneurs, people who have already set up companies. In this case, it's someone who knows the gaming and Web3 worlds very well, and who also has an international dimension, because we'd like and have ambitions to take Stables. beyond the French borders. What's more, this is already the case, as we already have around - I think it's 20 or 30% of the non-French community - NFT holders. So, we already have this asset, and as we want to carry this ambition forward, we need the new CEO to be able to embody exactly this ambition. So that's what's new in terms of governance. We think it's great news. We'll answer any questions you may have on the subject. in terms of competition, in terms of the PMU's governance, for which we are also the... The guarantors of protection, it's a company that has its own independent life. We won't go into all the details of the fund-raising, but 321, if we put money in today alongside PMU, it's because... We're hyper-confident, hyper-bullish, hyper-willing to bring Stable to the biggest of our teams.

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Jérémy Coste:

Thank you very much Patrick. You mentioned fund-raising. It's a subject you know perfectly well. Is it

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Patrick Amiel:

So, we've just completed one that we can consider important. It's a first step. So, he puts in 321 and the PMU which previously was the sole shareholder, now we are two. It is planned in our packs that as soon as the CEO is appointed, this person enters the capital with other key team members, just like any company. We will have the Founding Team in the capital. We plan to give them a large part of the capital. uh for a simple and good reason, that we need an insane commitment from them and that we are also preparing for other financing steps for Sables or to raise funds, as you can see, all the raises that can happen in the tech market, the funds of hours must be major or net majorities or relative to the capital. funds invest from the moment the founding team is significantly committed, which is super normal. So we planned this, we agree with the PLU to give a large part of the cake to this team which is already somewhat established and which will be under the responsibility of the next CEO. So in fact, we are preparing, there is already a step that has been taken there, there will be another step that will be taken during 2024, around summer, of an additional raise. And to achieve this, since your question is how does the fund work and what are the key factors. We will have to... I will give three major indicators. That we meet three indicators. to find another financial partner who will help us accelerate on the international dimension and improve the game even more. The indicators will be... The engagement of the existing community, it's you and the next ones who will join us. Two, it will be the growth of the community. how many new players join us every month. And three, since still, we need to make a viable, economic company, and it's our DNA, the economic model we propose. How do we ensure revenue growth? while improving the gaming experience so that... all players who commit know why they are doing it. So these indicators, if we meet these three indicators, we will seek additional funds abroad as a priority and also in France.

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Jérémy Coste:

Thank you very much Patrick. I think we've covered the topics we wanted to address from our side. There were obviously plenty of questions from the community on Discord and we will start with those questions. So I'll go through the questions that were raised on Discord before handing over to... the speakers here on Twitter. We had questions related to the project, questions related to the token, obviously, questions related to the team. I'll start with the questions about the project. We were asked, for you Constantin, or indeed Patrick, can we count on the sustainability of Stables in the years to come?

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Constantin Garreau:

Do you want to take it, Patrick?

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Patrick Amiel:

Go ahead, no problem. Every new innovative venture, inevitably, and you've all done it with heart and conscience, looking at all the documentation on CWELT, there's an element of risk. Point 1. Point 2. If we weren't convinced of the potential, we wouldn't have invested in this funding round. We wouldn't have deployed a portion of our best team on it. Sustainability. Like any innovative project, there's a risk. Do we believe we have the assets, the know-how, and the market to create one of the most exciting games around epic races? And are we only at 10% of that potential? Yes. So sustainability for us is assured for this year. It's assured for this deadline. We're very clear-sighted and mature about what we need to prove to secure the next funding round. And we've already talked with funds, with partners, so we know exactly where we're expected to be. If we achieve what we're striving for, we're very confident about Sable's future. But there's a risk ahead of us, linked to the execution capability we all have together, in the coming months. But as long as we have a clear roadmap, as long as we know what the objectives are, as long as we have the network and the right team, and we can all agree that this is the year when the community needs to stay by our side. We can see on Discord all the... the frustrations you might have, all the encouragements you might have. We share all of that. Then, with the means at hand and the time, we do everything to move forward. But for us, we're rather... Well, full visibility, I'll be straightforward about 2024. and it's up to us to make the most of this opportunity this summer to go even further.

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Jérémy Coste:

Thank you very much for the transparency in this response. I'll continue with you, you mentioned earlier, you were talking about obviously one of the objectives being to attract new players. Do we have a bit more clarity on our expectations, precisely, regarding the number of potential new players?

