#39 – Matej Lancaric: The UA Consultant on Building a €1.6M Solo Gaming Business

In this episode of The Gaming Playbook, I sit down with Matej Lancaric, one of the most successful solopreneurs in the gaming industry, who scaled his one-person consultancy past €1.6M in revenue. Matej shares the unfiltered reality of solopreneurship: why you can’t treat it as a backup plan, how to survive the risk of losing big clients, and what it really takes to build and keep a thriving solo business.

Expect deep dives into:
- Why having a backup plan sets you up for failure
- The dangers of relying on one big client (and how to diversify)
- How to set boundaries and avoid scope creep
- The role of Substack, LinkedIn, and conferences in building trust
- Why consistency beats shortcuts every time
- Growing without turning into a traditional agency
- Building products and revenue streams on the side

Whether you’re a consultant, a service provider, or a founder considering going solo, this episode is a brutally honest masterclass on what it really takes to succeed as a 7-figure solopreneur.

Connect with Matej:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matejlancaric/
Substack: https://lancaric.substack.com/
Matej's podcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpu7cyygnCCCkUEMG2-JiHQ

Connect with Harry:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hphokou/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@hphokou
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hphokou

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Chapters:00:00 Intro
01:50 From side hustle to €1.6M solo business
05:03 Contractors vs. employees: staying lean
10:55 Why Matej refuses to build an agency
14:34 Getting first clients from articles & conferences
19:53 Conference strategy: no selling, just conversations
24:44 Public speaking & how to land talks
30:04 The risk of big clients & need to diversify
33:21 Setting boundaries & avoiding scope creep
36:02 Content creation workflow & newsletter strategy
47:32 Treating UA budgets like your own money
49:15 Building tools & new SaaS experiments
51:53 Why now is the best (and hardest) time to go solo
55:51 The reality of consulting: pipeline, rejection & persistence
59:48 Closing thoughts & where to find Matej

#solopreneurship  #gamingbusiness  #useracquisition  #businessreality  #businessgrowth