I’ve been watching the conversation around the ECI over the last 48 hours and I'd like to offer my take. In order to do that, I need to start with context that is largely lacking from the public narrative on this subject: @SebPark is a good person who genuinely wanted to help.

More than that, Seb is as hard-working, caring, and intelligent as anyone I've met in esports. He is also a successful entrepreneur who has been in esports for 8 years. He is someone I know to be a person of integrity, and I’m proud to call him a friend.

OK, so how did I get involved in this? Why did I get involved in this? And how did it all go so wrong?

When Seb first asked me to join the ECI advisory board and pitched me the idea, I didn't love it. I told him so. He didn't view my skepticism as a reason not to have me involved. If anything, it was the opposite - he wanted to surround himself with people who would challenge him.

I’m sure my calculus was similar to many other advisors: not likely to fix everything, but worst-case scenario it fails and best-case scenario it does a lot of good. No part of my decision to support ECI factored in the possibility that this could do harm.

I also agree with ECI's mission to improve the hiring pipeline in esports, as should everyone. In fact, I haven’t seen any disagreement on this point. There is too much nepotism, too little diversity, and way too many people are enabled to fail up.

So in the end, I signed on because I believed in ECI’s goals and I believed in the founder. It's that simple. And I still do btw. Seb missed here - big time. But he'll listen, learn, and grow as a result.

Yes, the first iteration of ECI was clearly flawed, and, ironically, reinforced some of the problems it was trying to solve. I’m not blind to this reality and I’m not trying to diminish it. The product and aspects of the business model need work.

But what’s missing from the public discourse is that ECI’s intent was good (see the ECI thread below). And while the road to hell may be paved with good intentions, so is the road to basically everything great in this world.

https://twitter.com/EsportsCi/status/1387583329281654787?s=20.

In the end, building something will always be harder than tearing it down. I personally agree with some of the substantive portion of the public criticism. I just wish ECI was given the space to iterate and evolve.

It's also worth clarifying the role of an advisory board in an early-stage company. As with any standard advisory board relationship, I received no cash compensation and very little equity (roughly .001%). I wasn’t plugged into ECI’s day-to-day; I was on call to help when asked.

In hindsight, I wish I saw the launch plan or test before this went live. I wish I followed up to make sure the concerns I raised got addressed. I could and should have been more engaged – my name was attached to a plan that I don’t agree with, and I take responsibility for that.

I also wish Seb had the chance to pursue his mission in a better way. This is still a major problem and it needs a leader to step up. If anyone out there is working to address these issues, I hope you’ll let me know how I can support you.

I wrote many versions of this statement. I decided to hide my anger at this situation as I felt it was distracting from my message, but it’s still very much there. My friend has been unfairly maligned & the level of hypocrisy from certain maligners is a tough pill to swallow.

There are industry insiders who know Seb, know his character, and used this opportunity to score some internet points at the expense of nuanced discussion and reasonable debate surrounding an important issue that affects the entire industry. That’s fucking disgusting.

If you don’t know Seb, I can’t blame you for approaching this situation with skepticism. The history of esports is too littered with horror stories that began somewhat like this. Skepticism is part of what helps esports survive.

I do know Seb. I know his heart was in the right place. His passion and hard work deserved to be met with nuanced discussion and, yes, criticism. The personal attacks, vitriol, and mob mentality that emerged here didn’t benefit this industry or anyone in it.