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Patrick Amiel:

Well, I'm not going to give a number. Firstly, I'm going to spend a lot of time with Renaud, Alexis, Clémence, and the rest of the team to define a bit the roadmap that will also be presented to you next week at the product level. But there's a strong belief within the team that there are still many little things to optimize. It's ongoing, and you'll see the announcements in a few days. to enhance the current experience. So there are plenty of things evolving, maybe still not enough, we want more, but there you go. So we'll share that with you. What's important is that there's a contract of trust that needs to be established with the current holders. So that's the first step. so improving the gaming experience, improving expectations, and response to current players. Of course, I advocate for development. bringing in new people, but that can only happen if the basics and foundations are further improved. So we're working on that, so yes, there will be new players. in France and abroad, but it's a matter of time.

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Jérémy Coste:

Perfect. Thank you very much. Constantin, we'll come back to you on a big topic which is the token, the S-Point. We're asked if we have any new information. We talk about this famous Jonoom law, but can you be very precise about the explanation of this law? Everyone hears about it, yet it remains very vague. What does this law impose on us? What are the constraints? What can we do if the law passes? And so, what stage are we at with it?

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Constantin Garreau:

With pleasure. Thank you very much for asking this question. It's important. It's been a significant part of my work since last summer, to be very transparent with all of you. So, the legal framework... Actually, the legal framework was adopted with the law called the SREN law, a few weeks ago, but for now, it's not enacted. Why? Because there was a significant gap between the text coming out of the Senate and the one that was voted on in the Assembly. So, that's the first issue. The second issue is that there has been a change in Prime Minister, that for now there's no longer a Minister... of Digital, and while waiting for their appointment, there are a number of things that are delayed. That's one context. Then, there's another element which is the regulation on NFTs, on crypto-assets broadly defined. It's a regulation that fits into a framework that is not solely national. So, at the level of the European Union, there are also a number of provisions that are being put in place. We need to ensure that what was established in the SREN law is compatible with European regulations. There was feedback from the Commission last week. There are still adjustments that will probably be necessary. And so, all of this has to be coordinated within a timeline that, for now, isn't necessarily very clear. Where are we? In a few weeks, there will be the joint committee. Senators and deputies will meet to agree on a final version of the text. So, we just need to ensure that the members of the committee are clear about what we've done and why we've done it. That's the first point. The second point is that then, in the law, there are a number of provisions. which are provisions meant to be precise, which need to be specified in decrees. So these decrees, generally, are decrees issued by the Council of State and drafted by people from different ministries. So we've also spent a lot of time with the Directorate of Enterprises, with the Treasury Directorate, etc., explaining what we're doing. These decrees will notably define what a reward is, what portion of a reward in cryptocurrency we can allocate, etc. And so... Once these decrees have been validated and published, then the law can... let's say, be implemented. And for now, the timeline is more about implementation in the summer. So, this law, it says several things. Firstly, games like the one we're creating are games that do not fall into the category of gambling. Let's say we're cousins, but we're not traditional gambling games. So, for this reason... we very likely have a limit on rewards that we can provide. that we can distribute to our players so it's being defined that's why it's a bit difficult to be assertive and very precise but there's a level of reward that prevents us from falling into the gambling category, that's the first point. The second point is that we will still have a number of things to put in place to verify, for example, the majority of our players, verify the identity of certain players when they withdraw their rewards, etc. And so, this will also require investments to ensure compliance. The third point is that we have obligations to combat fraud and money laundering, and that's why, and I've mentioned it several times in discussions, in speeches, that... From the beginning, we don't want to be in the gray area. We don't want to act as if we didn't know that there were regulations. And we don't want to put our community at risk either. We don't want to promise something and then be forced to stop it. or torpedo it because we've received a warning from a regulator. So, our job is to co-create alongside other stakeholders. I particularly think of ADAN, the Association of Digital Actors, with whom I work a lot. There's SORAR, which is of course very active on the subject too, to build this framework. What's true is that for now, we'll make a number of communications, especially on the product in the coming days, but for now, it's difficult to put in place... very specific elements, or at least to announce them very precisely right now, because the framework is still taking shape. However, what's also true, and what we're working on especially with Clément, is that the regulation still allows us to already do some things. So, there are a number of tactical choices that have been made by a number of actors. And so, that's also what we're working on to be able to quickly, without waiting for the law to be enacted, be more generous in the distribution of rewards. So, that will be clarified in the very near future. But so, the law, the JONUM, according to us, is a good compromise, it's a good balanced position which allows us both not to fall into the category of gambling, and not to fall into the category of gambling. at the same time being generous with the players and meeting a number of obligations without entering the heaviness and burden of internal control that gambling operators may have. Then, it's an experimental device, meaning that regulators, whether it's the National Gaming Authority, the Council of State, etc., the various ministries, they will follow how it goes to ensure that there are no abuses and to be able to adjust the device if necessary. So that's it. And then... the work that I'm doing right now. Also, it's about discussing with European institutions, just to ensure that JONUM being a specific regime that covers our activity, we don't end up with, in addition to that, a European regime that would either contradict it, or make the device heavier. So that's a bit what I can say about JONUM. The schedule is still being finalized. We're waiting for the end of this week in particular to have a... a Minister of Digital to also see a bit clearer on the schedule.

