Aspire Alliance

[AdamHolland]

http://www.mmatycoon.com/images/15008181291492168038Aspire%20Alliance%20Logo%20v3_zpsc0tayjjt.png

Hello all, it is with mixed feelings that I announce the disbanding of the Aspire Alliance following what is now the start of our sixth month in operation, I feel it's important to address some of the highlights of this relatively short lived alliance in the grand scheme of things but before I do I would like to talk a little about the founding of the alliance, what it means to me, and how we got to this point from literally nothing. This is going to be a long one so I apologize in advance.

TL;DR - Aspire Alliance is closing, nothing else will change.

http://www.mmatycoon.com/images/products/1488348694Pro%20Series%20-%20Black%20(Light%20Blue).png

http://www.mmatycoon.com/images/products/1488348743Shorts%20Pro%20Series%20-%20Black%20(Blue).png

It was all a dream
I started playing the game on the 20th of December 2016 and after making some initial mistakes ( does anyone recall my 12, 5x Elite coach gym? pretty swag ) I found myself mesmerized by the above design.

The uniformity and cleanness of his designs captured my attentions immediately and I found myself out in the real world considering the value of the word "Aspire" as a brand, around this same time JB 90 was struggling with real life commitments and his 280k ID organisation Just Bleed MMA was honestly on its death bed, bleeding money by the week with a roster ready to leave for pastures new following a series of unfortunate events.

JB had posted a public thread requesting help and I had responded looking to make my first steps into the world of organisations in hopes I could learn something, initially the agreement was that I would become an apprentice and learn from JB but after our initial conversation he promptly decided he didn't have time to teach someone and fired me from the position pretty much without warning, as a new player I took it on the chin and thought very little more of it, I had after all my own plans, I was going to create and Island org and be like Tycooner, that was my goal. My goal was literally to be Tycooner, I mean that sincerely.

How to build an empire
Along the way, I had reached out to Tyson and made it known my appreciation for his brand and discussed with him, as a seemingly fellow new player, having started shortly after me on the 18th of January and we looked at the existing giants of the game, Synchronicity, GAMMA, Claymore, Evolution, Ascension, Underground, Aggressive Damage, Bushido at an organisation level and Hell Bent, Convicted, Urban Fighter, Kings of Cloves at a clothing level and absolute titans of industry such as Sully's Bar & Grill, Humanoid Nutrition, Milwaukee's Best and HGH, we looked at old threads and found Highland Games, Blitzkrieg and all of the great conglomerates that had come before us and we asked ourselves how can two guy's without literally a penny in the world make it all the way to the top?

Around this time JB got back in touch with me, his real life situation had limited him to the point he could barely log in and now he just wanted Just Bleed gone, he didn't have time to teach me anything but a ready to go organisation was mine, on tick if I was willing to pay him back over time, I ended up acquiring Just Bleed MMA for all told around 2mill in-game dollars, way over priced at the time but it's not like I knew any better, but I was going to need help, in a game where it seemed like everyone seems to act like they know the insiders secret to success but nobody actually wants to give you the hard numbers, that was going to be difficult. I braved mailing what I considered to be the top manager in the game at the time when it comes to organisations, Dale Mac, then the owner of Synchronicity and to my surprise, he gave me the time of day, he explained things to me nobody else had been willing to explain and he was good to me, giving me the confidence and blueprint to make Just Bleed, at the very least not fail overnight.

So now me and Tyson were org owners with a dream to make it big, we had no understanding of how long the process would take, the commitment and sheer force of will it would take, the people we would gain and lose along the way but we knew it would be difficult indeed, perhaps impossible, and for that reason we decided to give it everything, we would attack the game from all sides, we would reach out to established managers and we would create something different, something cooperative, something special.

