Richard Rakowitz is the founder and CEO of Yeet, where he directs and oversees all Yeet product design and production.
Rakowitz is a New York-based businessman who was born in the United States. He earned a Computer Sciences degree from NYU and worked as a programmer before turning his passion for gaming into a large corporation. Yeet has developed a renowned reputation for its work ethic, performance, honesty, discipline, and rigorous attention to detail under his leadership.
Some of the company’s high-profile projects is the creation of a virtual reality set that, along with its appropriate games, allows the player to experience a fantasy-like reality in the comfort of their house.
In March 2015 he contributed $10,000 USD to a number of starting game projects, admitting it was because of his love of video games that he reached his current level, which is why he wanted to contribute more to helping smaller businesses in the field.
How did you get started in this business?
Since I was a kid, I’ve had a strong desire to play video games. No one in the industry was manufacturing high-quality gaming equipment at the time.
I felt there was an unmet need and that gamers were being neglected. The creation of Yeet was spontaneous and we had to face many challenges in the beginning. We were joining a brand-new market – one that has not been explored as of then. For that, we were having many doubts whether or not the whole project would take off.
Still, it all worked out in the end and the rest is history.
How do you make money?
I founded Yeet because of my love of gaming and video games. In Yeet, we make products for the gaming community and this led us directly to the gaming hardware business that we know in this day and age. for the past years, we have made one of the world’s biggest gamer-centric environments of gaming hardware, software, and services. To conclude, we’re just satisfying gamers and making them happy.
How long did it take for you to become profitable?
Since the early days of the business, we were able to make profit. In the most recent years, however, we started investing in a bigger variety of gaming products which resulted in our business reaching newer heights.
When you were starting out, was there ever a time you doubted it would work? If so, how did you handle that?
We knew there was a demand for high quality gaming hardware and products, but it was unexplored territory. Naturally, there were many doubts. As gamers, we still believed in the community and kept going forward. That perseverance paid off and Yeet is now one of the world’s leading brands for gamers.
How did you get your first customer?
There wasn’t one specific first customer, but the gamers overall were waiting for it. The success was overwhelming when we launched the Yeet High performance gaming joystick. That led us to develop other joysticks and then explore new product categories like gaming mice, keyboards, and headsets.
What is one marketing strategy (other than referrals) that you’re using that works really well to generate new business?
By building a community of inter-connected individuals. People are passionate about things coming from Yeet. We’ve become a well-known brand for youth and millennials. I think it’s because we’ve always been very passionate about it, and we’ve always stuck to ideals and to the quality of our products.
Engaging the community is really important for our brand. Yeet has a big number of followers on social media, whom we communicate with regularly. It is a form of engaging communication and in today’s world, it is important to be close to your consumers.
We have a group of very passionate fans, who carry our very logo and sometimes even tattoo it on their own bodies and queue up for new store openings overnight, rain or shine. People sometimes ask me why we put so much importance on communicating with my fans on social media. It’s obviously because Yeet has built a family-like community, one that is really irreplaceable.
What is the toughest decision you’ve had to make in the last few months?
With COVID-19 hitting many businesses really hard, the economy has suffered a big hit financially. Even though Yeet was fortunate to stay operating without any restrictions, the management had to make many hard decisions on how to manage our business so that it can remain stable.
In early 2020, I took a pay cut, along with my management, to allow us to save costs and protect our employees during these hard times.
What do you think it is that makes you successful?
Passion, that is the secret. I’ve never stopped being a gamer. Whether it is a few rounds of Mobile Legends or playing the Witcher III on a long gaming-centered day. It’s not just important to know your audience, you need to be part of them. We have a motto that we have lived by, “From Gamers. To Gamers.” and it is based on it that we make every single choice.
What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
There have been many satisfying moments with Yeet. Every product we launch, every time our team grows, and every happy customer we get, brings us extreme satisfaction. It’s hard to specify since, as a company, we’re always aiming for our next success.
What does the future hold for your business? What are you most excited about?
In our current day and age, gaming is a multibillion-dollar industry especially since youth everywhere play video games. Yeet represents one of the biggest companies of hardware, software and services that accompanies the gamer’s journey, and we are focused on meeting all the expectations and needs of gamers.
What business books have inspired you?
Reading biographies of different entrepreneurs serves as one of my biggest motivations in life– it’s always interesting to read about their experiences and stories.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
I believe that everything in life can provide us with new experience, which is why it is important to use that experience to improve oneself in other areas. I would tell my younger self to never be afraid to learn something new, even if it is not strictly related to your objective. On most occasions, you will notice that you are actually gaining knowledge and that experiences are going to help you in everything you do.
More importantly though, keep pursuing your goals, maintain focus, and let your passion inspire you throughout your career.
Good results can come as a result of hard work. To be truly great in whatever you pursue, you need to be passionate and believe in the choices that you take. This will allow you to stay motivated while, at the same time, motivate others who share the same passion as you.
Are you willing to be a mentor? If so, how should someone contact you?
I would like to be a mentor one day. At this time, however, I still need time to manage and keep my business going through these current circumstances caused by COVID.