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Patrick Amiel:

Let me just add two seconds on this point, it's important that everyone... I think these tails perceive it well. All this framework, one, we must take it into account, and Constantin has done an amazing job. Two, it's the strength we have to have an actor like PMU, because access with all regulatory bodies is obviously already established. We do it in concert with them, we do it... within a framework and we must be very vigilant to respect the rules, but we also protect your asset, all of you. By doing this, we ensure that we do something that allows for longevity, you take back your point from earlier, that has a future and that respects a framework, and we contribute to changing the lines of this framework. So a fairly pushy and responsible job on the part of the whole team.

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Jérémy Coste:

Great, thank you both. I have one last question, which I'll answer, regarding the team. Right after, we'll open up for open questions. You can already make your requests, you can raise your hand, we'll give you the floor. Just a reminder, today, it's really focused on... the structuring of the project, of Stables, of PMU, of 321, all of that. All questions related to races, to the algorithm, to the products, to the games, we'll keep those for next week, for next Monday, where Renaud and Alexis will speak specifically on those aspects. So, I come to the last question that was asked on Discord regarding the team. How many people are working full-time on the development of Stables and will this team be in place for the year 2024? So, I'll take this point. So, in terms of the team, we're roughly similar to what we had at the launch of the game. We've ramped up as needed, sometimes on the tech side, sometimes on the marketing side. Specifically on the tech side, we still have three developers, a game designer, product owners, and then Renaud as well, the head of product and gaming. So, you'll see more about this in the AMA next week. In parallel, we have the marketing team depending on the periods. We've had two, three, four people in this team. The community team, we have two people, and then we have people like Alexis as well, a tech specialist, who is at 321 and contributes to the projects. You'll also see him next Monday. We have a UX designer, we have a product manager for data, Jean-Baptiste, who is behind the dashboards you see on the analytical side. It's him, we have Alexandra, we have Clémence. So, we have about fifteen, twenty people. Will this team be in place? Yes, that's the plan, with hopefully an increase on the tech side. And then, depending on the periods, as I was saying, for example, around the Mint, there were a lot of... people on the marketing side to ensure that everything was going well with acquisition, with press relations, influencer relations. So, about fifteen, twenty teams which are the ones presented on the website. We need to update, we need to add people as well. But that's about it for this question on the team. We've reached the end of the questions asked on Discord. Um, Constantin, do you want to respond to a question that you saw posted elsewhere?

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Constantin Garreau:

I saw in the comments Pierre's question about the progress of the project and whether it met our expectations. Have we ever considered pivoting? I find it interesting. For me, I feel that since the beginning of this project, we've never stopped pivoting, already. That's the first point. And that's also why the reinforcement of... Patrick and 321 was important, you know. That is, to have this entrepreneurial culture and... to be able to have this agility and constantly adjust. The conviction we still have is that we're holding our course. I feel like we've been holding our course since the beginning, which is to offer a new way of playing horse races, with boundaries both in reality and then this very playful dimension. So, I don't see a more significant pivot than that. After, have we adjusted? Yes, constantly. Do we know what? Patrick also mentioned it earlier. That is, I think we have some great successes and... also encountered difficulties, failures, there are things we've underestimated, etc. And we've always, I feel like we've always had this very humble position. We're building in an industry that is itself building. So, there you go. and so we've constantly tried to adjust, so I would say we've had adjustments but on the other hand, at no point did we think we were on the wrong path.