We were Aspire and we were going to kick the door down and make sure everyone knew it, we were going to be the brand people could trust, we were going to treat people how we wanted to be treated and we were going to be consistent above all else, this was our ethos. We didn't have more money than the big guy's so we had to do something they couldn't do anymore, run harder, be more vocal, we couldn't afford to hire in logo makers, poster creators and writers so we had to learn to do everything for ourselves, we didn't have millions in the bank so we had to pickup FA's and grind out awful contracts to make money to put into a group pocket to get that first 200k for the first wave of Aspire Clothing sponsorships that started all that would follow.

Building to success
Not long after we managed to convince Tom Bickle to join us and despite the fact he already had a dream of running his own organisation we convinced him to put that on hold and take ownership of the first expansion of our brand Aspire Nutrition, we spent the rest of that month, begging, borrowing and grinding out the research funds amongst ourselves to provide that first product, everyone selflessly donating to a common good, a real tangible result of our labour and it felt good, it felt real good when we finally put that thing on sale and you guy's, I love you guys, you didn't need another recovery supplement but you came and you bought it anyway just to support us and that really meant a lot, people were starting to get behind us, the organisation had gone from bleeding people who couldn't wait to jump ship to Dignity!, Revolution XC and StrikeForce Union to their champions reaching out to us to come back the other way.

It was a fantastic time and eventually as you all know we went on to buy out most of our competition in the ID range and establish what is today one of the premier organisations in the game, but the struggle of the early days, the ambition and raw determination showed by every member of our team, the veterans who reached out and responded to us with kind words of support and actually useful information are things I will never forget.

The fall...
Some time along the way decided to try and make my original goal of been an Island org owner a reality, the plan was for me to run the organisation via a grand google documents spreadsheet that JB 90 and Jackie Steve would action on my behalf, for various real life reasons that couldn't be helped it failed to succeed and we were forced to close the project down and I would be lying to you if I said this did not leave a scar across Aspire as an alliance with both JB 90 and Jackie Steve no longer part of the group as a result of the situation..

Back to the original three Amigo's we continued on, but it was never the same after that, the brand of course continued to do well with both Aspire Nutrition & Aspire Clothing reaching #1 globally respectively over the course of our run and I dare say Aspire MMA is on the right path to success having recently reached for the very first time in the promotion's history a consistent profit margin and the recent addition of Shiv Redux to our operations team, the goal was always to get Aspire MMA to the point of PPV profitability so that it could support our infrastructure and help propel and sustain our brand at the top of the game, but we have come to the difficult conclusion collectively that we have come as far as we can go as an in-game alliance, Tyson and Tom both need to spread their wings and develop into the top level managers I know they can be with the guidance of veteran fighter managers, our brand has transcended the need for us to huddle together in our own alliance and I actually feel the brand as a whole will be more secure if it's not tied to any individual alliance.

And now...
Aspire MMA, Aspire Nutrition and Aspire Clothing will continue to operate as they always have, Tom, Tyson, Shiv and myself continue to share a private discord server with some of our closest MMA Tycoon friends from around the community and will continue to be in daily contact, our collective desire to co-operate is in no way diminished from a business point of view and we still have very lofty goals that will take us well into 2018 and beyond together as a team, but as an alliance we are closing the doors and seeking pastures new.

I would like to invite the community to welcome Tyson Mitchell and Tom Bickle with open arms into their alliances, two better blokes you could not find, take them, care for them and teach them and they will reward you with loyalty, respect and friendship as they have me, these are my friends, I trust in you to take care of them.

Thank you
Finally, I would like to thank some of the people who helped us get this far, this is by no means an exhaustive list just the names that really stick out as helping us achieve milestones this past half a year.

Dale Mac - For being the first person to really engage with me about organizations, providing wisdom and guidance in the early days.
Joe Lang - For showing a generosity beyond the call of duty, sharing research numbers and strategy's for making Aspire Nutrition a real success.
Louie DePalma - For been on hand with words of support and provided to us with assurance and guidance during our move to PPV.
Shiv Redux - For believing in us enough to attach his name, credibility and time to the project and literally demolishing the PPV barrier, securing our future.

Tom Bickle and Tysone Mitchell for been my best friends in the world this last six months, I don't even remember what it's like to not talk to you guys. We have so much left to do together, this is just the start.

