RePlay Magazine Podcast - Malcolm Steinberg
RePlay Magazine Podcast - Malcolm Steinberg
RePlay Magazine Podcast host Randy Chilton had the great pleasure of sitting down with industry icon and member of the Amusement Industry Hall of Fame Malcolm Steinberg for Episode 7. People in the coin machine world will know Malcolm from his years at the helm of LAI Group, but what many might not know is how he entered the amusement industry. Impatient to get started in business, Malcolm left high school early, and when he was 18, a vacation visit with an uncle led him to take 21 pinball machines and start Indoor Amusement Games in Perth, Australia. The year was 1958 and Malcolm was just 18 at the time. From that early operation to distributing, manufacturing and beyond – and from Australia to other parts of the world – his businesses continued to grow and expand. Today, a group of eight companies – including such well-known names as LAI Games, Embed and Timezone – bring in about a billion dollars in annual sales. Malcolm’s son Adam leads those companies today, but you can quickly see that Malcolm is well-versed on the details, and at age 86, is still sharp as a tack. Today, he puts his energy into a philanthropic organization called the Malka Foundation that he started to honor his grandmother. It encourages and supports entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership in Western Australia to improve and grow the economy and quality of life for all in the region. Enjoy learning more. We sure did!
Kineticist’s take
Malcolm Steinberg recounts building $1B entertainment business from 1958 pinballs to global FEC operator.
Synopsis
Malcolm Steinberg, 86-year-old founder of LIA Games and operator of 360 entertainment venues across 7 countries with ~$1 billion in annual revenue, discusses his 66-year journey from starting with 21 pinball machines in 1958 to building a global entertainment empire. He reflects on near-bankruptcy experiences, the structural imbalance between content creators and operators in the arcade/FEC industry, missed investment opportunities (notably NVIDIA in 1997), and his current focus on the Malka Foundation supporting young entrepreneurs.
Highlights
- Malcolm Steinberg operates 360 venues in 7 countries with combined annual sales approaching $1 billion
- Started business in April 1958 with 21 pinball machines acquired from uncle in Newcastle
- Coin-op industry owned 100% of interactive game market in 1975, now owns ~10% of a $25B market while home/online games represent $255B
- Stacker game produced 20,000 units generating $70M in sales for manufacturer, but generated over $3B in revenue for operators in 3-4 years
- Sega offered Malcolm opportunity to invest in NVIDIA startup in 1997 for $5M; Malcolm declined due to lack of capital and focus on arcade business
- Survived two near-bankruptcies: 1983 Australian Tax Office dispute (7-year litigation) and late 1990s banker pressure to pay down debt
- Embed payment system operates in 3,000+ locations worldwide with US as largest market
- FEC/location business (Time Zone, Kingpin, Zone Bowling) represents 80% of total business revenue
- China arcade market became world's largest after one-child policy ended; Malcolm exited China in 2002 due to policy restrictions limiting arcade play to 1 hour per Sunday
- Married to Frances for 63 years; has three children (Adam, Dean, Jessica) with Adam serving as CEO for 32 years
Entities
- ArcadeXR· company
- Embed· company
- Kingpin· company
- LIA Games· company
- National Entertainment Network· company
- NVIDIA· company
- Play and Learn· company
- Replay Magazine· company
- Sega· company
- Time Zone Arcades· company
- Zone Bowling· company
- Malka Foundation· organization
- Adam Steinberg· person
- Brian Coppin· person
- Dean Steinberg· person
- Frances Steinberg· person
- Gordon Steinberg· person
- Hayao Nakayama· person
- Jensen Huang· person
- Jessica Steinberg· person
- Malcolm Steinberg· person
- Morris Steinberg· person
- Randy Sheldon· person
- Uncle Alec Hankin· person