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Jérémy Coste:

Thank you. A second question, I think we can also answer, is from Brass Stats, who, by the way, is developing a great tool based on the data we provide. He asks about the PMU, whether it's disengaging from the project because it will become largely minority-owned? I don't think we can talk about disengagement, but I can let you answer this question. Is the PMU disengaging from the project because it will become largely minority-owned after the recruitment of the management team?

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Patrick Amiel:

I'd like to say a word. I'm not speaking on behalf of PMU. But when an actor becomes a minority, it doesn't mean they're disengaging. It means that... otherwise they could withdraw completely, but the need for funding there will be carried by several actors. Since we have a dimension that is going, one, towards more gaming, two, more international, it's normal to make room for other actors to enter. And then it's very healthy to give a significant portion of the capital to a third party which is today the founding team that is driving this project and will carry it in the years to come. we must give them a place. So it's a completely normal evolution, and absolutely not a disengagement, it's a normal evolution, but one that was already planned from the first discussion with PMU, within the 3-2 model. There's no surprise about that.

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Jérémy Coste:

Thank you very much. Does anyone in the audience want to speak up and have questions?

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Patrick Amiel:

They are welcome. If anyone wants to ask for information about my favorite horse Jacques Seller, who performs one out of two times, you are welcome. If anyone wants to challenge me, more seriously, with pleasure, to answer all your questions.

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Jérémy Coste:

So, we have CrypTraumatique who wants to speak.

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Constantin Garreau:

Currently, you're muted, so you need to unmute yourself on the left corner of your screen. Alright.

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Community Member:

Can you hear me? Yes, it's me, hello, I'm bedav971 on Discord. So, I had a question for Mr. Patrick, is that right? I wanted to know if he had a Discord and what his Discord username was?

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Patrick Amiel:

Well, yes, I do have a Discord. Okay. You can contact me.

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Community Member:

No, okay, I just wanted to know if you come on Discord to see what's going on, what's being said, and if so, since when, and in your opinion, how do you find the community, actually, in general?

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Patrick Amiel:

Listen, with pleasure. I've been here since day one. I didn't come from the Web3 universe naturally. It's not because of my 51 years, it's just the way it is. So, I've been on Discord since day one. I read everything that's said, shared, done every week. I keep an eye on the action, I gauge the temperature. Now, it's not my role, but I do it more because... It's an entrepreneurial side where I like to get my hands dirty and follow along and gauge the temperature. There's a whole team managing that and hats off to the whole team. And after feeling it out, what I feel are two things. but I'd be very happy to hear your opinion. One is, a level of engagement, because everyone wants... it to stabilize as high as possible, so the demands, remarks, critiques are very healthy, and we're well aware that it's just a V1 of the wish and it needs to evolve. So, I have a feeling that's quite mixed, because we can see that there are points of frustration, but we share them. So, it doesn't shock me, it doesn't surprise me. At this stage of the game, it's normal, there will always be some. But on the other hand, I'm really... I'm very happy with the level of engagement both in the races, the participation rate. And also on Discord, where everyone is hyperactive, the hardcore is hyperactive. I don't know if you somewhat share that, that is, engaged, a bit of frustration, but I hope you feel that there is listening, communication. After all, we can't respond to everything systematically, but I have the impression that the quality of the dialogue, and actually, that's the case if what we're doing today proves it.

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Community Member:

Okay, in my opinion, it's a bit late, it's coming really late in... in the project's evolution and the discontent that was felt on Discord. I might have liked to have one of the real decision-makers, and not just Jeremy or Anthony, who are doing their job very well, but who end up taking a lot of heat when things don't go well. I might have liked a disconnect from the higher-ups to come and address us, since we are a Web3 community. I've been in the cryptographic, blockchain world since 2017. And honestly, I don't want... I'm talking in front of everyone, but this way of disregarding, let's say, a false listening, let's say. Because precisely, in this Stable project, what is most beautiful, let's say, is the community. I'll tell you honestly, I've rarely seen a community giving so much for a project that... on the same level if you prefer. We are already... A second question, how... How do you see us? As customers, players, investors? At what level are the early adopters placed? Those who bought packs of all kinds, for example.

