The Entrepreneur Experiment EE 404 - From 0 to 300 Million Users: The Growth Story of Sean Blanchfield’s Startups
In this episode of The Entrepreneur Experiment, Gary Fox sits down with Sean Blanchfield, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Demonware, PageFair, and Jentic, to unpack his journey from student entrepreneur to scaling and selling tech companies.
Sean shares candid insights into the early days of launching startups in Ireland, how Demonware became a critical player in multiplayer gaming, and the bold pivots that led to success.
He also dives into his later ventures, PageFair, which tackled ad blocking in the digital advertising space, and Jentic, his latest project at the forefront of AI-driven market insights.
From fundraising struggles to navigating acquisitions, Sean reflects on the lessons he’s learned across multiple ventures. If you’re a founder working on product-market fit, considering an exit, or fascinated by the business behind gaming and ad tech, this episode is packed with insights you won’t want to miss.
🎧 Show Notes:
In this episode, we cover:
🔥 The origins of Demonware and its role in multiplayer gaming
🚀 How Sean and his co-founders pivoted their product four times before finding the right fit
💡 Fundraising challenges in Ireland and how they bootstrapped early growth
🎮 The rise of online gaming and how Demonware powered global hits like Call of Duty
📈 Selling to Activision – why it was the right move and how the deal unfolded
🛑 PageFair & ad-blocking – the problem it solved and how it changed the digital ad space
🤖 Jentic – Sean’s latest AI-driven insights company and the future of market intelligence
💼 The emotional and strategic aspects of selling a business
🤔 Lessons from failed ventures and why iteration is key to startup success
💬 "We were in existential crisis for the first 18 months. Then suddenly, we had product-market fit, and everything changed." – Sean Blanchfield
Visit my Partners
Enterprise Ireland: https://bit.ly/EIreland
Azure Communications: https://bit.ly/azureEE
Nostra: https://bit.ly/nostraee
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📌 Resources & Links:
🔗 Enterprise Ireland – Support for Startups: https://www.enterprise-ireland.com/
🎮 Demonware – Behind Activision’s Multiplayer Gaming: https://www.demonware.net/
📢 PageFair – Ad-Blocking Analytics & Solutions: https://www.pagefair.com/
📊 Jentic – AI-Powered Market Intelligence: https://www.jentic.com/
📱 Follow Sean Blanchfield on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanblanchfield
📖 The Lean Startup – Eric Ries (A book Sean references in his startup journey)