And finally, Grant Brophy, who in many ways lead us forward, challenged us to literally aspire for more, carried the organization on his back for months and provided us with the blueprint for success at the top end of the game both as an organisation and as individual managers, the lessons we have learned from Grant over 2017 will stick with us our entire time playing this game and his contribution's to the brand go beyond even his own understanding, many of the policies, practices and general ethos we operate under come directly from Grant and he has been a constant source of inspiration to all of us.

And with that I formally declare Aspire Alliance closed, thank you all for indulging me by reading this little tale of our history, I intend to be here for a very long time to come and we intend to continue to bring you the very same Aspire service you have come to expect, were just diversifying a little, there is absolutely no cause for concern, thank you so much for been such a welcoming and supportive community, here's to the next 6 months.

Edit: Just to clarify it is my personal intention to stay alliance-less for the time begin, I appreciate all the wonderful offers I have got in-game today but at this point, I almost feel like not been in an alliance makes me nonpartisan in a way that benefits the organization. Tyson and Tom are most certainly in the market for a new alliance however, thanks again folks.

 

History

 

Alliance History:

 

21.02.17 - Aspire is founded by Tyson Mitchell (116394) and Adam Holland (115878).

24.02.17 - JB 90 (111292) joined the alliance, founder of Just Bleed MMA (5056) the transition period to Aspire MMA (5056) started here.

12.03.17 - Just Bleed MMA (5056) completes its transition to Aspire MMA and ownership is transferred from JB 90 (111292) it's founder to Adam Holland (115878).

12.03.17 - Tom Bickle (116121) joined the alliance.

15.03.17 - Mikkjel Robson (117385) joined the alliance following this topic's public discussion on "legitimate none-combatant" accounts, click here.

http://www.mmatycoon.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=58098&hl=ethics

17.03.17 - Aspire acquired the premier 285k ID promotion Revolution XC previously run by Tycooner and started the process of merging the roster with Aspire MMA.

19.03.17 - Jack Hendry (116458) joins the alliance having previously worked with Tycooner at Island Revolution.

21.03.17 - Aspire Clothing (5168) - http://www.mmatycoon.com/clothingpublic.php?cid=5168 reached #1 in the MMA Clothing Companies rankings with 67.9% hype, beating long time #1 Hellbent (1058) - http://www.mmatycoon.com/clothingpublic.php?cid=1058 for the first time.

21.03.17 - Osinho Garcia (116999) joins the alliance under recommendation from Jack Hendry (116458).

25.03.17 - Aspire Nutrition is founded by Tom Bickle (116121) and Aspire Energy 160 is created with the financial support of the alliance membership.

http://www.mmatycoon.com/nutritionpublic.php?ncid=5211

29.03.17 - Wayne Mitchell (117045) joins the Aspire Alliance.

01.04.17 - Former Synchronicity owner Dale Mac (90764) joins the alliance, becomes Director of Live Events at Aspire MMA.

14.04.17 - Aspire Academy is founded providing quality training across an initial three gym system to members of the Aspire alliance for the first time.

15.04.17 - Osinho Garcia (116999) removed from the alliance due to a lack of engagement.

20.04.17 - Aspire Clothing enters into a merchandising partnership with Aspire MMA bringing full circle to the deal that initially sparked the alliances founding.

06.05.17 - Aspire MMA reaches rank 9 globally in hype for MMA promotions breaking the top 10 for the very first time following Just Bleed 36.

18.05.17 - Dale Mac stands down from his role with Aspire MMA and leaves the alliance on good terms.

20.05.17 - Aspire Nutrition reaches rank #1 globally in hype for the very first time.

29.05.17 - Aspire MMA acquires major rival Dignity Fighting Championship, the transition process begins immediately.

31.06.17 - Shiv Redux officially joins the Aspire MMA team, will later take up the position of 'Head Of Talent Relations' upon the completion of the Dignity! takeover.

12.06.17 - Wayne Mitchell removed from the alliance due to inactivity.