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Patrick Amiel:

We didn't come earlier to talk because... We didn't have the right, simply because before we entered the capital, if you will, and could do it, it's just from an administrative point of view. It takes time to put in place all the agreements, the financing, the fundraising that we've just done, and to get to this stage, so for a few months, the team wanted it, asked us, and Jeremy, first, the rest of the team, but we said to ourselves, wait, what can we do? We have the right, yes, of course, we have the right, but we don't have anything significant announced today, I'm happy to be here and to tell you that yes, we are part of the adventure because we entered the capital which had a capital increase and everything we shared there so I understand your point, and it's also by... Uh... The team leading Stable today operationally, who thinks morning, noon, and night, it's the people you mentioned earlier. We are here to support and with pleasure to answer your questions. I understand a little irritation about that, but it's absolutely not a lack of consideration. It's one, respect for the current team and two, waiting to have the right to do it and we are here today. So that's to answer your first point, but I understand it. And the second point, how, personally, I consider you, the community of early adopters, as... I don't know if this will answer what you mean, but what I have personally, and you see, I'm super transparent, not coming from this ecosystem at first, but immersed in it since early 2023. I was amazed by the co-construction. So, I see you as... co-founders of Stables. That's why I was reminded by the patrol and by the team who said to me, Wait, before opening the door to new players, it won't be long, but we already need to improve the existing so that the community has a better experience, a form of reward we're working on. And that's the priority because they've given so much that we also need to improve satisfaction. So, you see, in all this... simplicity to answer your question. For me, you have been pillars, co-constructors. I was positively amazed by the level of input, construction, remarks, engagement, the level of participation. I play 85% of the races since the beginning. I have 10 horses and when I see the level of engagement of everyone, those who bought, who continue to engage, who participate, there, I find it amazing. So, that's a treasure. You are a treasure by our side to build. That's why the priority is given to improving the experience and fighting to find an acceptable form of reward within the legal framework highlighted by Constantin. And we're on it. So, that means that we consider you as such. and that we are doing what it takes for everyone to be happy, but also to prepare for an opening to welcome new people who will create more gaming experience, value for the entire community.

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Community Member:

Great, great.

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Constantin Garreau:

Can I add a little something to what Patrick just said on the two subjects? It's a frustration we share. In fact, you see, about... On communication, I think that... We are all bound, it's exactly like on rewards actually, we are all bound to respect a certain number of rules and a framework, and so, we shared this frustration, that's why today it's good to talk, and then it's also good that... who has the hand on the product next week. So that's the first subject. And the second subject, it's indeed... I think that from the beginning, we co-construct. And also, to answer your question, you are... we have a diverse community too. There are people who are really just players, there are people who are investors, and so with diverse expectations. Frustration is also part of the consequence of this diversity. We have to get everyone on board, to explain, even if some may say that's not what I wanted. But there is that work to do. Just the frustration, we share it. We were bound by this schedule. That's the first point. And the second point, of course, you are co-builder of what we are doing, and at the same time you are diverse, so there are also diverse expressions that are expressed. So, I'm done.

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Community Member:

Okay, can I ask another one? I don't want to monopolize the conversation, myself.

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Constantin Garreau:

Okay, a quick one so we can take others after.

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Community Member:

Okay, I also wanted to know, because you say that the mint went well, it's true, it went well, sold out very quickly, but there were also issues during this mint as well.

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Constantin Garreau:

I confirm, I believe there were problems during the mint. Yes, I felt like it was a bit behind us. We encountered a number of problems and we explained them. I think there were two things. One, we were victims of our success, meaning that in 45 seconds, we had an activity that was what we thought would be that of the first hour. So that's the first issue. And the second issue, it's related, and all the actors in the sector know it, from discussing with quite a few other projects. especially payment when you pay with your credit card and there is a conversion to crypto, there are a number of banks that block these transactions, at least block the first attempts. And so, there were a number of difficulties with that. So, those are the issues...

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Community member:

The allocation of horses not random, but more alphabetical order?

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Constantin Garreau:

Exactly. So it wasn't really alphabetical, but it was more about...their participation in races. So it's true that there are people who ended up with horses that had run in the same race, because in fact they came from the same sample. So yes, there were a number of difficulties. I think that on this... We didn't try to hide them, that's the first point. And the second point is that, on the other hand, we have worked a lot since then to ensure that it doesn't happen again. So there you have it, it was taken, and yes, you are right, we had difficulties. I think if we had a Mint today, it would be radically different.

