David Washburn
Welcome to the MSU Research Foundation podcast. Today’s guest host is Pete Martin, our Director of Portfolio Management and the lead on PitchMI. Pete sits down with Max Albert, founder and CEO of Adrenaline Interactive. Hope you enjoy the conversation.
Pete Martin
Hey everybody, I’m Pete Martin, Director of Portfolio Management at the MSU Research Foundation. I’m here with Max Albert, CEO and founder of Adrenaline Interactive. Hey, Max.
Max Albert
Hey Pete. Thanks for having me.
Pete Martin
We’re recording this in the Bamboo offices in Ann Arbor on a Saturday morning because Max is flying out later today. Appreciate you making the time.
Max Albert
Of course. Happy to be here.
Pete Martin
For people who aren’t familiar, what is Adrenaline Interactive?
Max Albert
We use AI to help advertisers reskin video games to match their brand.
Pete Martin
Explain that like I’m five.
Max Albert
Fair. Brands want to partner with video games to reach Gen Z and Gen Alpha in ways that feel authentic. We built software that automates that process—so ads feel like part of the game instead of something interrupting it.
Pete Martin
What does this actually look like in a game?
Max Albert
Most gamers won’t even realize they’re looking at an ad. You might be walking around in Fortnite and see a FIFA soccer ball on the ground. That ball is actually an ad unit on our network, reporting IAB-standard metrics—but it feels native to the scene.
Pete Martin
So it’s not pop-ups or 30-second interruptions.
Max Albert
Exactly. I started this company because I’m a huge gamer and I hated how disruptive ads were. They’d rip you out of the immersive experience. I just wanted to build better ads.
Pete Martin
What were you doing before this?
Max Albert
I ran a game studio in Ann Arbor called AppStop. Our first title was an NFL mobile game—it became the first top-10 mobile game made in Michigan.
Pete Martin
You can build big things here in Michigan.
Max Albert
You absolutely can. But our players kept saying, “Max, we love the game. The ads are terrible.” They were interstitial ads—full-screen, interruptive, like YouTube pre-roll. As a game director, I couldn’t fix that without building something new. So I started a company to solve it.
Pete Martin
Give me another real example of what you’re doing now.
Max Albert
We have a lot of soap brands on the platform right now.
Pete Martin
Helping gamers discover soap for the first time?
Max Albert
That joke never gets old.
We treat it like product placement in movies—but interactive. For example, Ball Boys soap helps middle and high school athletes with acne. We put the product in several Fortnite islands. Players could pick it up, clear acne off their character, and get a speed boost. It’s gamified education.
Pete Martin
That’s clever. So you’re live in Fortnite?
Max Albert
Yes—and that’s actually the largest portion of our network. Across Roblox, Fortnite, Discord, Meta Quest VR, and mobile, we reach 44 million gamers daily. We built that in about a year and a half.
Pete
Why so fast?
Max Albert
We focused on game studios first. Most ad networks build for advertisers and make onboarding painful for studios. Studios rely on ad revenue—they don’t have time for complexity. We can onboard a studio in 15 minutes. We onboarded FIFA’s upcoming World Cup game in a single call.
Pete
That’s massive.
Max Albert
It’s a cultural moment. I’ve never seen advertiser interest like this around a game.
Pete
What problem are advertisers trying to solve?
Max Albert
Attribution. When I ran my NFL game, brands would ask what they got from campaigns. I could give them vanity metrics—plays, ratings—but not sales.
Now we’ve partnered with Attain to measure incremental sales. If someone sees Maxxis Tire in a game and buys it within two weeks, we can report that. Only net-new sales. That’s a game-changer.
Pete
That’s powerful.
Max Albert
It took years to solve. But now advertisers feel comfortable reinvesting.
Pete
You told me about your sales meetings.
Max Albert
We do some inside games. The Nike gaming team loves Apex Legends, so we’ll hop on and play together. It’s kind of the new golf.
Pete
That’s incredible. If this works at scale, what changes?
Max Albert
I think the biggest challenge for game designers today is financing. Advertising funds media. The Super Bowl isn’t the Super Bowl without ad dollars. If advertisers feel confident investing in gaming, we unlock a golden era of content—more games, better games.
Gamers and advertisers have had a tense relationship for 30 years. But advertisers don’t want bad ads either. If it’s disruptive, it’s not good for them.
Pete
What role has MSU Research Foundation played?
Max Albert
Honestly, a godsend. I’d never run a venture-backed company at this scale. Pete’s been a sounding board when I’m at a fork in the road. The strategy support and portfolio connections have been huge.
Also—MSU is a top-five gaming school. When I was hiring artists at AppStop, I’d go to conferences in San Francisco and Paris and people would ask where I found them. I didn’t want to tell them. But fine—hire MSU grads. They’re phenomenal.
Pete
You’re one of four finalists for the PitchMI Championship. What was it like winning Ann Arbor?
Max Albert
Gratifying. Emotional. We were in a stacked AI category. Companies with more revenue than us. So when we won $375,000 from MSU Research Foundation, MEDC, and eLab, it meant everything.
We used it to hire Diti Rami, former Head of Partnerships at Anzu. We couldn’t afford her before. That changed our trajectory.
Pete
Since then?
Max Albert
Pedal to the metal. Studios grew from 3.5 million daily reach to 44 million. We closed the Attain deal. We signed Sargento Cheese for a $250K campaign. That was a “no” until we added incremental sales measurement. Then it became a “yes.”
Pitch competitions create authentic VC-founder connections. It’s not a cold email. You’re building a long-term relationship. Two companies from Ann Arbor got investment after the event. Everyone benefited.
Pete
That was the bet. Advice for Michigan founders?
Max Albert
Follow your passion—even if that sounds corny. I worked at Ford while building my first studio and only went full-time when it felt right. You don’t have to quit day one.
And do customer discovery. Figuring out what to build takes longer than building it.
Pete
Yes. Talk to customers. It saves time, money, and stress. Advice for PitchMI applicants?
Max Albert
Apply. Even if you’re imperfect. Every business is imperfect. And if you don’t get in this year, apply again. A year goes fast—and you’ll be stronger.
Pete
Favorite video game?
Max Albert
Hearthstone. I won a University of Michigan championship—undefeated season. Very data-driven. I wrote Python scripts to analyze opponents’ match histories. My scouting reports were 40 pages.
Pete
I did not know it went that deep. Favorite car?
Max Albert
I worked at Ford—so I’ll say the GT40.
Pete
Where can people find you?
Max Albert
AdrenalineInteractive.ai. There’s a contact form there.
Pete
Max, thanks for being here. And thanks to Ryan Morrison and Bamboo for letting us record in the space.
Max Albert
Thanks, Pete. And thanks to MSU Research Foundation—you’ve been incredible partners.