23.06.17 - Jack Hendry (Now known as Jackie Steve) leaves the alliance following the closure of Aspire Island.

29.06.17 - JB90 removed from the alliance following the closure of Aspire Island.

01.07.17 - Aspire MMA run's its first PPV event Aspire 49: Zaitsev vs Slice doing a 336.70 rating with 22,462 PPV sales.

08.07.17 - Aspire MMA makes his Tokyo debut at the Tokyo Bowl 42,000 arena running its second PPV event with Aspire 50: McGee vs Gracie doing a 481.44 rating and 38,453 PPV sales.

09.07.17 - Aspire Energy 160 turns a profit for the first time as Aspire Nutrition sits firmly in the rank #2 spot globally.

16.07.17 - Aspire MMA is catapulted to rank #4 globally following the success of Aspire 60: Brophy vs Adams (PPV Sales: +100,000) firmly taking residence at the 90k+ arenas, turning a regular profit for the first time in its existence.

31.07.17 - Aspire Nutrition's second 160 product Aspire Gluttony is created again with the financial support of the collective alliance.

04.08.17 - Aspire Alliance is closed.

[GBK16]

I know all three of you and the Aspire brand as a whole will continue to be a success regardless of where you end up in terms of alliances as individuals. I will say it is a pleasure to interact with you all and seeing the growth of the brand in the year so far has been incredible and truly displays the benefits of working with other individuals to achieve collective goals. I will say best of luck to you all as you go forward however, and I look forward to Aspire continuing to grow as a brand.

[tombickle]

We really can't thank you guys enough for supporting us as you have done. I myself, as Adam has done, must give a special thanks to Joe Lang. He has been absolutely fantastic and a great sport helping me when i was getting to grips with running Aspire Nutrition. He didn't have to be so helpful, especially as he knew we were coming in to direct competition with him, so we are especially grateful, and im so so pleased to have a good relationship with him. Sully's is and always will be a giant in the nutrition world. Thanks Joe, you're the man.

 

I would like to stress that just because the alliance in game is closing, nothing is changing. We all still consider eachother allies, and as Adam mentioned, have our own discord chat which we chat in every day. We will continue to do what we've always done, but at the same time, forging new friendships across the game.

 

Finally, a big big thankyou to Adam & TJ. I couldnt have hoped for 2 better allies and friends in this game. It hasnt been easy getting to this point, and i know i havent been easy sometimes, but you guys have been amazing. You should both be very proud of what we've achieved together, because i know i am.

 

Onwards and upwards, always aspiring.

[Monsieur.Camara]

A lot of the names mentioned here have helped me directly or indirectly. Some truly wonderful people and you know who you are.

[mmagladiators]

Great Post! Sorry about Aspire Alliance..

[Guest]

You all more than welcome to Decimation!

 

And good luck with operation.

[Deuce7]

Well........didn't see this one coming. Surprised to see it end, but onward and upward I suppose.

[aylib]

Thank you for the sponsorship deals.

[Mentor]

I was a very good run, good luck for the future.

[Guest]

Great alliance and guys. The org will become one of the top orgs in the game that i have no doubt of. Great write up. Keep in touch

[Rambo]

Aspire retired.

[Shiv]

The companies are still around

 

You guys are great, keep putting in the work.

 

Adam also wanted to be without any alliance to prevent any biases in matchmaking.

[Tycooner]

MR Adam Holland i just wanted to say that you have did a great job with the Aspire brand

 

you and your team should be proud.

 

I am sure it will continue to grow and become even better

 

what y'all have done is truly amazing having try it myself and failed so i know what Aspire has done is no easy thing

 

good luck with everything moving forward.

[GiankaBonghi]

Sad to hear that mate, your ASPIRE fight org previews and reviews are hilarious and super fun to read, you are actually making both of my fighters on your org to "grow" on me like they are my own babies, i check every week because of you, good work sir, keep up the good work.

[JoeLang]

Well this is a bit of a shock, but all good things must come to an end....

 

Best of luck with the brand and i am sure it will continue to be successful minus the alliance.