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Community member:

Okay, yes, I understand that you would learn from your mistakes. But the fact is that, if I understand correctly, there were these appearance errors, you say that it was successful, but I am frank, I prefer to speak because I always have a ticket to express my thoughts and really for the community really, not for me. I always made it clear to Jérémy that my simple person had very little importance. in the universe that Stable was creating. And so, this crisis management, in my opinion, was catastrophic since backpedaling and then we denied it and then afterwards, we ended up accepting the development of the game at the moment and the algorithmic problems. We will talk about it tomorrow in Hamas, but it's always like that and always at our expense. So we, no matter how you place us, but it's always at our expense. I understand having invested in an unconscious on a roadmap paper which was rather immersive in the game mode. After delivery of the game, that is not at all what I noticed. It's not serious, I'm not... It's not serious, but there you go, I find that there is management of crises or problems. And when you open a Web 3 game in beta... This is completely normal and a crisis leader must be appointed or must speak. because I don't really understand it. I have nothing.

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Constantin Garreau:

I understand well.

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Community member:

I registered my horses throughout the races, throughout the races, with... A magnificent community which reveals algorithm problems from the third race. This algorithm is changed perhaps in the twentieth race. In the meantime, I lost my points and I have nothing left. How do we do ? You see, for you it's an achievement, but for the player, I don't think so. There are really committed people from the horse racing world, as you say, there is diversity in this project, and it is not the complexity, but it is the richness of your project at the moment, this diversity of thought and way of doing things.

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Constantin Garreau:

I understand your point perfectly, I think that here we are sliding towards the product and I think that if it suits you that we bounce back on it in the product cluster which will take place in a few days like that we will be able to answer your questions and undoubtedly be a little more explicit in any case I think that the organization that Patrick mentioned is likely to respond to this need uh one, to effectively manage these incidents and these difficulties, and two, to embody it through the CEO. Maybe I can answer too, if Jérémy is ok with you. In any case, thank you very much for your intervention and we are happy to have you in the community despite everything. Maybe I can answer, I saw that there was also a question that was asked about Jokiz quickly, from Pierre, again. Yes, of course, we followed the finish. How do we perceive it? I see two signals that means one that this ecosystem, the racing ecosystem, has a value and an interest and you know it well so there you go and therefore it's interesting to say that there are new players arriving and we are quite convinced that the important thing is to grow the market and so that's how it is... the fact that there are new players, that feels good because it makes the market grow . We don't say to ourselves that the cake is shrinking, we say to ourselves that the... The market is growing. I hope that answers your question.

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Jérémy Coste:

Thank you Constantine. No one raises their hand anymore. Has it been an hour since we started? Yes, it's been an hour. Is there possibly one last question? Or do we close the AMA on this? I don't see any questions. Do you perhaps want to say a last word, Patrick, Constantin?

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Patrick Amiel:

What do you think about it ? Otherwise, I'll go there.

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Constantin Garreau:

No, what I say every time, it was nice to talk, it was nice to come back to it. I see lots of familiar faces among the listeners. So, I greet everyone. Happy New Year 2024 to those I haven't seen since. That's the first point. And the second point is that, as usual... My messaging on X is open, so don't hesitate to, if you need anything, I will be happy to answer you. as soon as possible. Good day. I'll leave your hand to you, Patrick.

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Patrick Amiel:

Delighted with this exercise too, thank you for your questions. We announced to you in preview, you have excluded it a little, in fact, that there is a capital increase, that the company is refinanced, that there are two shareholders, a third who is arriving, who is the Fonder Team, quite imminently. So, a new step. We're not going to give up. We want to take Stables as high as possible. We need you, we are with you, we will not let you go. We do everything we can to also send you... some give back, some return on your investment. We are aware that there were some small points of friction, but like any entrepreneurial project. and to go a step further for those who are in France, in Paris, with great pleasure to have a drink together. take the time to listen to each other, to share together, to get to know each other. We will try to organize that, have a little drink towards the heart of Paris, towards the Louvre. We have premises there and the Sable team will be delighted to meet you. Thank you all and then count on us, we are counting on you. Thank you Jérémy for the organization as well.

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Jérémy Coste:

Thank you both of you, thank you to everyone in the audience, thank you to this entire community. Discussions continue on Discord, obviously, don't hesitate to ask your question, we will answer them or transfer them to Patrick and Constantin if necessary. And then we'll see you next Monday at noon for the MAE. centered around the product, the game, the races, with Renaud who is the Head of Product Gaming, and then Alexis who is the Tech Specialist. Thank you all, see you soon!

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